18 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
> REVIEWS. + 
POSES SGe 
KERNER’S “NATURAL HISTORY OF 
PLANTS,” WITH BOTANICAL NOTES 
BY Uc Seu) 
Contrary to general belief, pollination 
does not seem to be essential to reproduc- 
tion. ‘In northern latitudes Gnaphalium 
alpinum is exceedingly common, but 
neither in Arctic America or Arctic Asia 
has a plant producing pollen ever been 
found.” 
Kerner conducted some experiments 
with the utmost care with the Annual 
Mercury, and obtained fertile seed and 
young plants when no pollination could 
have taken place. 
An Australian plant, Coelologyne ilici- 
folia, introduced into Europe in 1829, con- 
tinues to bear fertile seeds and new 
plants, although no male flowers have ever 
been detected. 
The explanation offered is that these 
seeds grow, not as seeds, but as a mere part 
of the original plant. If part of a root, 
of a stem, of a leaf, will grow, why not a 
seed, quite apart from fertilization? 
Many curious abnormal growths are 
found on trees and shrubs, known popu- 
larly as galls. These are produced some- 
times by parasitic fungi, sometimes by in- 
sects. One of these fungus galls is found 
on the leaves of the Rhododendron, and 
grows to the size of a small apple. It is 
rosy-cheeked like an apple, and has succu- 
lent tissue and a sweet taste, and is even 
covered with a bloom. Other. galls are 
tubercular, with horns; others, from their 
branched-appearance, are called ‘Witches’ 
Brooms;” others are too well known to us, 
as the “curl” on peach trees. 
Of insect galls there are felt galls, 
mantle galls, solid galls, scroll galls, pocket 
galls, covering galls, purse galls, &c., named 
from their various shapes.. 
The gall produced by Cecidoses eremita 
on the young twigs of Duvana longifolia 
is thus described : 
“The gall is quite spherical and very 
hard, and its large cavity conceals the 
caterpillar which has been hatched from 
the egg. When the time draws near for 
the formation of the pupa, a plug with a 
projecting rim is developed on the side of 
the gall furthest from its point of attach- 
ment. When the plug is pushed out a 
circular hole is left which leads into the 
gall chamber, through which the caterpil- 
lar escapes from its dwelling.’ One would 
like to know how this neatly shaped plug 
is “developed ;”’ the author does not sug- 
gest. ‘ 
Propuction or New Forms as A Resuur 
or Crossinc.—Gardeners, we know, are 
ever experimenting with a view to raise 
new varieties, but it is startling to learn 
that of Roses alone there are 6,400 kinds. 
Propagation of varieties may be by cut- 
- tings, layers, buds, or grafts, “but the first 
origin of new forms is always to be traced 
to crossing.” 
Natural hybrids are considered to have 
been produced in the same way, and these 
being established a new “species” is the 
result. 
SUB-DIVISIONS OF THE VEGETABLE Kinc- 
pomM.—Some 200 pages are.taken.up with 
an account of the families into’ which 
plants are divided under the natural sys- . 
tem The customary divisions are. fol- 
lowed, and to show their points of general 
resemblance they are divided into. “alli- 
ances.” y 
DispersaL oF Prants.—This is effected 
in various ways, and by different agencies: 
by offshoots, such as the runnefys of a 
Strawberry, by running water and rain, by; - 
animals, such as bulbs in the cleft feet of 
cattle, by birds, eating fruit the seed of 
which subsequently germinates, and lar- 
gely by wind. : At 
Many plants have special expulsive ap- 
paratus. The Squirting Cucumber expels 
its seeds with great force through the hole 
left by the stalk when the fruit drops off. 
Impatiens noli tangere, or Touch-me-not, 
is so-called from its habit of violently eject- 
ing its seeds. The exploding pods of furze, 
too, are well known. Hura crepitans and 
Bauhinia are able to throw their rather 
large seeds as far as 15 yards. ~ 
We have all seen how the Spinifex is 
blown along the sand with a high wind on 
the Brighton Beach. : 
Seeds are often conveyed long distances 
by the wind; some from their dust-like 
smallness, and many from being provided 
with hairs or membranous wings. 
