332 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



experiments carried out it is clear, however, that storage for a pro- 

 longed period of from four to seven months produces practically no 

 change in liver of sulphur provided the receptacle is air-tight and 

 completely full. As fresh air is admitted each time a bottle or tin is 

 opened, it would obviously be an advantage to horticulturists to pack 

 and store liver of sulphur in bottles or lever-topped tins of small 

 capacity, of say | lb. to i lb. 



A good sample of liver of sulphur should dissolve in water without 

 separation of sulphur. If it does not smell of sulphuretted hydrogen, 

 decomposition has proceeded so far that no " sulphide " sulphur 

 remains. Further experiments were made to ascertain whether 

 solutions of liver of sulphur could be kept without undergoing change, 

 and it was inferred that solutions of liver of sulphur should be prepared 

 just before use, or the solutions, if made beforehand, should be kept 

 in full, tightly-corked bottles. — A . S. 



Lonicera deflexicalyx {Bot. Mag. tab. 8536).— China and 

 Tibet. Nat. Ord. Caprifoliaceae, Tribe Lonicereae. Shrub. Leaves 

 lanceolate ii-3 inches long. Peduncles very short, 2-fiowered. 

 Corolla yellow, tube ^ inch long, with limb, } inch. Berries orange- 

 yellow. — G. H. 



Lonicera Ledebourii [Bot. Mag. tab. 8555).— Cahfornia. Nat. 

 Ord. Caprifoliaceae, Tribe Lonicereae. Shrub, erect, branches up 

 to 15 feet long. Leaves lanceolate, 3 J inches long. Flowers geminate ; 

 corolla funnel-shaped, reddish-yellow outside, yellow within. — G. H. 



Maize, Floral Abnormalities. By J. H. Kempton {U.S.A. 

 Agr. Dep., Bull. 278, 1913 ; 16 pp. ; 2 figs., 2 plates). — ^The frequent 

 development of two-flowered female spikelets on the pistillate inflo- 

 rescence of Zea Mays is evidence in favour of the relationship between 

 Zea and the Andropogoneae. Neither Euchlaena nor Tripsaohum 

 has two-flowered female spikelets. — S. E. W. 



Maize Hybrids, By G. N. ColHns and J. H. Kemp [U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr., Bull. 120, 1913, pp. 21-27; i fig.). — A Chinese variety of 

 maize has a waxy endosperm, which differentiates it from any kind 

 of American maize. When the Chinese variety is crossed with sweet 

 varieties, seeds are produced with horny endosperms. 



Unhke the ordinary horny kind, the plants grown from the hybrid 

 seed produced ears with horny, sweet, and waxy seeds. The horny 

 seeds were heavier than the waxy, which were heavier than the sweet. 



S. E. W. 



Manganese in Plants, Function of. By W. P. Kelley [Bot. 

 Gaz. Ivii. pp. 213-227 ; March 1914). — The author grew a large number 

 of plants in normal soil and also in soil containing manganese (MusO J . 

 The ash was then analysed. 



The proportion of manganese absorbed was (naturally) greater in 



