138 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



because of lack of nourishment ; they do not do so in etiolated rhizome 

 shoots. 



The unfolding of the buds has nothing to do with the horizontal 

 bending over of the shoot. 



The straight upward growth in darkness and the absence of branches 

 and presence of spines enable the shoot to make its way up into the 

 light. Then it begins to twine, and the bending over of main stem 

 and branches will expose the assimilating parts to light. — G. F. S. E. 



Azaleas, Some Mew. By P. {Rev. Hort. Belg. June 15, 1913, 

 p. 195 ; plate). — At the exhibition at Ghent last year some new 

 Azaleas were shown by Messrs. Haerens, of Somerghem, which obtained 

 numerous prizes. 



These novelties included ' Mme. Aug. Haerens/ ' Lady Rooseveld/ 

 ' Brillanta Belgica,' ' Windfried Haerens,' which are here described, and 

 are said to be of great value. — M. L. H. 



Bacteria, Testing Cultures of Nodule-forming. By Karl F. 

 Kellerman {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Circ. 120 ; April 1913 ; 

 pp. 3-5). — A plausible explanation of the occasional failure of cultures 

 of Bacillus radicicola to inoculate a crop properly is that the bacteria, 

 though able to grow vigorously in the culture medium, have actually 

 deteriorated in the essential quality of being able to infect the 

 leguminous roots and produce nodules. This paper describes a 

 method of testing the inoculating power of apparently identical 

 strains of bacteria. — A. P. 



Banana, Inflorescence and Flowers of. By Paul Baumgartner 

 {Beih. Bot. Cent. xxx. Abt. i, Heft 3, pp. 237-368; i pi. and 

 26 figs.). — In this detailed study the flowers, fruits, and inflores- 

 cences of Musa Ensete, M. Cavendishii, M. sapientum, M. rosacea (?), 

 M. discolor, and other species were used. The author finds four types 

 of flower : female fertile, male sterile, a third type with both stamens 

 and carpels functional, and a fourth, neutral or sterile type, which 

 is found at the end of the inflorescence of M. Cavendishii, and which 

 is like the male flower but with no pollen. 



The more primitive type of dry fruit (M. Ensete) with seeds only 

 arises after pollination. In the next lower series, or hands," the 

 ovaries grow for a shorter or longer time without seed formation 

 and then wither. In the undermost series the growth lasts longer 

 and the fruit remains green and sappy, being larger than the normal 

 fruit, but the seed rudiments do not develop. 



In the edible bananas the first type is absent, the second is present, 

 but in the third, which is represented only, the ovule rudiments 

 are either never formed or are reabsorbed. They do not require 

 pollination. 



The author shows that the form of the groups of flowers at different 

 parts of the inflorescence depends upon space restrictions during 

 growth (between bract and apparent stem). The lower part receives 

 more nourishment than the upper. 



