NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. I47 



is the most beautiful. It is raised from seed and thrives in pots 

 containing a mixture of peat, cow dung, and loam. When the plants 

 show signs of growth in February or March, place pieces of cow dung 

 on the surface of the soil. The bushes remain for a long time covered 

 with flowers. The cut flowers also last well. In summer, bring the 

 shrubs into the open in full sun and water copiously. — 5. E. W. 



Elsholtzia Stauntoni. By S. Mottet (Rev. Hort. pp. 58-60, 

 Feb. I, 1914 ; i ill. and coloured plate). — ^With a necessary warning 

 that this name should not be confounded with that of the altogether 

 different plant Eschscholzia, a description is given of this vigorous and 

 free-flowering shrub, which is shown by the coloured plate to be hand- 

 some enough for wide distribution, bearing long spikes of rich mauve 

 flowers of the labiate description. It is a native of China, and flowers 

 in the late autumn, when flowers are becoming scarce. Whether it 

 is perfectly hardy seems as yet open to question, but it would probably 

 thrive in our warmer gardens in Cornwall and elsewhere. The flowers 

 are sweetly scented, and the foliage has a marked musk-like odour. 



c. r. D. 



Ephedra, Vegetative Reproduction of. By W. G. Land (Bot. 

 Gaz. June 1913, pp. 439-445 ; 5 figs.). — Ephedra [nevadensis ?) 

 is found occasionally on the very steep rocky sides of Rifle Creek 

 Canon (White River forest reserve) in Western Colorado. Occasional 

 clumps of four to twenty plants were found between 2000 and 2200 

 metres, especially on sandstone slopes. 



The largest plants are 7 feet 6 inches high, and may be 10 cm. 

 in diameter. No seeds or seedlings were discovered ; the author 

 found that branches bent down by fallen stones take root and give 

 rise to new clusters of plants. In one case underground connexions 

 were traced for 15 metres. — G. F. S. E. 



Euphorbia jacquiniaeflora. By Henri Chevalier [Rev. de 

 VHort. Belg. Feb. 15, 1913, p. 41 ; plate). — A description of this plant, 

 also called E. fulgens. A pretty greenhouse climbing plant from 

 Mexico. Cultural directions are given. — M. L. H. 



Evaporation and its Effect on Vegetation. By George Elwood 

 Nichols [Bot. Gaz. Aug. 1913, pp. 143-152). — ^The author tested 

 the intensity of summer-evaporation as a determining factor in the 

 distribution of vegetation in Connecticut. 



The observations were taken with the porous clay cup atmometers 

 devised by Livingstone in sixteen stations, of which full particulars 

 are here given. The base of the cup was 56 cm. from the ground, 

 and a practically complete set of weekly readings was obtained at 

 nearly every station. 



During the first two months (June and July) the mean weekly 

 rate of evaporation far exceeded that maintained during the latter 



