826 JOUENAL OF THE TlOYATj HORTTCTTLTrTRArj ROCTF.TY. 



nor should tliey be stacked in heaps in vacant parts of the orchard. 

 The most economical method of dealing with prunings is to destroy 

 them in a burner, which is either specially constructed by a })lacksmith 

 or which may consist of an old tank on a small truck. This is drawn 

 around, the orchard by a horse, the prunings being thrown in and 

 destroyed as the burner is taken up and down the rows. — C. H. H. 



PPUnus Mume. By F. Henkel {Gartenflora, vol. lix. pt. ii. 

 pp. 52, 53; 1 fig.). — Prunus Mume, a great favourite in Japan for 

 decorative purposes, is closely related to the apricots. ' Haku-bai ' 

 bears white and ' Ko-bai ' red flowers, which appear about Christmas in 

 a cold house. The flowers have a pleasant aroma, and appear before 

 the leaves. The fruit is round. — S. E. W . 



PsOPalea affinis {Bot. Mag. tab. 8331). — Nat. ord. Legvmiyiosae; 

 tribe Galegeae. South Africa. Shrub; leaves odd pinnate, 3-4 paired, 

 2 inches long; peduncles axillary, one-flowered, and clustered at the 

 ends of branches; corolla, with a dark purple keel-tip, standard purple, 

 nearly f inch across. — G. H. 



PterOStylis curta. By F. Ledien (Orchis, vol. iv. pt. vii. pp. 100- 

 102; 1 col. plate). — The mechanism by which this Australian orchid 

 traps insects is explained with the aid of a coloured plate. — S. E. W. 



Pterostyrax hispidum (Bot. May. tah. 8329). —Nat. ord. 

 Siyraceae. Japan. Tree; leaves '2^-8 inches long; elliptic panicles 

 of racemose cymes, 4-6 inches long; corolla white, ^ inch wide; 

 stamens 10, exserted'. — G. H. 



Pumpkin Beetle, Banded. By W. W. Frogatt (Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. 



vol. xxi. pt. V. pp. 406, 407). — The larvae of the banded pumpkin 

 beetle (Aulacophora olivieri) are very destructive to pumpkins and 

 melons. They have a dull white body and a dark brown head, and 

 measure 0'4 inch in length. The soil should be dug over early in the 

 season, and dead pumpkins and melons burnt. — S. E. W. 



Raffia. By Von Schiller Tietz (Garienflora, vol. lix. pt. xii. pp. 250- 

 253). — Three kinds of Eaffla occur in commerce. The best sort comes 

 from the West of Madagascar; it is obtained from the upper surface 

 of the leaves of R. pedunculafa , and is straw-coloured. A darker variety 

 is exported from the east coast of the island. The least valuable sort 

 comes from West Africa; it is not nearly so strong as the other kinds. 



S. E. W. 



Rafflesia, On a New Species of the Genus. By H. Graf zu 



Solms Laubach (Ann. Jard. Bot. Buit. 3rd supp. 1st part, 1910, 

 pp. 1-6). — In the autumn of 1901 the author unexpectedly discovered 

 some pressed specimens of a large Baffiesia in the herbarium at Kew. 

 The material had been sent there in 1881 by Gantley, who was at the 

 time curator of the botanical gardens at Singapore. Tbe exact locality 

 from which the plants were obtained is, however, unknown. From 



