ABSTRACTS. 



1169 



nitrogenous materials results, and reacts on the structure of the plants 

 and the development of new shoots and leaves. There is an interesting 

 examination of the condition of reserve and other food-materials at differ- 

 ent periods. Results obtained by Woods (while examining the mosaic 

 •disease of Tobacco in the United States) have been followed up ; the 

 two diseases are somewhat similar in character, and an interesting 

 similarity in the increase of oxydases and acidity is shown to exist. 



W. G. S. 



Musa BasjOO, syn. M. japonica. By F. Rehnelt (Die Gart. p. 2, 

 4/10/1902, with illustration). — This species of Banana, which is quite 

 hardy in Italy and the South of France as well as the Western counties 

 of England, stood under slight cover out of doors in Germany. In order 

 to give the plants a fair chance, however, it is recommended to plant 

 strong specimens established in pots early in the summer. — G. B. 



Musa Wilsoni. By W. J. Tutcher (Gard. Chron. No. 834, p. 450, 

 iig. 151 ; Dec. 20, 1902).- — This is a new species from Yunnam, known 

 by the natives as the ' Elephant Head ' Banana. It is cultivated for the 

 sake of the inner portion of the stem, which is used for food. " It is a 

 highly ornamental species, with broad arching leaves 10 to 12 feet long. 

 The trunk is conical, 5 feet long below the lowest leaves. All the bracts 

 are persistent, but only the lower ones contain fertile flowers. The male 

 flowers continue to open until the fruits are ripe, and as all the bracts 

 are then withered and brown, it can easily be understood why the natives 

 of Yunnam call the plant the ' Elephant's Head ' Banana. The resem- 

 blance is certainly very striking." It appears to be closely allied to 

 M. glauca.— G. S. S. 



Musa religiosa, Resistance to Wind of. By Prof. Giorgio Roster 

 (Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. Ort. 11, p. 342, November 1902).— In the author's 

 Garden of Ottonella, in Elba, during last October violent northerly 

 and southerly winds, the latter amounting to a hurricane, occurred, from 

 the effects of which Musa Basjoo, 31. paradisiaca, and M. sapient um 

 suffered severely. M. chinensis and M. Arnoldiana received less injury, 

 M. religiosa escaped wholly. The tree was somewhat smaller than the 

 other species, but nevertheless bore 10 leaves 50 cm. long and 20 cm. 

 broad, none of which were either broken or torn along the transverse 

 veins. The author points out that the resistance of a Musa to wind 

 depends on three conditions, viz. (1) the size and robustness of the 

 leaf- stalks and rachis ; (2) the density and thickness of the parenchyma 

 of the leaf ; (3) a special tendency of the leaves, more or less accentuated 

 according to the species, to become torn along the transverse veins. The 

 wind easily snaps the relatively weak and delicate leaf-stalk and rachis of 

 M. Basjoo, but has less effect on the robust leaf- stalk and large rachis. of 

 M. Ensete. 



The fact that moderately strong winds leave the foliage of M. Ensete 

 in a tattered condition is due to the circumstance that the special structure 

 of the leaf exposes it, more than others, to laceration into as many pendent 

 Haciniae as there are transverse veins. 



B B 



