658 General Notes. 
a 
A Norte on TRADESCANTIA VIRGINICA.—Last summer I hadan 
opportunity of observing many plants of the common spiderwort 
under cultivation. Two variations in the structure of the flowers 
were quite frequent. One was in their numerical plan, some be- 
ing dimerous and avery few ‘etramerous. Another much more 
perfect, at least as yellow thickened pads at the bottom of a deep 
apical notch; and Ziurd, a petal deeply notched with purple cal- 
losities at the bottom of the notch, as though its apical portion 
had been arrested in its longitudinal growth and had simply t- 
creased in thickness instead. In some cases this thickened por 
tion was elongated and partly detached from the petaloid portion. 
All of which goes to show: 
1. The hairs on the filaments are modified portions of the blade 
of a petal, and therefore portions of the phydlome, rather than 
trichome. 
2. The anthers, in this plant at least, are to be regarded as 
modified portions of the petal rather than outgrowths from It 
F. E. Todd, Beloit, Wis. 
sset read a 
INFLUENCE OF MOONLIGHT UPON PUT eee . 
paper before the Paris Academy of Sciences, at its SeSSIC™ "" 
5, 1883, upon the influence which the light of the moon has = 
the direction of plant growth. “Plants of phototropic ® m 
bility were grown from seeds in pots in a very dark panii the 
on three nights exposed at a window to direct monik ti 
stems bent over towards the moon and followed it in its CORA" 
REMARKABLE FALL OF PINE PoLLeN.—On the 18th of apite 
present year, in gathering some wàter plants (Zygnen 
rolegniaceæ, etc.) from a prairie pond in Central powa oe 
an abundance of what turned out to be pine pollen on the of the 
of the water. Now there are no native pines in this P ee 
State, the only pines being those planted for ornamen m ae pine 
None of these, however were in bloom, neither pe ward oe 
forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and ao ter 
essey. 
‘ 
