THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



53 



to a writer in Indian Gardening a certain large and ven- 

 omous snake,, the saracucu, seems to have found this out 

 .and during the fruiting season lies in wait at the base oi 

 the tree for such small game as may be attracted by the 

 seeds. In thus warding off the animals that would des- 

 troy the seeds, the snake is supposed to contribute not a 

 little to the preservation of the species. 



Nymph^a Flaya. — It may interest your readers to 

 hear of the entire disappearance of ISlympliaea Rava from 

 this part of the St. Johns River. There are three localities 

 near here where there were hundreds and thousands of 

 plants a few years ago:; now not one can be found, Thej^ 

 have not been dug or gathered, but simply smothered b^^ 

 the masses of water hyacinth, (Eichornia speciosa,) — W. 

 C. Steele J Switzerland, Fla. 



Nitrogen in Flowers— It is surprising to learn that 

 in some parts of the world flowers are valued as food for 

 the amount «of nitrogen they contain. The poorer classes 

 of India are said to use the flowers of Calligonnm polygon- 

 oides for this reason, and they are reported to be a "desir- 

 able addition to foods that are poor in nitrogen." These 

 flowers contain about 2.64 per cent of nitrogen. The 

 flower of sugar cane contains 1,70 per cent, those of the 

 English elm 3,50 per cent and those of yellow creeper 

 (Bignonia ungius) 4.19 per cent. 



Birch Sap, — '^The river hirch {Betula nigra) is, indeed, 

 a fountain of refreshment in March when the sap is run- 

 ning and refuses no thirsty wayfarer who taps it," saj^s a 

 writer in the Philadelphia Record. "Thrust your knife in- 

 to the bark, insert a splinter at a declining angle, hold a 

 cup to catch the drippings, and you have in a few minutes 

 a mouthful of a beverage as clear and cool as spring 

 water, with the faintest possible suggestion of sugar in 

 it." The black birch (Betula lenta) and the yellow birch 

 (B. lutea) are also noted for their abundant sap. The 

 black birch is sometimes tapped for the purpose of mak- 

 ing a sort of beer from the fermented sap. 



