32 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



possess all the necessary qualifications. The paper made from 

 cornstalks, for instance, is too weak for many uses, while that 

 made from manilla hemp is one of the strongest known, being- 

 exceeded only by some of the tough papers of the Japanese 

 which are supposed to be made from the paper mulberry and 

 bamboo. The steady demand for tough papers that can be 

 produced cheaply incline paper makers to examine with care 

 every promising source of material. According to a recent 

 Kezv Bulletin, this quest for new paper stock has led to a very 

 favorable report on a plant belonging to the ginger family. 

 The plant, which has no common name, is known to botanists 

 as Hedychiitm coronuriuin. It reaches a height of ten feet or 

 more and when growing looks much like the common canna 

 so frequently used in decorative planting. Not only is the 

 paper made from it a third stronger than manilla, but owing* 

 to the plant's possession of certain cells containing mucilage, it 

 has man}^ of the qualities of parchment and without first under- 

 going the special preparation necessary with other papers, will 

 take ink without blotting. The Hcdychiuui plant is a tropical 

 species that thrives in moist places. The prospect of making 

 tropical swamps yield a valuable return through the growth of 

 this plant seems now most favorable. 



Mycosymbiotic Plants. — The word mycosymbiotic has 

 been devised to characterize those flowering plants which 

 depend for at least a part of their food upon an association 

 with fungi. Parasites, as is well known, depend entirely upon 

 other living species for food, while saproplwtes differ from 

 these only in securing food from dead organisms. In both 

 these groups the advantage of the association is all on one side, 

 but in a third group where the association is known as sym- 

 biosis, two plants, usually a colorless fungus and a nearly 

 independent green plant, form a partnership in which each 

 gains something. The fungus may secure water for the green 

 plant and receive in return food elaborated by its partner. 



