112 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 
advanced, the young as well as the nearly mature plants became affected, presenting frequently a disagreeable <y 
leprous appearance, deranging their growth, and sometimes materially affecting their produce. At length, in the 
month of June, some of the plants exhibited the disease to an extraordinary degree, and became so strangely dis¬ 
torted, that on a cursory inspection it would have been difficult to say to what species a gathered specimen be¬ 
longed. Every part of the flowers had become immensely enlarged ; the leaves of the calyx and petals assumed 
a gigantic size, the latter retaining in some measure their proper yellow tint; the stamens too were distorted and 
the pistil projected beyond the now persistent blossom, and instead of being as usual narrow, was a quarter of an 
inch or more in width, and very much compressed on the sutural side, and on opening the young carpels, their 
inner surface, and in some cases even the placenta, was infested with the white spots of the rust. In some cases 
every flower and pod was affected, in others the mischief was confined to two or three upon a stalk, so as not to 
prevent entirely the production of seeds. Nothing indeed could well present a more singular appearance than the 
plant with its swollen and distorted leaves, its occasionally abortive panicles, of which nothing remained but 
rose-like tufts formed by the gouty stem leaves, and above all the powdery heads of buds, and the pendent fleshy 
flowers as large as those of Albuca major , and with somewhat of the same green and yellow aspect. I was 
greatly disappointed, on a minute comparison of the flowers and unripe seed-vessels with those in a normal con¬ 
dition, to find that there was no essential derangement of the fundamental structure, no metamorphosis properly so 
called, but simply an enlargement of all the parts, and a general looseness and hypertrophy in the cellular tissue, 
arising partly perhaps from the stimulating effect of the mycelium, and partly from the mere mechanical agency 
of its growth. The dissepiment alone was in proportion far narrower than usual, and extremely delicate, as 
though the placenta had been enlarged at its expense. There was nothing to throw any light on the true import 
of the parts of the carpels, the arrangement of the cellular structure being absolutely the same in both instances 
though infested everywhere with the mycelium. "Wherever the mycelium did not penetrate, everything presented 
a perfectly natural appearance without any indication of disease; nor indeed is there any reason for supposing that 
a diseased condition of the tissues preceded the growth of the fungus, which in that case would be a mere after¬ 
organization. Were the fungus in the first instance external, there might be some shadow of foundation for such 
an opinion, but the cuticle is perfectly closed till the mass of spores is burst through it, and the sori, as noticed 
above, make their appearance in the closed cavities of the carpels, exactly as Botrytis infestans, as observed by 
Payen and myself last autumn, in the fruit of the Tomato, where there was no immediate communication with 
the atmosphere. And the case is even stronger in some other fungi, especially in Granidaria violce , (Sowerby,) 
which had not been observed for many years, and had been quite misunderstood till its appearance in Captain 
Munro’s conservatory near Clifton last winter, and (as recorded by Professor Forbes *) in Portland during April 
of the present year. In that curious production the spores are deeply seated, and the sori do not burst, if they 
burst at all, till, the whole parasite has been long perfectly developed.— Berkeley in Journal of Horticultural Society. 
Horticultural Society , Sept. 3d. —But few plants were produced on this occasion, and those not of a very 
remarkable description. Of novelties, Mr. E. G. Henderson, of the Wellington Nursery, sent Achimenes 
longiflora alba, a pretty thing, but by no means in good character; Microsperma bartonioides, a Loasa-like 
annual, with pale yellow flowers, which are produced with considerable freedom; Beaufortia purpurea, a very 
dwarf growing species, with crimson purple flowers; Eriocnema seneum and marmoratum, two dwarf growing plants, 
remarkable for the beauty of their foliage; JEchmea fulgens, Vriesia speciosa, and Gesnera picta. From the 
same establishment we also noticed Tigridia canadensis, a free flowering kind, but as the flowers had faded, we 
could form no estimate of its value; some very beautiful cut Gladioli, and a fruit of the Serpent Cucumber, 
Trichosanthes colubrina. A scarlet Geranium, a very free blooming kind, with horse-shoe foliage, called Beauty 
of the Parterre, was also sent from the same nursery ; but we fear it is too much like Cerise Unique. Mr. Dobson, 
gardener to John Foster, Esq., sent four specimens of Achimenes—neat plants, but not of remarkable growth; 
and from the garden of the Society we noticed the following subjects :—Epidendrum alatum, a dingy looking 
thing, but most deliciously sweet, and E. cuspidatum; with these were Poscoea purpurea, Franciscea uniflora, 
a most useful plant; Aphelandra cristata, beautifully bloomed ; Beaufortia splendens, Erica McNabiana, 
Ewereana, and eximia ; and several species of Achimenes. 
Of Fruit, the most remarkable was Mangoes, from Mr. Scott, gardener to Sir George Staunton, Bart.; and a 
dish of forced Late Admirable Peaches, of very superior growth. A monstrous Pine, said to be a species from 
Java, in which every pip produced a distinct fruit, was sent from Mrs. Steirs, of Tedclington; it was a singular 
looking thing, of some six inches long, and two smaller fruit were produced from the base. Two large Melons 
were sent from Mr. Middlemiss, gardener to A. Pott, Esq., both of which had been attacked by a disease common 
among Melons this season, and said to be a kind of mildew or rust. One of them was remarkable as having been 
raised from seed nineteen years old. From the garden of the Society three kinds of Grapes were sent—one, the 
Olga, a new kind, said to possess medicinal qualities : it is a white kind, and certainly inferior to the "White 
Muscadine ; the other kinds were Chasselas Musque, beautifully ripened, and identical with Joslin’s St. Albans, 
and a black kind, not quite ripe. Also a new Capsicum, said to be suitable for cutting up in salads, and resembling 
the kind known in the seed shops as the Bullock’s Heart; and a new Savoy, a kind possessing, in our estimation, 
no merit at all, as at Leamington we recently saw the dwarf Drumhead, shown by cottagers, infinitely superior. 
* In Viola odorata , when attacked by JEcidium violce , I have seen the stipules assume the form of perfect leaves in consequence 
of the general luxuriance of the plant. 
