THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



101 



grow on that dr^^ sunny, sandy roadside. When Mrs. 

 Bradshaw, in American Botanist for October, called 

 turkey mullein clever in its way, it reminded me of my sun- 

 dew and I wondered if it was not trjnng to moisten its 

 roots with its own vital fluid. Again in the February 

 number Mrs. Bradshaw indicates that she is thinking 

 along this same line for she refers to filaree as canny, cun- 

 ning and having perception. When it is established some 

 day, that plants in their way know a thing or two bot- 

 anists wall not be at all startled ; but will quietly say : 

 ^'Ah ! We told you so, we told you so." — W. W. Munson, 

 Otisco, A^. Y. [If there are any plants that know, it is as 

 likely to be these animal-eating sundews as any, but the 

 great amount of secretion mentioned in this case is proba- 

 bly more easily explained by the fact thatsunn3^ situations 

 usually have the effect of increasing the secretions of the 

 plants. — Ed.] 



The Largest Seed. — The reader who, in '^Note and 

 Comment" in the October American Botanist, asked 

 whether the cocoanut is the largest seed, may be interest- 

 ed to know that it is not, Cocoanuts seldom v^eigh over 

 12 -pounds v^hen fresh picked. But there is a rare palm 

 known as Lodoicea seychellarum which grows on the 

 rocky islands of the Seychelle group northeast of Mada- 

 gascar that produces a fruit which is said to weigh some- 

 times as much as 40 or even 50 pounds. Judging from 

 dry museum specimens of the seed, these figures may be 

 somewhat "travelerish" still, there is not much doubt as 

 to where the ''largest seed" honor rests. Three years are 

 required for the germination of this huge seed and it is 

 said that ten years elapse between flower and complete 

 maturity of fruit. The palm, which attains a height of 

 100 feet, is naturally exceedingly rare under glass ; a spec- 

 imen has recently flowered, hovsrever, at the Pittsburg 

 Botanical Gardens. By the way, will the reader who 

 champions the portly pumpkin tell us whether 250 pounds 

 is the "record" weight of that fruit? — O. W. Barrett, 

 Mayaguez, Porto Rico. [Possibly the largest pumpkin 

 would weigh 250 pounds but this is near the limit. — Ed.] 



