554 
MITCHELLA  KEPENS,  L.,  A  DIOECIOUS  PLANT. 
from  their  taste  and  style  are  likely  to  turn  out  Amontillado  and 
vino  fino  are  marked  in  a  certain  manner,  put  aside,  and  are 
carefully  watched  and  reared,  but  it  does  not  unfrequently 
happen  that,  after  the  selection,  they  fall  off,  and  become  sick 
and  out  of  order,  when  they  are  treated  in  the  same  way  as  other 
ordinary  white  wines,  and  spirit  is  added  in  the  proportion 
deemed  requisite  to  secure  them  from  spoiling;  should 
the  wine,  however,  not  recover  under  this  treatment,  and  acetic 
fermentation  supervene,  it  is  then  sent  for  distillation  into 
brandy. 
"  The  wine  of  Benicarlo  intended  for  exportation  is  fortified 
to  the  extent  of  five  gallons  per  pipe,  though  two  and  a  half  gal- 
lons would  be  considered  sufficient  to  preserve  it  for  home  use. 
Here,  again,  but  little  stock  is  kept  on  hand,  each  year's  pro- 
duce being  generally  sold  for  exportation,  or  consumed  by  the 
time  the  new  wine  is  made  ;  and  it  was  impossible  to  procure 
samples  of  natural  wine  of  former  vintages/' — From  Med.  Press 
and  Circular — Dublin,  Aug.  26,  1868. 
MITCHELLA  REPENS,  L.,  A  DIOECIOUS  PLANT. 
By  Thomas  Meehan. 
A  few  weeks  ago  I  had  the  honor  of  pointing  out  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Academy  that  Epigcea  repens  was  a  dioecious  plant. 
I  have  now  to  report  a  like  discovery  in  Mitchella  repens. 
In  the  case  of  Epigcea  I  had  to  indicate  the  polymorphism 
accompanying  the  divisions  of  the  sexes,  as  part  of  the  discovery  ; 
in  the  present  instance  Dr.  Asa  Gray  is  before  me  in  noting  the 
distinct  appearances ;  the  originality  of  my  own  observation  lies 
merely  in  giving  the  meaning  of  the  facts  already  recorded.  In 
the  last  (5th)  edition  of  Gray's  Manual,  speaking  of  Mitchella, 
the  author  says,  "  Flowers  occasionally  3 — 6,  merous,  always  di- 
morphous, all  those  of  some  individuals  having  exserted  stamens 
and  included  stigmas, — of  others  included  stamens  and  exserted 
style."  Although  this  statement  expresses  the  appearance,  it  is 
not  strictly  accurate ;  for  the  pistil  in  the  one  case  is  not  per- 
fect, and  in  the  other  the  anthers  are  mere  rudiments,  without  a 
trace  of  pollen  in  any  that  I  have  examined.  The  two  forms  are 
truly  male  and  female  plants. 
