The Garden Magazine, February, 1922 



307 



best of opportunities were available for repeated transfers of 

 material and for actual comparisons of the behavior of the 

 species in their ancient habitats and in their new and strange 

 environments. The large percentage of survivals was a grat- 

 ifying surprise, although in such experimentation the failures 

 often yield more in the way of scientific results than the sur- 

 vivals. 



THE most striking feature in the appearance of the intro- 

 duced species was their vigorous and luxuriant growth. 

 Culturists have been disposed to regard vegetative development 

 and reproduction by seeds as competing or antagonistic pro- 

 cesses, but no such relation could be adduced in the present 

 instance. 



The extended season gave conditions for growth over a time 

 nearly double that of the mountain habitat, but with softer 

 light. Long continued development of the shoots with multi- 

 plication of the branches and total leaf surface resulted, while 

 such plants as Scrophularia, with thickened roots or with root- 

 stocks, showed an exaggeration of these features, and the in- 

 creased storage capacity was utilized for larger quantities of 

 starch than were stored by plants on the mountain. The weight 

 of the tubers formed by the Wild Potato was about double that 

 displayed by plants grown in the shorter season of the mountain 

 location. 



Dugaldea, Fragaria, Parthenocissus, Oenothera, Potentilla, 

 Rudbeckia, Scrophularia, Sedum, Solanum, and Tradescantia 

 all perfected abundant crops of seeds. The Walnut has had 

 many flowers and set many nuts, but matured only a few; the 



Arizona Grape sets no fruits and the Oaks are coming into bear- 

 ing. The Gooseberry has showed many flowers but, so far, 

 matured no fruits. The conspicuous failure of the Grape is due 

 to some unknown factor, probably not climatic, connected with 

 pollination. 



While the general aspect of some of the plants differs from 

 that in their native habitat, as yet nothing has been seen in the 

 way of a bud sport, and too few second generations have been 

 grown from seeds to give fair opportunity for mutations to 

 appear. 



One fact of interest in the evaluation of species is afforded by 

 the Walnut. The Walnuts in Arizona, growing in the canons 

 at an elevation of from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, have been included in 

 one species as named above. However, when nuts from the 

 trees at the lower altitudes and others from the mountain top 

 are taken to the coast they produce trees of unlike appearance 

 (as shown in the accompanying photograph) suggestive of 

 developing differences between closely related forms. The 

 anatomical details of the leaves and stems of these trees are as 

 unlike as their general stature appears to be. 



The anatomical changes in many of the introduced forms were 

 very striking, although their actual genetical importance is 

 unknown, since but few seeds have been taken back to the 

 mountain habitats. The Strawberry forms one, two, or some- 

 times three extra leaflets. Scrophularia developed some peloric 

 or regular- flowers, while in many the corolla showed extra 

 divisions and an extra stamen. One flower had 10 parts to the 

 corolla, 9 parts to the calyx, and 8 stamens; and the "sterile" 

 stamen in many instances held good pollen. 



THE ROMANCE OF ST. VALENTINE 



JANE LESLIE KIFT 



JHE origin of St. Valentine's Day is rather hazy and, like 

 many another custom to-day current in Christian coun- 

 tries, dates back to an old pagan festival. The simple 

 folk of ancient days believed that on February four- 

 teenth the birds choose 



their mates for the com- 

 ing year. Also in those 



bygone times, according 



to legend, maidens used 



to gather at the temple or 



festal board and place 



their names in boxes 



which were afterward 



solemnly passed among 



gatherings of the sterner 



sex and each man drew 



the name of his future 



wife — a ceremony which 



has continued in modi- 

 fied form through the 



centuries and may still 



be found in outlying 



districts of England. 

 1 n Derbyshire if a 



maiden does not receive 



a token from the man of 



her choice on the morn 



of St. Valentine, she is 



said to be "dusty" and 



her friends, with the 



aid of a broom, remove 



the invisible dust after 



which the token is cer- 



tain to appear. Should you live in Lancashire and on Feb- 

 ruary fourteenth chance to meet a tall man, you must im- 

 mediately plant Phlox which will grow taller than any 

 in all the surrounding country. But if the first man you 



meet be short, do not 

 plant this showy flower 

 because it will grow only 

 one foot high. 



Would you be lucky in 

 love, be sure to wear a 

 yellow Crocus on St. 

 Valentine's Day. Should 

 an up-to-the-minute 

 colonial bouquet or a 

 basket reach you this 

 Valentine morning , this 

 infallible, time-honored 

 rite is recommended: on 

 a slip of paper jot down 

 the name of the hoped- 

 for donor with your own 

 beneath it; then tuck the 

 slip under your pillow 

 and, just before retiring, 

 repeat this thyme: 



"If he who sent this valentine 

 Is named above with mine 

 I pray good saint that by 



this line 

 I may his name devine." 



In the land of dreams 

 you will come face to face 

 with the giver! 



VALENTINE BASKET 



OF PRIMULA MALA- 



COIDES 



