NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 
NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 
Acacallis cyanea (Bot. Mag. t. 8678). — Upper Amazon. Nat. Ord. Orchidaceae, 
tribe Vandeae. Herb, epiphytic. Leaves obovate-elliptic, petiolate. Scapes 6-8 
inches long, racemes few or many -flowered. Flowers showy. Sepals 1 inch long. 
Petals orbicular-ovate, i£ inch wide. Lip emarginate, i£ inch wide. Sepals 
and petals white above, purple below, the lip being russet, with yellow border. 
G. H. 
Acclimatization of Plants by Grafting. By J. B. Dental {Rev. Hovt. 
March 16, 1916). — On the supposition that for every plant there exists a 
species adapted for grafting, and that the species of the same genus may not 
have precisely the same requirements, it is possible to find one amenable to pro- 
pagation by grafting. A number of suggestions in this connexion. — C. T. D. 
Alkaloids, Latex and Oxidases in Papaver somniferum, Physiological Ob- 
servations on. By Rodney H. True and W. W. Stockberger (Amer. Jour. Bot. 
vol. iii. No. 1, Jan. 1916, pp. 1-11). — It appears from work done upon the 
opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) that the oxidase reaction is most active 
in the upper parts of the plant, especially the floral structures, capsules, and 
actively growing parts. The peroxidase reaction shows less variation in its 
intensity in different parts of the plant. 
It is found that the intensity of the oxidase reaction roughly parallels the 
distribution of the latex, which in itself is most active, and, with the exception 
of the root, the intensity of the oxidase reaction runs roughly parallel with the 
alkaloidal content. In the root the alkaloidal content is relatively higher 
than the intensity of the oxidase reaction. 
Alkaloids do not seem to exist as such in the poppy plant, but appear as 
products of the action of the oxidases on constituents present in the latex re- 
acting in the presence of oxygen. In this the alkaloids of Atropa Belladonna 
differ from those of the poppy, for they are found to exist as such in the plant, 
and without contact with free oxygen. — A. B. 
Alnus cordata (Bot. Mag. t. 8658). — Italy and Corsica. Nat. Ord. Cupuli- 
ferae, tribe Betuleae. Tree of pyramidal shape, 80 feet. Leaves wide ovate, 3^ 
inches long. Male catkins 4 inches long, six in a terminal raceme. Cones 1-3 
together, ij inch long, f inch across. — G. H. 
Aloe arborescens var. natalensis (Bot. Mag. t. 8663). — Natal. Nat. Ord. 
Liliaceae, tribe Aloineae. Shrub, freely branching at the base. Leaves densely 
clustered at the tips of the branches, i£ ft. long, 2 inches wide. Marginal teeth 
incurved. Peduncle erect, i| ft. long. Raceme 8-10 inches long. Perianth 
if inch long, red. — G. H. 
Alpinia Elwesii (Bot. Mag. t. 8651). — Farinosa. Nat. Ord. Scitamineae, tribe 
Zingibereae. Herb, perennial, up to 5 feet in height. Leaf linear-lanceolate, 
narrowed at the base, 18 inches long. Inflorescence racemose, 4-5 inches long. 
Flower i\ inch long, lip crimson with white borders. The rest of the flower 
white. — G. H. 
Alstroemerias, The. By S. Mottet (Rev. Hort. July 16, 191 6) .—Coloured plate 
showing two fine varieties with notes. — C. T. D. 
" Amphiclinous Hybrids." By this term De Vries ("Ueber amphikline Bas- 
tarde," Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. xxxiii. pp. 461-468, 1915) designates F x 
hybrid progenies, in which a portion of the individuals resemble the one parent, 
and the remainder resemble the other parent, not uncommon among crosses 
in the species of Oenothera. The percentage of nanella among the F t offspring of 
O. Lamarckiana x O. L. mut. nanella can be modified by the conditions under 
which the mother plant is grown, from nearly o per cent, to near 100 per cent. 
When L. mother was grown as an annual, average per cent, of nanella was 
22 ; L. as biennial average per cent, of nanella was 65. Corresponding with 
475 
