THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
45 
composed leaves, and other vegetable debris likely to accumul- 
ate in a tree crotch, there must also be a decayed portion of 
the trunk within reach of the creeper's roots, from which ad- 
ditional supplies of plant food are available. However that 
may be, the plant appears perfectly normal blossoming and 
fruiting each year, and in every respect, behaving as its neigh- 
bors do, whose roots are in the soil. — /. Ford Sempers. 
Another Soapwort. — I have been interested lately in 
a plant bloom, the root of which the Mexicans make use of for 
soap, as it is quite saponaceous. It is Chenopodium Calif orni- 
cum, a perennial. The leaves have a little of the same quality 
and I have raised about as much lather from them as from 
bouncing bet. I have wondered whether this same sapon- 
aceous quality may not exist in our eastern Chenop odiums. 
Don't you want to look this up during the pigweed days this 
season? Those with perennial roots would perhaps be the 
most likely. C. Calif ornicum has a root a foot or two long, 
which makes quite a respectable cake of soap. — C. F. Saund- 
ers, Pasedena, Calif. 
The Yellow Fringed Orchis. — The editor of the 
Florida Agriculturist reports finding the flowers of the yellow 
fringed Orchis {Hahenaria ciliaris) of all shades of color from 
deep orange to pure white. The plants with white flowers 
are usually considered to belong to a separate species, the white 
fringed orchis {H. blephariglottis) , but since the chief dis- 
tinguising mark of the two so-called species is the unreliable 
one of color, it has often been suggested that they are but 
forms of one species, just as the two color forms of the mea- 
dow lily {Lilium Canadense) are known to be. Some plant 
student desirous of some experimental work might sow all the 
seeds from a spike of the yellow fringed orchis and bringing 
the resultant plants to maturity, note whether any of the seed- 
lings produced white flowers. If so, the identity of the two 
might almost be considered established. 
