44 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
napthalin. The virtues of oil of sassafras in keeping away 
mosquitos are well known. 
Cinnamon Fern Fruiting in Autumn. — In Florida our 
well-known cinnamon fern {Osmunda cinnamomea) has a curi- 
ous trick of bearing a crop of fruiting fronds in Autumn. Ac- 
cording to a writer in the January Fern Bulletin nearly or quite 
one-half the plants in some places show this fall crop of fertile 
fronds. 
The Barberton Daisy. — The Boer war is probably responsi- 
ble for bringing into prominence a very interesting South African 
plant known as the Barberton or Transvaal daisy (Gerbera 
Jarnesoni.) The plant is not common as yet in cultivation, but is 
likely to soon become a familiar sight in the flower garden. The 
flower is described as daisy-like in appearance, often four inches 
across and bright scarlet in color. 
Self-Pruning of Woody Plants. — A few of our common 
trees have the remarkable habit of forming cleavage planes in 
their branches whereby certain twigs are cut off toward the end 
of the growing season, effectually pruning the plant. These 
cleavage planes are very conspicuous in one of the common aspens 
(Popiihis grandidenfafa) . Prof. J. H. Schaffner has been look- 
ing for these cleavage planes in other trees, and in the Ohio Nat- 
uralist for January, notes that they occur in the cotton wood 
(Popidiis deltoides), black willow, white oak, Rhamnus lance- 
olafa, Qiierciis platanoides and others. This self-pruning is 
sometimes but not always a family characteristic. The common 
elm (Ulmus Americana) and Ulmus raceniosa possess the habit, 
but the slippery elm ( U. fidva) does not. Others trees, among 
which may be mentioned the wild cherry and hackberry, cut off 
their fruit spurs in this way, after the fruit has fallen. The wil- 
lows are very noticeable for this self-pruning habit, and in many 
species the twigs are often cut off before the growing season is 
ended and while the leaves are still green. 
Value of Botanical Studies. — The famous Monravian 
writer, Amos Comenius, over 250 years ago, gave vigorous ex- 
