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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
daisies. The habit of closing at night is reported of the English 
daisy which is quite a different plant from ours, and it is possible 
that the reputation given our plant has come by unconscious trans- 
ference; though it would be interesting to know if the ox-eye daisy 
ever closes after the ray flowers are once spread. 
The Study of PLANTs.--The unsolved problems of plant life 
are almost infinite. To make a collection, is no doubt interesting, 
but it is like making a library. What is the use of the books if 
you do not read them ? What is the value of a collection if you 
do not use it? Aristotle said the greatest happiness of gods or 
man was to be found in the study of nature, and I think that one 
of the wisest of the many wise sayings which we owe to this dis- 
tinguished man.— Lort/ Avebnry in Nature Notes. 
When do Wintergreen Berries Ripen ?~Most books that 
mention the subject say that the wintergreen {Gaultheria procunt'- 
hens) does not ripen its berries in autumn, but that they ripen 
under the snow. Who can say whether this is correct or not? 
The same idea prevails with better reason regarding the partridge 
berry {Mitchella rep ens) though one author speaks of them as 
"lasting well into the winter." It is, however, no uncommon 
thing to find the vines at flowering time thickly covered with ripe 
berries, and it is a question how long one crop of fruit lasts ; pos- 
sibly for two years or more if the partridge does not claim its own 
in the meantime. 
Catalpa Leaves. —Britton and Brown's Flora describes the 
leaves of Catalpa hignonioides as strongly scented. This tree is 
quite abundant in the neighborhood of Philadelphia along water 
courses, but I have failed to notice any particular odor in the 
leaves. It would be interesting to know from the editor of The 
American Botanist or its readers what the experience of other 
observers has been.~C. F. Saunders. (The editor has carefully 
examined a large number of both C. hignonioides and C. spcciosa 
and can find no marked odor in the leaves of either. Further ob- 
servations are desirable, however. While examining the leaves 
another interesting fact developed in the way the trees bloom. The 
side toward the sun, so far as observed, invariably bursts into 
bloom first. No doubt this phenomenon is observable in most 
