27 



beautifully crisped and of a golden hue. The standard, in addi- 

 tion, has a deep shading- of yellow down the centre, breaking up 

 into small, irregular patches of pure gold near the apex. When 

 in flower, this must be a truly magnificent sight. Welwitsch 

 describes it as " a robust shrub climbing to a great height and 

 then hanging down its graceful branches." 



Another Compass Plant. — A closer study of our plants 

 has shown that the leaves of many of them have a decided 

 polarity. One of the best examples to be found in eastern 

 gardens is the prickly lettuce (Lactuca scariola), whose leaves, 

 turned edgewise and pointing mostly north and south, are suffi- 

 ciently noticable to attract the attention of even the casual ob- 

 server. A writer in the Ohio Naturalist notes a similar pecu- 

 liarity in the leaves of the common fleabane (Erigeron Philadel- 

 phicum), although in this plant the plane of the leaves may lie 

 in any direction. 



Number of Our Fern worts. — With an increase in the 

 study of our ferns the number of species is found to be consider- 

 ably augmented. Mr. B. D. Gilbert's recently issued "North 

 American Pteridophytes" enumerates 266 species, 55 sub-species 

 or varieties and 115 lesser forms of ferns and fern allies in 

 North America north of Mexico. Mr. Gilbert's is the most com- 

 plete list of these plants ever issued in this country. 



The Ants and the Partridge Pea. — On each leaf-stalk 

 of the Partridge Pea (Cassia chamaecrista) , about half way be- 

 tween its junction with the stem and the lowest pair of leaflets, 

 is a small gland about the size of a pin head slightly raised above 

 the surface of the leaf-stalk. It is circular or somewhat lozenge 

 shaped in outline and no doubt many who have examined the 

 plant have wondered as to its utility. Some lesser forms of 

 creation, however, seem not to have been bothered on this score, 

 but have laid the plant under ceaseless contribution. In the cen- 

 ter of the flat upper surface of each gland there is a tiny opening 

 just visible to an attentive eye, from which a viscid substance 

 constantly oozes, forming a tiny globule. This seems ex- 



