Clxiv PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



correspond with the present, so that for the purpose of identification I 

 have called it Gloeosporium prunorum." Dr. Cooke showed sketches 

 and specimens of this disease. 



Ceropegia hybrida.—Mr. E. A. Bowles showed a flowering specimen 

 of this hybrid, which was described and figured in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle for December 1906, p. 383. It was raised from seed of 

 C. Sandersoni, which species had been crossed with pollen of C. similis. 

 Mr. Bowles also showed a flower of C. Sandersoni for comparison. 



Fruit of Pyrus Mains floribunda. — Dr. Bonavia sent some large 

 fruits of this Japanese variety of Apple, which he had not before seen 

 producing seed. Several members of the Committee remarked on the 

 large size of the fruit produced by this variety this year. 



Variation in Beech Foliage. — Mr. A. Hosking sent specimens of the 

 foliage of the fern-leaved Beech (Fagus sylvatica asplenifolia), and 

 branches from near the top of the same tree bearing leaves inter- 

 mediate between the fern-leaved type and the normal type, which he sent 

 for comparison. The specimens were from the garden of W. Fitzherbert- 

 Brockholes, Esq., of Claughton Hall, Preston. Mr. Hosking had since 

 noticed the same variation on a Beech in Avenham Park, Preston. The 

 branches bearing the intermediate foliage were intermixed with the 

 ordinary branches, and did not arise from the base of the tree. Mr. 

 Hosking suggested that this was another case of graft hybridisation 

 somewhat similar to that seen in Cytisus Adami and in Crataego- 

 Mespilus. 



Effect of Lightning on Elm. — Mr. C. H. Hooper sent specimens 

 illustrating the effect of lightning on an Elm tree which had been 

 struck during a storm on August 17. " The tree, which is about 

 100 yards from a tall church tower, was struck about 40 feet from 

 the ground, and shows no damage till within 6 feet of the ground, where 

 on one side the bark with the wood has been gouged out, and on the 

 other side the bark only has been cut and stripped as if with a knife." 

 The extent of the damage caused to trees in this manner seems to 

 depend on the amount of water in the wood. 



Effect of Light on Direction of Growth. — Mr. Sutton, through Mr. 

 Bennett-Poe, called attention to a letter from Mr. J. B. Wallis in the 

 Times, who described a curious growth in an Elder in a thicket near 

 Wirksworth, Derbyshire. He writes : " So great was the tangle of brush- 

 wood that the branches of this tree had been forced to bend over and 

 grow towards the ground, after the manner of the Weeping Willow. To 

 grow normally the leaves would have appeared with their under sides 

 uppermost, but to avoid this the stalk had grown spirally, making a 

 complete revolution of the axis, thus bringing the leaf right way up, 

 the whole presenting a peculiar appearance. Such is the power of sun- 

 light and the faculty of adaptation to environment." 



Tiuin Apples. — Mr. G. F. Hooper, of Croft Fruit Farm, Pershore, 

 sent an excellent specimen of this not very uncommon phenomenon. 

 In the present instance the two fruits were on quite distinct stalks, and 

 the fruits had become coherent in the upper parts. 



