THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



113 



P'rench term for cabbage is chi>u which is also derived from 

 the Latin caulis. From choii has been derived the term cold- 

 slaw to designate cabbage prepared as a salad. The word was 

 originally colc-chou. Cauliflower is readily seen to be derived 

 from caiihs and flower ( floris in the Latin ). Collard, the name 

 of a kind of cabbage common in southern markets is a corrup- 

 tion of colewort, and kohl rabi was originally the Italian caz'oli 

 rape or rape stem — rape being another species closely related to 

 the cabbage. 



Osage Oraxge as a Dye-wood. — It does not seem to be 

 generally known that the osage orange (Madura poiiiifcra) 

 so familiar as a hedge plant in the ^vliddle \\'est. is the source 

 of a dve of some importance. The heart wood is orange yellow 

 in color and it is from this wood that the dye is obtained. F. W. 

 Kressman recently reported to the American Chemical Society 

 that an examination of wood from Texas showed that it con- 

 tahied moric and moritannic acid like the tropical dye-wood, 

 fustic, and in about the same amount. A comparative series 

 of dyeing experiments showed that the osage orange wood is 

 fully as valuable as fustic for dyeing, both as to the color, 

 which is a clear yellow, and as to its ability to stand light, 

 weather, Avashing, etc.. Avithout fading. Xotwithstanding the 

 AvaA' in Avhich aniline colors are pushing to the front, there is a 

 considerable traflic still carried on in natural dye-Avoods, such 

 as logAvood and the like. Xoav that a tremendous disturbance 

 exists in the countries producing most of the aniline dyes, Ave 

 may yet have to depend on these domestic dyes as Ave did, to a 

 considerable extent, during the Civil Wrv. 



XuMBER OF Rays ix Heliaxthus. — LTitil one has 

 counted the ray-floAvers in a number of sunfloAver heads, he 

 does not realize the amount of variation of Avhich they are 

 capable. A count of 351 heads of Hclianthus grosse-serrafus 

 shoAvs that the average number of rays is 13, but there is a 

 Avide distribution i~)f the ntnnbers. Five heads had 10 rays 



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