114 



THE AMERICAN BOTANlSt 



remarkable in this species because it belongs to a famih' which 

 has typically single carpels. Plants with extra fruits are now 

 growing in the editor's garden. 



Fruit or Vegetable. — Botanists are often importuned by 

 their friends to decide whether certain structures are fruits or 

 vegetables, though it would appear at first glance as if every- 

 body should know that a fruit results from a flower while any- 

 thing that is alive and not an animal is a vegetable. Fruits, 

 therefore are always vegetables but all vegetables are not fruits. 

 It has remained for a New York judge, however, to make a 

 legal decision in the matter, and according to reports, he has 

 ruled that anything that can be eaten raw is a fruit. Onions 

 and radishes therefore ought to be fruits, but they are not, 

 despite the legal opinion. 



BiTTERSW^EET FOR Indoors. — Autumnal hedgerows and 

 thickets owe part of their charm to the scarlet-seeded pods of 

 the climbing bittersweet, or wax work (Celastrus seandens), 

 a widely distributed native vine that every lover of a country 

 ramble knows. Twisting sprays of the flaming berries are 

 very ornamental, and if brought home and twined over book 

 case and mantel, glow cheerily indoors all winter long. For 

 the best eft'ect, the sprays should be gathered in early Sep- 

 tember before the pods, which are orange yellow and completely 

 hide the scarlet-arilled seed, have split open. The warmth of 

 the room will cause them to open and the arils will then keep 

 their brilliancy of color much longer than when the pods have 

 been allowed to open outdoors. — S. 



Tree Cisterns. — The baobab tree (Adansonia digifata), 

 a member of the hollyhock family common in the Sudan is one 

 of the freaks of the vegetable world. It has a large bottle- 

 shaped trunk which, though scarcely reaching the height of 

 sixty feet, is often more than a hundred feet in circumference 

 and is therefore one of the largest of plants. The stubby 

 branches which spring mostly from the top of the stem are so 



