SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, APKIL 30. 



xxxiii 



Tchihatchewia isatidea (Boiss.).— - The Viscountess Emlyn, Frensham 

 Hall, Haslemere, exhibited this very curious cruciferous plant, a native 

 of the mountains of Asia Minor, where it grows at an altitude of between 

 5000 and 6000 feet. The habit of the plant is exactly that of an Echium. 

 A botanical certificate was unanimously awarded to the plant. It is 

 figured in Bot. Mag. tab. 7608. 



New Break in Auricula. — Mr. Douglas, V.M.H., showed an alpine 

 auricula having golden stripes running through the edges of the petals. 

 Mr. Douglas stated that this was the first time he had seen this remark- 

 able variation in colour. 



African Grimtms. — Mr. Elwes, F.R.S., showed inflorescences of 

 crinums, one having white flowers with a very curious and somewhat 

 unpleasant scent, which Mr. Worsley recognised as a form of Crinum 

 giganteum ; the other flowers had a pinkish tint, and the plant sold under 

 the name of C. Macowani. Mr. Worsley regarded this as a form of 

 C. latifolium from the most southern part of the range of that species. 



Hybrid Japanese Plum and Peach. — Mr. Laxton showed an 

 interesting hybrid raised between the Japanese plum <j> and the peach 

 1 Sea Eagle ' $ . The foliage of this hybrid is illustrated at fig. 131 in Kept. 

 International Conference (1906) on Genetics. This year the hybrid 

 has flowered for the first time, the flowers being white with the faintest 

 tinge of pink in the bud stage, the .filaments of the stamens white and 

 stouter than those of the Japanese plum, the anthers well developed, and 

 pollen apparently properly formed, the flower as large as that of the 

 peach. No pistil was present in any of the flowers shown, but a photo- 

 graph showed the style and stigma developed in some of the flowers. No 

 fruits have, however, been so far perfected, the ovary being frequently 

 absent even when the style and stigma are present. 



Pruning and Protection of Gooseberry Bushes. — Mr. J. F. Baker 

 showed a branch completely furnished with blossom throughout its entire 

 length of over three feet from a gooseberry bush. It had been regularly 

 summer-pinched every June, but not otherwise pruned. Several snags 

 left at the last pinching were still present, and at the base of each one or 

 two blossoms showed that the pinching of the young shoot had induced 

 fruit formation. Each autumn the bush was bound up with string, 

 so that the branches were brought near together and kept as upright as 

 possible to prevent disbudding by birds, which abound in the district. 

 The string was removed each spring. He stated that as a result of his 

 experiments, extending over several years, he had for the last two or three 

 years adopted these methods extensively, very little trouble or expense 

 being involved, and the results were excellent. A branch from a bush 

 treated and left in the ordinary way, growing in the same plot, was also 

 shown, and this was almost denuded of buds. 



Scientific Committee, April 30, 1907. 



The late Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S., in the Chair, and thirteen other 



members present. 



African Crinums. — Mr. Worsley reported that the crinums shown at 

 the last meeting by Mr. Elwes were C. giganteum and C. Macowani. 



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