The flowers are arranged in racemes, are more drooping than represented in the figure, are white, and with the beautiful foliage make an ornamental tree of high rank. The bark is rough, and the wood so soft as to be worthless, either as fuel or for use in the arts. As a honey tree, it is very highly esteemed; in fact, it is the linden of the South. THE JAPAN MEDLAR. I have received from J. M. Putnam, of New Orleans, La., flowers of the _Mespilus Japonica_, or Japan plum. He states that it bears a most delicious fruit, blooms from August till January, unless cut off by a severe frost, and is proof against ordinary frosts. He states that it furnishes abundance of delicious honey, and that, too, when his bees were gathering from no other source. The _Mespilus Germanica_ grows in England, and is much praised for its fruit. From Mr. Putnam's account, the _M. Japonica_ is unprecedented in its length of bloom. We think two months a long time. We pay high tribute to mignonette, cleome and borage, when we tell of four months of bloom; but this is mild praise when compared with this Japan plum, which flowers from August first till January. The flowers are in a dense panicle, and were still fragrant after their long journey. The leaf is lanceolate, and very thick, some like the wax plant. I should say it was an evergreen. The apiarists of the South are to be congratulated on this valuable acquisition to their bee forage. I hope it will thrive North as well as South. * * * * * THE STINGING-BUG.--_Phymata Erosa_, Fabr. This insect is very widely distributed throughout the United States. I have received it from Maryland to Missouri on the South, and from Michigan to Minnesota on the North. The insect will lie concealed among the flowers, and upon occasion will grasp a bee, hold it off at arm's length, and suck out its blood and life. This is a Hemipteran, or true bug, and belongs to the family _Phymatidæ Uhr_. It is the _Phymata Erosa_, Fabr., the specific name erosa referring to its jagged appearance. It is also called the "stinging bug," in reference to its habit of repelling intrusion by a painful thrust with its sharp, strong; beak. [Illustration: Fig. 118.--_Side view, natural size._] [Illustration: Fig. 119.--_Magnified twice._] [Illustration: Fig. 120.--_Beak, much magnified._]