84 



A 



V 



Snd formed from it by the action of the free acids of the plant. In 

 conclusion, he submitted that this process tended to explain the 

 nature of the consortism of the fungal and algal elements in the lichen, 

 and thus to support the views of Schwendener. 



In Nature for June 17, Dr. A, Erijst, of Caracas, gives a very 

 interesting account of the fertilization of Cobaea penduliflora^ Hook. 

 f., a species closely allied to the C scandens so common in cultivation- 

 tie finds that the disk only secretes nectar immediately after the 

 anthers burst, and that it is then produced in considerable quantity, 

 and that unless the plants are cross-fertilized the same night, either 

 by moths or artificially, the fruit is not developed. "As soon as the 

 corolla has fallen offy the peduncle withdraws slowly amongst the 

 dense foliage where the fruit develops, protected from all kinds of 

 injury." 



The current number of Case's Botanical Index has, among its 

 varied contents, a communication from a Canadian correspondent 

 in regard to a monstrous specimen oi Fuchsia^ and which is apparently, 

 from the description and accompanying figure, a case of pleiotaxy or 

 repetition of the calyx. The Fuchsia does not appear in the short 

 list of those plants in which this kind of change has been observed to 

 occur by Dr, Masters and others. 



Grevillea for June contains : An introductory List of Desmidi- 

 '^ aceae found in the British Islands, since Ralf's Desmidieae ; Observa- 

 tions on Peziza by M. C, Cooke; Hymenochaete and its allies, by 

 M. C. Cooke; Fungi of Australia, by C. Kalchbrenner ; Uacrymyces 

 succineus, by W. Phillips. 



Some observations, which will prove of interest to those engaged 

 in the study of the algae, have been made by Herr Stahl on the mo- 

 tion caused by the effects of light on some minute species belonging 

 to the Conjugatae. He finds that Closterium moniliferum^ one of the 

 Desmids, under diffuse daylight of little intensity, presents its longi- 

 tudinal axis to the light rays, one-half of the cell being alternately 

 attracted and the other half repelled, so that both halves are equally 

 exposed to light. When the intensity of the light was increased the 

 cells changed their position, and placed themselves at right angles to 

 the incident light. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle (July 10) gives an illustration of a pel- 

 oric orchid, which at first sight so much resembles a flat-petalled iris 

 that it might well be mistaken for one. It represents a flower of 

 Laelia purpurata in which the three sepals were equal in size and 

 shape, as also were the three petals — -the latter being all deeply col- 

 ored and lip-like. In the centre of the flower was a three-toothed 

 column with no anthers. Below the flower were indications of a 

 three-celled ovary, the cells being placed opposite to the sepals. 

 Allowing for the absence of the stamens, the diagram of the flower 

 was exactly that of an iris. From the same number of the Chronicle 

 we learn that the entire cryptogamic herbarium (including original 

 drawings, dissections, and notes) of the late Prof. W. P. Schimper, of 

 Strasburg, whose important works upon mosses are so well known, 

 has been purchased by the Baroness Burdett Coutts, and presented 

 to the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens, Kew. 



