722 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Fungus- flora of Japan. Several new species are described, and the 

 conclusion is drawn, from the large number of new species found in a 

 small area in a comparatively short time, that the Uredine flora of Japan is 

 a rich one. — A. B. B. 



Vanda hybrida, ' Marguerite Maron ' (V. teres x V. suavis). 

 By G. T. Grignan (Bee. Hort. Dec. 16, 1903, pp. 574-5 ; coloured 

 plate). — The plate depicts the hybrid and the two parents, the characters 

 of which are beautifully combined, forming a very handsome and interest- 

 ing combination, distinctly superior to either parental form. — C. T. D. 



Variation, Effect of Manures on. G. T. Grignan (Bev. Hort. 

 Dec. 1, 1903, pp. 556-7). Abstract of results of trials by M. Emile 

 Laurent with Carrots from 1897 to 1902. — Choosing a very stable 

 variety, " semi-long dwarf," he cultivated it in soils enriched respectively 

 with (1) nitrogenous manure, (2) potash, (3) phosphoric acid, (4) lime, and (5) 

 common salt. As a result in the last generation raised it was found that 

 in No. 1 they had assumed a slightly conical form ending obtusely ; in 2, 

 3, and 4, they were cylindrical with obtuse ends ; while in No. 5 they were 

 all conical and finely pointed, showing that salt induces a lengthening, 

 accompanied by slender terminals. These characters appeared more or 

 less gradually in the successive cultures, and therefore must have been to 

 some extent inherited, but no trials are recorded as to tendency to 

 reversion when sown in differently constituted soil. Other trials are 

 noted to determine the effect of mineral admixtures on sexual develop- 

 ment, nitrogenous manures or lime in excess producing a majority of 

 males in Spinach, while potash and phosphoric acid augmented the 

 number of females ; the seeds, on the other hand, are conversely affected. 



C. T. D. 



Variation in Trillium grandiflorum. By H. W. Britcher (U.S.A. 

 Exp. Stn. Maine, Bep. 1902, pp. 169-196; 6 plates). — This contribution 

 towards the statistical study of variation gives measurements and notes 

 regarding 185 plants of T. grandiflorum collected at Syracuse, New 

 York. — F. J. C. 



Variation, Wild and Cultural. By C. T. Druery (Gard. Ghron. 

 No. 886, p. 418 ; Dec. 19, 1903).— The object of this article is to show that, 

 contrary to the general opinion of botanists, " sports " are more likely to 

 occur among wild than cultivated plants. The writer points out very truly 

 that "plants under cultivation are always in a particularly favourable 

 position for the immediate observation of such departures by experienced 

 observers." He then at some length quotes the case of Ferns, showing by 

 a table that, while the number of varieties obtained under cultivation is 

 some 7o0, the number that have been found in a wild state is 1,360. 



G. S. S. 



Vellozia equisetoides. By W. W. (Gard. Chron., No. 886, p. 425, 

 fig. 167 ; Dec. 19, 1903). — The genera Vellozia and Barbacenia belong to 

 the order AmanjUidaccce, but, unlike the ordinary bulbous representa- 

 tives of that order, most of the species have branched woody stems 



