THE A51 ERICA K BOTANIST, 
Vai.i e of I-Ki'iTS AS FooD.-A writer in a recent num- 
ber of The Lmicet maintains that fresh fruits materially 
aid the body in taking u]) iron. Much of the iron in our 
food is said to be insoluble and therefore not assimilated 
but by the action of fruit aci<l.s nialates, citrates, etc. are 
formed ii^ which form the iron can be used. 
Mkadow LiLY.-Mr. Lest.ni A. Wheeler, Ji.maica, Vt. 
writs that all his meadow WWt^s [LUium cunadense) av^ 
yellow. Tliis is a])pareiitly the state of thin^^^s through- 
out most of New England. There are occasional reports 
of red lilies, but tiicsc are possibly turk*s-eap lilies (L. sii- 
fwrhum) mistaken tor meadow lilies. It is also noticeable 
with the locality. They appear to he red whether growing 
tachcs to the change of color in its relative! If Tmy of our 
New England readers have found vellow turk's-caps, ^^ f 
would be glad to hear from them. 
Black Xichtshadk Berries Edible. —The note on 
page 75 of the October number of the Botanist reminds 
me of an incident which occurred in mv class in Botany 
nearly thirty five years ago. I wns lecturing on the prop- 
erties of the plfints constituting the Solanactic, and, as a 
matter of ciaiif^e, saifi tl at the berries of the black night- 
from Fort f\-e. Ua\ a. sp<)ke\i]i and said that tlJptople 
in his neighhi)rh')od n-.ade them intt) pies, preserves, etc. 
and ate freely ot'them. I answered him, as became a pro- 
fessor of botanv. by saying that as it was \\ ell known 
that bhick nighLsliad.e berries are poisonoiis, the student 
must have been mistaken. That was the young pro- 
fessor's wav of <s.jttling things, and this partieuiar thing 
remained settled t(»r him for s<uTie vears. After a while. 
h^>\vevcr, 1 h.arne<l th.at the people in central and western 
Iowa uctiuiUy did eat ])lack nightshade berries, and they 
were not [>..isoned either. Later, I learned the same thing 
in Nebraska r'or tins speeles, ;ind stiil more for the spread- 
ing nightshades So/^nu/?? triftorum), whose larger berries 
