444 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. VI, No. 3, 
SOME NOTES ON MARTYNIA. 
V. Sterki. 
During the summers of 1904 and ’05, I made a series of 
observations on some plants of IMartynia proboscidea, and a few 
notes may not be without interest. The seeds sprout very 
slowly, whether wintered in the ground or indoors. Some sown 
in April and early May did not come up until the middle of June 
and the first part of July. It seems that the seeds require a 
rather high temperature. In fairly rich soil the plants grow to 
a diameter of from four to six feet, while on poor soil and in the 
shade they remain quite small. 
The leaves, at first opposite, gradually become more and 
more scattered on branches of the second, third, etc., orders. 
They are decidedly dimorphous ; those standing above and below 
on the branches are typically symmetrical and comparatively 
wider, while those at the sides are narrower and asymmetrical, 
especially at the base, the proximal part being longer than the 
distal and more or less incurved. 
The plants are decidedly heliotropic. While still quite 
young and only a few inches high, they are inclined towards the 
East in the morning and towards the West in the evening. 
When they grow larger, the leaves take a conspicuous part in 
the movements. Those standing towards the East and West 
raise and lower their blades, while those directed North and 
South turn on their petioles. It was especially noted that even 
on cloudy mornings, at dawn, when the eye could hardly dis-. 
tinguish a difference of light between East and West, the plants 
were decidedly inclined towards the East. 
All parts of the plant, except the inner surface of the deeper 
part of the corolla tube and of the calyx, are densely beset with 
glandular hairs containing a viscid fluid on which hundreds of 
small insects are caught. It is a question as to whether they are 
assimilated as food. 
Frost kills the plants and they soon decay or become dry. 
But the immature fruits remain green and fresh for one to sev- 
eral weeks if protected from severe frosts. There is no doubt 
that the thick fleshy husk has an important part to play in the 
ripening of the seed. 
The most interesting variations occur in the flower. Nor- 
mally the calyx is split down to the pedicel or nearly so, on the 
inferior side, with five lobes, the upper, median lobe being the 
longest. The corolla, large and showy on strong plants, 50-G5 
mm. long and of about the same diameter, has normally five 
lobes, two upper ones which are the equivalent of an upper lip, 
one on each side, and one lower which is broader than the others 
