354 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Brazil and Surinam. These specimens, however, were collected by 

 Dahlberg (as seed) in Surinam, where they were most certainly culti- 

 vated and not wild. Later writers have variously given the home of 

 this plant. Hamis has examined the collection brought from the 

 Cameroon district by Ledermann, in which specimens of Voandzeia 

 suhterranea were represented, and compared these with the specimens 

 brought from North Nigeria by Daiziel, and concludes that the 

 Cameroon district and North Nigeria (Kilba country) are the localities 

 in which this plant grows wild. 



It is still unknown, as Harms points out, whether Voandzeia pro- 

 duces over- or under-ground cleistogamous flowers, or whether the 

 accounts which have been given of female flowers which penetrate into 

 the ground rest upon an error of observation. 



It is often said that Voandzeia yields a considerable quantity of oil, 

 but this is incorrect. — R. B. 



Beg'Onia dichroa {Bot. Mag. t. 8412). — Brazil. Family Begoni- 

 aceae. Tall herb. Leaves full-grown, ovate-oblong, 9-12 inches long; 

 many-flowered; perianth-segments 4, pink; flower 1^ inch across. 



G. H. 



Begronia ricinifolia rosea grandiflora {Rev. Hort. p. 50, 

 February 1, 1912). — This has resulted from a cross between B. ricini- j 

 folia and B. ' Gloire de Lorraine,' and appears to be a desirable addition 

 to winter flowering Begonias, flowering from the end of November to 

 January or February if housed in pots in September. Foliage orna- 

 mental, very floriferous, carrying long-stalked panicles of flower j 

 18 inches high, three times as large as those of B. ricinifolia, brilliant ' 

 rose-pink or white slightly roseate. Eaised by Ferard, Paris. 



G. T. D. I 



' - 



Berberis Wilsonae (-Boi. Mag. t. 8414). — China. Family 

 Berheridaceae ; tribe Berhereae. Shrub of low, spreading habit, 2-4 feet j 

 high; leaves J-1 inch long; flowers golden-yellow. — G. H. | 



Birds, Insectivorous, of New South Wales {Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. 

 vol. xxii., pt. X., 842, 843; pt. xi., pp. 947, 948; vol. xxih., pt. i., 

 pp. 141, 142; and pt. iii., pp. 234, 235; 8 col. plates) — The Laughing 

 Jackass Dacelo gigas eats snakes, beetles, rats, mice, centipedes, 

 lizards, and sometimes chickens. The More Pork, Podargus strigoides, 

 devours insects, slugs, and mice. It is nocturnal in its habits. The 

 Magpie, Gymnoriiina tibicea, does some damage to the crops, but is on I 

 the whole a friend to the farmer. The Pee-wee, Grallina pictata, is 

 strictly insectivorous, so also are the Mistletoe bird, Dicoecum hirufidi- \ 

 naceum, and the Welcome Swallow, Hirundo neoxena, the white 

 browed Wood Swallow, Artamus superciliosus, and the Fairy Martin,. 

 Petrochelidon Ariel. — S. E. W. 



Blister Rust of White Pine. By Perky Spaulding {U.S.A. Dep. 

 Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Bull. 206, 19,11).— The Blister Rust of white pine, 



