SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, AUGUST 9, 
CX1X 
as shown in the Drill Hall by Mr. Hudson, Mr. Freeman Mitford, 
C.B., and others, with the purpose of calling attention to the 
different arrangements and numbers of the air-canals in the 
stems of the flowers and in the petioles. He observed that the 
Nymphaeas could be grouped by means of them. 
Plymouth Strawberry .—A specimen was received from Mr. 
J. Arrowsmith, of Bank Road, Glazebrook, Manchester. It is a 
monstrous condition of the ordinary fruit, in which some of the 
achenes are replaced by leaves, as in the well-known Alpine 
Strawberry, of which the present case is a variety. It was 
described by Ray, who gave the name, having received it from 
Plymouth. It resembles the green Rose in thus having its 
floral organs more or less in a state of reversion to leaves. 
Strawberry Plants defective .—Some plants were received 
from Mr. J. Lyne, of The Gardens, Foxbury, Chisleburst, in 
which the crowns were generally blind. The variety is Royal 
Sovereign. Mr. Lyne writes :—“ Last autumn we planted a bed 
of last season’s runners, with the object of getting early runners 
this year. They grew well, and made a fine lot of early runners. 
All trusses of bloom were picked off the parent plants as soon as 
they appeared. The runners were layered, four in a 6-inch pot, 
and all rooted well; but last week, when transferring them into 
single pots, we found about half were blind, the crowns being 
brown within. A healthy plant would be often growing in the 
same pot with defective ones.” Perhaps some growers of Straw¬ 
berries may have had a similar experience, and can throw some 
light on the mystery. Sections of the crown buds revealed no 
visible fungi nor insects, but the scales were turning brown from 
the exterior part inwards—apparently suggestive of an external 
source of the mischief. 
