58 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



tion and appears to be the parent of some of the forms offered 

 as new creations by the plant breeders. There are numerous 

 other species of Oenothera widely distributed in the United 

 States and several have rather showy flowers, but those men- 

 tioned in this article are probably the best for cultivation. 



FASCIATION 



I 'HE term fasciation is given to a condition in plants in 

 which several stems become bunched together and flat- 

 tened out into a ribbon-like object. The condition may be 



found in ordinary vegetative 

 stems, but it appears to be 

 most common in the flower- 

 ing" parts. It is known to 

 occur in a large number of 

 different species and probably 

 may occur in any plant when 

 conditions faA'or its appear- 

 ance. 



Fasciation is very common 

 in the flowering stems of 

 the dandelion. Scarcely a 

 season passes in which such 

 abnormalities may not be no- 

 ticed. The flattened part in 

 this plant may become an 

 inch or more wide and the 

 A fasciated cone flower. flower head may assume cor- 



respondingly monstrous pro- 

 portions. Along with fasciation there often goes a condition 

 known as split stem in which there seems to be a failure of the 

 stems to unite for their entire length. In some of the rudbeckias 



