448 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



but no fruit was set. Of somewhat dwarf nature the hranches re- 

 semble the apricot, but the flowers and leaves are not described. (See 

 also under Peach). (Quoted from Pomologie Allemand.) — E. A. Bd. 



Aquilegia flabellata var. nivea [Bot. Mag. tab. 8354.) — Japan 

 and Sakhalin. Nat. ord. Ran line idac eae ; tribe Helleboreae. Herb, 

 stem, solitary, 6-10 inches high, 3-flov/ered; leaves, long-petioled 

 ternately decompound; leaflets orbicular; flowers, with spurs 1^ inch 

 long. If inch across, greenish- white. — G. H. 



Aster Falconeri {Bot. Mag. tab. 8355). — North-western Hima- 

 laya. Nat. ord. Compositae ; tribe Asteroideae. Herb, rootstock 

 perennial; stem 1^ foot high ; leaves many oblong-lanceolate, 6-8 inches 

 long; flower-head 3-^ inches across; ray-florets many, bluish; disc- 

 florets orange. — G. H. 



Aster tartaricus var. Petersianus. By P. Graebner {Garten- 

 flora, vol. Ix. pt. 10, pp. 218-219; coloured plate). — This new ast^r 

 from China flowers in October bearing pale-blue blooms: the cut; 

 flowers may be kept in water for several weeks. — S. E. W. 



Bean, Indig-enous in Alg'eria. By Dr. Trabut {Jour. Soc. Hort. 

 Fr. series iv. vol. xi. Nov. 1910, p. 658). — Modern botanists appear to 

 consider that the original parents of our garden bean came from the 

 Steppes to the south of the C'aspian Sea. Dr. Trabut and M. Bat- 

 tandier discovered in the region of Serson, in Algeria, some small seeds 

 of a dwarf-growing species of bean. These seeds were cultivated at 

 the botanical station in Algiers, and the plant has been given the name 

 of Faha vulgaris Plmiana, as it is considered likely, though not con- 

 clusively proved, that it was the bean described by Phny. In any case 

 it is declared to be a native species in Algeria, and to bear most affinity 

 to Faha celtica nana found by Heer among the debris of the Swiss lake 

 dwellings. The Arabs and Berbers of the coast have various native 

 names for this plant which point to a knowledge of it dating back to aj 

 remote period. — M. L. H. ' 



BegfOnia Tuber Disease. By K. Schechner {Oester. Gart. Zeit.,^ 

 vol. vi. pt. 5, pp. 161-167; 4 figs.). — The formation of galls on the roots j 

 of the Begonia is due to the Nematode, Heterodcra radicicola. In tlie 

 cpen ground the best remedy is to bore holes, inject carbon bisul- 

 phide, and close the mouth of the hole. In liot houses the soil canj 

 be sterilized by forcing steam under pressure through perforated tubes j 

 into it.— E. W. ^ I 



I 



Birds of California in Relation to the Fruit Industry, 

 Part II. By F. E. L. Beal [U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Biol. Survey, Bull. 

 34, Aug. 1910; 6 coloured plates). — This deals with the food habits of 

 32 species, in addition to the 38 species discussed in the first part of 

 the report published in 1907. A large part of the bulletin consists 



