lxxvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



square. There are numerous scales concealing the flowers. The in- 

 conspicuous flowers seem to be highly self-fertile, as a number of 

 fruits were produced on each inflorescence. 



No. 4. Bulbophyllum erythrorachis (Rolfe). A new species like the 

 last two, with a long, club-shaped, red rachis. 



No. 5. Bulbophyllum inflatum (Rolfe). A new species with a curiously 

 inflated rachis, about 2\ inches long and J inch in diameter, bearing 

 numerous small greenish-white flowers. 



Fasciated and Contorted Teasels. — Professor Boulger, on behalf of Dr. 

 Masters, showed a walking-stick made from a curiously contorted teasel 

 stem. Prof, de Vries has stated that this peculiarity can be perpetuated 

 by seed, but after growing the seed obtained from Prof, de Vries, and 

 following the directions given for at least ten years, Dr. Masters has 

 failed to obtain any contorted specimens, although by continued pinching 

 a large amount of variation may be observed in the foliage, sometimes 

 four leaves occurring in a whorl, and so on. 



Disease of Salsafy. — Mr. Saunders showed a specimen of salsafy 

 attacked by the fungus Cystopus Tragopogonis, very commonly found 

 upon gcat's-beard. 



Damage by Hail. — Dr. Plowright sent specimens of peas, cabbage, 

 and apples illustrating the damage done by a recent hailstorm to these 

 crops. 



Excrescences on Tree- trunks. — Mr. Benedict sent an example of an 

 excrescence on the trunk of a poplar, about 8 inches in diameter, covered 

 with small shoots and adventitious buds, stating that similar excrescences 

 were developed on laburnum, elm, and plane. It was thought that the 

 tree had made an effort to heal a wound made in pruning or otherwise, 

 that from the callus formed numerous adventitious buds had arisen, 

 and that neither a fungus nor an insect was the cause of the trouble. 

 The sender thought that probably too deep planting had been a contribu- 

 tory cause. 



British Dye Pla?its. — Dr. Plowright sent the following notes, with 

 specimens of the dyes described : — 



" 1. Hedera Helix. — The ivy is a plant we always regard as being one 

 of the most sombre of our English phanerogams. I was very much 

 astonished a short time ago to find that the ripe berries yielded, on boil- 

 ing with water and a small quantity of alum, a rich reddish-purple fluid 

 which had the property of conveying to wool a reddish tint. There are 

 very few red colours yielded by our British dye plants. The red dye of 

 ivy-berries is not mentioned by Linnaeus or by Withering, nor any of the 

 botanical writers of that period whose works I have read. The roots of 

 the plant from which the berries were taken, it may be observed, show 

 numerous stains of red. The coloration of the roots is not soluble in 

 boiling water or in alcohol. The colour is mostly in the cortex, but 

 extends to the outer part of the wood, old roots and rootlets both 

 showing it. 



" 2. Cratcegus Oxyacantha. — The mayflower has many poetical associa- 

 tions — few plants have not : it will come as a surprise to many people 

 (but not to all) that the blossom is capable of yielding a dye. One would 

 hardly have expected the beautiful white petals to have yielded such a 



