1 88 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



" C. canescens, var. dtibia, Bailey. 



" C. elongata, Olney, Bot. King's Report, p. 365, U.S., not Linn. ; 

 Bailey's 'Coulter's Manual,' p. 394, excluding description. Uintah 

 Mts., Utah, Watson ; and Alta, Wahsatch Mts., Jones." Bailey in 

 " Syn. North Amer. Carices " ; " Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sciences," 

 1886, p. 143. 



Kihlman, in " Meddel. Soc. Fauna et Flora Fenn.," xvi. 1888-91, 



pp. 69-75, discusses Carex helvola, Blytt, and considers it C. canescens 



x lagopina ; while Blytt's C. pseudohelvola he referred to C. canescens 



x norvegica. The British specimens I have seen of C. helvola are 



poor compared with the beautiful specimens for Norway (Blytt) and 



Finland (Kihlman). From one locality in Finland C. helvola was 



named " C. lagopina " by the finder. ARTHUR BENNETT. 



Seed-production in Dianthus deltoides, L. As a contribution 

 to the records of the rate of reproduction in a plant that can 

 scarcely be regarded as among the most prolific, I give the results 

 ascertained on two plants in my garden in Old Aberdeen, where 

 they grew on soil not naturally rich, and scarcely manured. The 

 first plant was brought by me, in 1892, in its first year, from sandy 

 links at St. Cyrus in S.E. Kincardineshire. Next year it produced 

 1811 flowers. A descendant of this plant, in 1898, bore 2675 

 flowers of full size and 109 small buds of flowers. Of seven capsules 

 taken from it at random, I counted the seeds, which varied in 

 number from 63 to 104 in the capsules, the average being 78. 

 Of these, some were shrivelled ; but not fewer than 50 per capsule 

 appeared fully formed. Thus, even without the mere flower-buds, 

 one plant, had it not been gathered, might have produced upwards 

 of 130,000 seeds capable of germination. JAMES W. H. TRAIL. 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



The Titles and Purport of Papers and Notes relating to Scottish Natural His- 

 tory which have appeared during the Quarter April-June 1899. 



[The Editors desire assistance to enable them to make this Section as complete as 

 possible. Contributions on the lines indicated will be most acceptable and 

 will bear the initials of the Contributor. The Editors will have access to the 

 sources of information undermentioned.] 



ZOOLOGY. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM ABERDEEN. W. Wilson. Zoolo- 

 gist (4), vol. iii. pp. 271-272 (June 1899). 



ABNORMAL OCCURRENCE OF THE PIED WAGTAIL (MOTACILLA 



LUGUBRIS) THROUGH THE WINTER IN ABERDEENSHIRE. W. Wilson. 



Zoologist (4), vol. iii. p. 268 (June 1899). 



