THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



35 



pad strengthened by the well-known adhesive character of 

 blood. I think there is no question about the fact of their use- 

 fulness. Together with much foolishness in the ''old wives' 

 Fables," there is mingled a deal of practical wisdom, which by 

 the way reminds one of Christian Science, falsely so-called. — 

 /. M. Bates. 



Fragrant Trilliums. — There is great variation in the 

 time at which plants produce their perfume. Some flowers 

 are fragrant as long as the corolla is expanded, others 

 give off their odors during certain hours of the day and 

 night only, usually at such times as the particular insect 

 which pollinates their flowers is about. Other flowers 

 apparently have no perfume, at least none that the human 

 sense of smell can detect, though it will not do to say that 

 they are entirely odorless, for they seem to be able to 

 attract insects from a distance though hidden, and the 

 inference is strong that the flowers give off odors that the 

 insects can appreciate. Cases in which ordinarily odorless 

 flowers are occasionally fragrant belong to a very different 

 class. What it is that causes single flowers, or a single 

 group of flowers to suddenly become fragrant is difficult 

 to say. Instances that will illustrate this will occur to 

 anybody who has much to do with our wild flowers. The 

 hepatica is practically odorless yet it not infrequently hap- 

 pens that flowers with considerable fragrance are 

 found. In line with this, Mrs. J. D. Tuttle reports fra- 

 grant flowers of the nodding trillium near Harrisonville, 

 N. H. The specimens were growing in rich moist soil. 

 Possibly the unusual opportunity for growth induced the 

 additional effort on the part of the flower. 



