SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 



cxvii 



suffused with the same colour, though probably of lighter intensity, 

 and finally the same colour spread to other parts of the flower. 



Blue Oak. — Dr. A. Voelcker showed sections cut across the branches 

 of the oak from which the piece of greenish-grey wood shown by him 

 last year was taken. The oak is at Tewkesbury and has been struck 

 by lightning, but it is improbable that this has had anything to do 

 with the coloration of the wood. The dead branch had more of the 

 colour developed than the living, but the latter showed it to 

 a considerable extent, though in no part was it so intense as in the 

 dead. The heart-wood was not coloured. The appearance was 

 extremely like that described by Von Schrenk in Bulletin 36 of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, Dep. of Agriculture, U.S. America, under 

 the title of Bluing of Timber, and attributed to the presence of a 

 fungus. 



Foxglove branched. — Mr. E. M. Holmes, F.L.S., showed a spike of 

 Foxglove bifurcated about a third of the way up and showing little 

 if any sign of fasciation in the lower part. Other members referred to 

 similar instances. 



Sawfly on Apple. — Mr. E. M. Holmes also showed some sawfly 

 larvae which he had found feeding on the foliage of the Apple. The 

 larvae belong to Lygaeonematus moestus, which Professor Theobald 

 has only recently recorded as British. 



Rose with green petals. — Mr. F. J. Chittenden showed the flower of 

 Rosa canina with green petals. It had been plucked in a hedge not 

 far from Leatherhead by Mr. Pleese, of Merrow, who had brought it 

 to him. 



Viola with fringed foliage. — Mr. C. T. Druery, V.M.H., sent the 

 plant, of which a leaf had been shown at the last meeting, of a Viola 

 with frilled and fringed foliage. It was found in his garden at Acton, 

 and was evidently not V. odorata as was at first thought. The species 

 could not be determined from the specimen before the Committee, 

 but was perhaps V. Riviniana. 



Pelargonium Hybrids. — Mr. A. Langley Smith showed a series of 

 Pelargoniums raised by himself. The first cross was not defined. 

 From it were raised numerous seedlings, varying much in foliage 

 and in habit and colouring of flowers. These were the result of self- 

 pollinating the hybrid. The third set were the result of fertilizing 

 the seedlings so obtained with pollen from the original hybrid. These 

 again showed much variation in foliage &c. (p. cxix). 



Gooseberries diseased. — Several specimens of Gooseberry branches 

 were sent. They had died suddenly after starting into growth. This 

 trouble with Gooseberries is usually due to the attack of the fungus 

 Botryosphaeria ribesii. It is best to remove and burn the affected 

 branches as soon as they are discovered, not allowing them to remain 

 until the autumn. The branches should be cut away close to their 

 origin, as the fungus fruits near to the base of the affected shoots. 



Saxifrage Rust. — Foliage of several of the longifolia group of 

 Saxifrages was sent from Hindhead badly attacked by a rust fungus. 



