102 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



Etymology of Calyx. — The early botanists did not use 

 the word calyx to indicate the outer whorl of floral organs. 

 Their term was empalement. When the word calyx came into 

 use it was translated as meaning a cup. Many interesting ex- 

 planations of the structure of the flower have since been made 

 in which this part of the flower figures as the flower-cup. This 

 derivation of the word, however, seems an error. It is known 

 that the Latin language contains two words derived from the 

 Greek which sound sO' nearly alike as to be frequently mis- 

 taken. One of these is calix, meaning a cup or goblet, the 

 other is calyx, a husk or shell, that which encloses. It is very 

 evident that it is this latter word which supplied our term calyx. 

 This again illustrates the number of slips there are said to be 

 between the cup and its uses. 



Leaf Color in Barberry. — The Japanese barberry 

 (Berberis Tlninbergii) is one of the landscape gardener's favor- 

 ite plants. It is a hardy compact little shrub invaluable for all 

 sorts of decorative effects. Though its flowers are not es- 

 pecially conspicuous, the red berries which remain on the plane 

 well into the winter make it of value for the cheerful touch it 

 imparts to the shrubberies long after other forms of beauty 

 have disappeared. Still another of the barberry's good quali- 

 ties, but one which dealers and gardeners alike have neglected, 

 is the habit the leaves have of turning scarlet in early autumn. 

 Not all plants have this scarlet tinge, however; about half of 

 the individuals in a given planting are likely to have yellow, 

 unattractive foliage. Since the shrub is usually multiplied by 

 cuttings, it would be a simple matter to- select for propagation 

 only those whose leaves turn scarlet and thus with little trouble 

 add a new color note to parks and other public grounds. The 

 nurserymen, however, constantly surprise us by their lack of 

 acumen in pushing their products. Barberries are barberries 

 and it never occurs to the grower that a distinctive strain of 