The Hop, Lime, Hornbeam, Ailantus, 
Sycamore furnish examples of winged 
seeds; Dandelions, Thistles, Valerian of 
tufts of hairs acting as parachutes. 
Many fruits and seeds have sticky sur- 
faces, or recurved hairs, or hooks, by which 
they adhere to the skin or wool of animals 
Martynias are examples on a large scale, 
the spreading horns being 5 in. long and 
tipped with hard, very sharp recurved 
points. 
Tt is lamentable how little has found 
its way into books on the life history of 
Australian plants. This is a field that 
would absorb the energies of a good many. 
Look at the subjects offering them- 
selves: 
The fruits, in the botanical sense, of 
native plants. 
Contrivances to avoid self-pollination, or 
when cross-pollination fails to bring this 
about. 
The dispersion 
fruits. 
The arrangement of colors to attract in- 
sects. : 
‘The scents used to attract or repel in- 
of pollen, seed, and 
sects. 
The devices to keep off injurious animals 
and insects. 
The time of opening and closing of 
flowers. 
The seasons of flowering and fruiting. 
The contrivances to avoid drought and 
heat. 
The arrangement of leaves on the stem, 
JANUARY 1, 1903. 
of flowers, of leaves in the bud, foliar, and 
floral. 
The: length of time seeds remain on 
native trees; sometimes, it is said, until 
the tree itself dies. 
And—a very interesting subject—“Tera- 
tology,” or what gardeners caJl sports.” 
Anthers growing into petals, stamens into 
pistils, ovules into leaves, flowers turning 
green, stems spreading into flat expansions, 
leaves forming tubes, petals exceeding or 
falling short of their proper number, irre 
gular flowers becoming regular, one flower 
growing out of another, &c., &c., the text- 
book for this being by Dr. Masters, in the 
Ray series. ; 
POSSE SESE CES 
Flowering Plants and Ferns. 
f ry 
One of the Cambridge Natural Science 
_ Manuals is that devoted to “Flowering 
Plants and Ferns,” by J. C. Willis, 2 vols., 
10/6. The: first volume describes the dif- 
ferent parts of the plant from root to 
flower, giving much! interesting information 
as to modes of pollination, climbing plaints, 
insectivorous . plants, classification, uses, 
&e. The recent investigations of German 
botanists are largely availed of, and while 
there are no illustrations diagrams are 
freely used. The second volume is arranged 
as a dictionary of orders and genera, and 
by means of symbols, contractions, small 
type, and thin paper an fmmense mass of 
information is compressed into a small 
compass. Thus, under the head of Cam- 
panula, we are told that the name was 
adopted by Linnaeus from Tournefort; 
that it belongs to the Campanulacee ; that 
there are about 240 species found in, the 
north temperate zone, chiefly in the Medi- 
terranean region; and that eight species 
are found in. Great Britain. ©The com- 
monest species is the Campanula rotundi- 
folia of Linnzus, the blue-bell of Scotland 
and hare-bell of Engfand. The pollen is 
shed in the bud, the stamens standing 
closely round the style, and depositing 
their pollen upon the hairs. As the flower 
opens the stamens wither, with the excep- 
tion of their triangular bases that protect 
the honey, and the style presents the pol- 
len to insects visiting the flower. After 
a time the stigmas separate, and the flower 
is now female, and finally the stigmas curl 
right back on themselves, and so effect 
self-fertilization. See order and compare 
Phyteuma and Jasione. (The account of 
the order takes up a whole page.) The 
seeds are light, and are contained in a cap- 
sule, which, if erect, dehisces at the apex, 
if pendulous at the base, so that the seeds, 
as is often the case (compare Papaver) can 
only escape when the plant is shaken; for 
example, in strong winds. Several species 
are cultivated, Canterbury Bells, &c. In 
the book the above occupies 1# in., so that 
the matter in 400 pages can, be estimated. 
The book can be strongly recommended to 
the student, 
