132 
STRAWBERRY. 
shaped; while the calyx leaves, on the contrary, develop more strongly; 
occasionally they are twisted, and have bubble-like swellings on the 
under-side. Some are more or less cut into ; others are trifid, imitating 
the normal leaf (see calyx leaves, figs. 2 & 3). The corona petals some¬ 
times do not develop at all; often they remain rudimentary; sometimes 
(fig. 3) they are much smaller than the divisions of the calyx, and 
twist to and fro, generally towards the inside; then they are not white, 
but greenish white or very light green, though thin and delicate in 
texture as usual. 
“ The stamens are wanting in many of the flowers, or are repre¬ 
sented by such rudimentary growths that their real nature cannot be 
recognised; in others, which have a normal anther, the filament is 
much thicker and shorter than in the case of normal stamens. The 
receptacle and pistil are often very small (fig. 3); sometimes the latter 
is altogether absent. Sometimes there is an axillary prolificacy of 
bloom; this always seems to be caused by new buds forming in the 
axils of some of the calyx leaves.* But these buds never make normal 
flowers (fig. 2) ; in the place of where they might have been we find 
a number of leafy organs, nearly rudimentary, sometimes forming 
little knobs.f 
“It is hardly necessary to add that stems, leaves, and blossoms of 
fairly normal development may be found on plants that are only 
slightly attacked by the disease.” 
In the foregoing extracts I have availed myself gratefully of the 
permission of Dr. Bitzema Bos to make use of the descriptions given in 
his paper, as, indeed, without so doing I could only have laid an 
excessively meagre account before the reader, without details of the 
nematoid cause of the infestation. But, whilst limiting myself to such 
extracts as may be of general interest, I should be to blame in not 
mentioning that these give no idea of the minutely detailed observa¬ 
tions given by the author, nor of the amount of valuable information 
contained in his note-references to published works where descriptions 
of the various species of Aphelenchus already recorded may be found, 
and other points of scientific interest. The paper is headed as a 
“preliminary” one by the author, as he desires to add further points 
from the coming season’s observations. 
We are still without knowledge as to where the infestation came 
from, and also we do not know what remedial applications may be of 
service in checking the diseased growths, because these were already 
fully developed when the attack was first brought under my notice 
* “ According to Maxwell T. Masters (‘ Teratology of Plants,’ translated into 
German by Udo Dammer, Leipzig, 1886), new buds are formed in the axils of 
calyx leaves more frequently than in those of the other leafy organs of the flower,” 
f In the original paper many references are given. 
