512 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



together with the high percentage of alkali metals, would be sufficient 

 to cause death to a sheep eating of the plant to any extent. — A. P. 



Xylobium. By R. Schlechter (Orchis, vol. vii. pt. ii. pp. 21-24). — 

 The author gives a list of the varieties of Xylobium in cultivation : 

 X. brachypus, from Nicaragua, has pear-shaped pseudo-bulbs ; the 

 flowers are somewhat larger than those of X. squalens. X. brachy- 

 stachum, a native of St. Catharina, in South Brazil, is little known. 

 X. bractescens, a Peruvian Orchid, bears yellow flowers with a red- 

 brown lip. X. Buchiienianum has a flower stem 19 inches in height 

 with 12 flowers. The colour is not known. The plant comes from 

 Peru. X. Colleyi, from the West Indies, bears 3-5 red-brown flowers 

 with purple spots. X. coelia, Rolfe, is a native of Columbia, resem- 

 bling X. squalens. X. concavum, from Guatemala, has pale yellow 

 flowers, smaller than X. bractescens. X. corrugatum, from Venezuela ; 

 the flower stem is about 5 inches high, bearing 3-7 brownish-purple 

 blooms. X. elongatum is characterized by long cylindrical pseudo- 

 bulbs. It bears from 10 to 20 pale yellow flowers with dark red 

 labellum, and is a native of Central America. X. foveatum resembles 

 X. squalens, but the flowers are straw-coloured. X. hyacinthinum is 

 found in Venezuela, bears twenty pale yellow flowers which smell like 

 hyacinths. X. hypocritum, Rolfe, is closely allied to X. pallidiflorum. 

 X. leontoglossum is a strong grower from Columbia. X. miliaceum is 

 a native of Bolivia. X. palmijolium has white or yellowish unspotted 

 flowers (West Indies). X. pallidiflorum, a native of Venezuela, 

 bears yellowish-white flowers. The flowers of X. rebellis are brown- 

 red with brown spots. X. scabrilingue is recognized by its dark 

 brownish-yellow flowers. The lip is covered with papillae at the tip. 

 X. squalens is a native of Venezuela. X. stachyobiorum occurs in 

 Costa Rica. It has long, oval pseudo-bulbs. X. supinum, from Peru, 

 is identical with X. squalens according to some botanists. X. truxil- 

 lense resembles X. scabrilingue and X. supinum. Little is known 

 about X. undulalum, a native of Peru. — 5. E. W. 



Zygadenus intermedius. By F. W. Heyl, F. E. Hepner, and 

 S. K. Loy (U.S.A. Exp. Sin., Wyoming, Ann. Rep. 1911-12 ; pp. 

 51-57 ; 2 figs.). —From the crude alkaloidal mixture obtained from the 

 leaves of this poisonous plant (known as Death Camas) , a crystalline 

 alkaloid has been isolated which has been named Zygadenine. This 

 substance melts sharply at 200°-2oi° C. and gave analytical results 

 which correspond to the formula C 3 9H 6 oNO 10 . — A. P. 



