AmAirii%2rm-}  Botanical  Notes.  191 
BOTANICAL  NOTES. 
By  Clement  B.  Lowe. 
Contribution  from  the  Botanical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy. 
STEM  MARKINGS. 
Attention  is  called  to  some  interesting  markings  found  on  some 
stems  of  Magnolia,  (species  unknown)  procured  early  in  February. 
An  inspection  of  the  axillary  buds  with  the  scars  beneath  them, 
caused  by  the  detachment  of  the  petioles  of  the  leaves,  will  show 
that,  taken  together,  they  resemble  in  a  remarkable  manner  the 
wrinkled  face  of  an  old  man,  surmounted  by  the  kind  of  a  head- 
dress worn  by  bishops  and  cardinals,  known  as  the  mitre. 
The  markings  which  look  like  eyes  and  nostrils  were  made  by  the 
vasal  bundles,  which  ran  from  the  stem  into  the  petioles  of  the 
leaves,  while  the  mitre  is  formed  by  the  axillary  bud. 
A  MONSTROSITY. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  F.  W.  E.  Stedem,  a  peculiarity  in 
plant  growth  was  recently  placed  in  my  possession.  It  was  received 
by  him  from  a  gardener  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania. 
It  is  probably  Anthemis  nobilis.  The  stems,  instead  of  being 
slender  and  about  y%  or  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  are  flattened, 
and  an  inch  or  more  in  width.  This  peculiar  development 
probably  arose  from  the  union  in  growth  of  a  large  number  of  the 
ordinary  stems. 
INDIAN  ACONITE. 
On  examining  some  aconite  purchased  for  cabinet  specimens  as 
Japanese  aconite  (Aconitum  Fischeri,  Reich),  it  was  found  to  con- 
sist entirely  of  Indian  aconite  (Aconitum  ferox,  Wallich). 
There  is  no  necessity  in  confounding  these  drugs  one  with 
another,  as  they  differ  in  a  marked  degree. 
The  Indian  aconite,  called  also  Bik  or  Bisk  root,  or  Nepaul  acon- 
ite is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  aconites,  often  4  inches  long,  and  an 
inch  or  more  in  diameter.  Externally  it  is  prominently  longitudi- 
nally wrinkled,  of  a  somewhat  reddish  brown  color,  the  edges  of  the 
folds  being  whitish,  internally  often  horny,  showing  a  five  or  six- 
rayed  pith. 
Japanese  aconite  is  much  smaller,  I  to  2  inches  long,  about  5^  of 
