THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
17 
(r. Alba) but never when they showed so many colors. — 
/. H. Massey, Bolton, Conn. (The red trillium is occa- 
sionally reported to sport in this way and the yellowish white 
form is usually called the variety alba. In the middle west 
this plant almost invariably has pure white flowers and it 
now becomes a question as to which plant is really entitled 
to a name meaning white. In regions where the red Trillium 
sessile and T. recurvatum grow, one may often find yellow- 
ish flowers, but never pure white ones. This seems to indi- 
cate that the pure white flowers mentioned above may belong 
to a different species. — Ed.) 
Viola Selkirkii. — A dark blue variation in the color 
of this species which I first observed last year has again 
appeared, evidently intending to be permanent. It is in 
all respects — large flowers, abundant bloom, beardless 
petals, season, station and everything — exactly like the type 
except the color which is much like that of the common blue 
violet ( V. palmata var cucullata. ) It seems to be, this year, 
nearly as common with me as the species. I would like to 
know if any of your other readers who are interested in vio- 
lets (and who is not) have observed any such variation in 
the color of this species. — Lest on A. Wheeler, Jamaica, Ver- 
mont. 
American Lotus Seeds. — It is stated that the In- 
dians cultivated the American lotus (Nelumbium luteum) 
for the sake of the seeds which they used as food. The 
seeds were sometimes called yonker-pins, a name derived, 
no doubt, from the same root as water-chinquapins, by 
which title they are more commonly known. Another name 
for the seeds is 70-year acorns, it being a common saying 
that the seeds take seventy years to germinate, owing to 
the hardness of the testa or seed coat. Thick seed coats 
are characteristic of the whole water-lily tribe, and growers 
of these plants usually file a hole through the seed-coat to 
allow water to enter when they wish to hasten germination. 
