260 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Caulinia. It has since been investigated by several 

 botanists in London, one of whom (Mr. Ridley, of the 

 British Museum) believes it to be identical with the 

 Caulinia alaganensis. Some botanists consider it to 

 be identical with the Caulinia fexilis of Connemara 

 and of Scotland, but the presence of the two long 

 teeth at the base of the sheaf of the leaf, and its large 

 size, are against this view of it. The Caulinia 

 alaganensis is known to occur in the humid plains of 

 Lombardy, and the Italian botanists are of opinion 

 that it was introduced there by the cultivation of 

 rice. The plant also occurs in Egypt, and it is 

 figured in Defile's " Flora of Egypt," but tfie leaves 

 of the Ashton plant grow in more lateral tufts than 

 they are represented in Defile's figure. Egypt, 

 therefore, may be the source from which the plant 

 has reached England, and, if so, cotton is the pro- 

 bable medium of conveyance. Mr. Bailey surmised 

 that the plant grows in the irrigation ditches of the 

 Egyptian cotton plantations ; that ripe carpels of the 

 Caulinia are carried in the water which is used for 

 the cotton plants. These carpels cannot germinate 

 on the surface of the dry soil, and they are either 

 driven by the wind into collecting baskets of ripe 

 cotton, or they attach themselves to the cotton 

 through their accidentally falling on the soil. The 

 Caulinia fruits then reach this country with the 

 cotton, when the carding engines separate them from 

 the fibre ; the refuse of these engines is then turned 

 out on to the rubbish heap of the mill-yard, whence 

 the wind or other agency transfers it to the water 

 which is used for condensing steam ; here the tepid 

 water becomes a suitable nidus for germination and 

 growth, and the result is a new addition to our flora. 

 If these surmises have any truth, the same plant 

 ought to occur in any mill-pond connected with mills 

 where Egyptian cotton is used, and where the water 

 is raised to a permanently high temperature by the 

 condensation of steam from the boiler. Bolton is the 

 principal district which consumes Egyptian cotton, 

 and the mill-ponds and canals of that neighbourhood 

 - might be worth the trouble of a search. The other 

 new plant added to the flora of Great Britain has 

 better claims to its being considered native than the 

 Caulinia, because it might, antecedently, have been 

 expected to occur in Britain from its recorded area 

 of European distribution. This plant is the Chara 

 Braunii, Gmel., and was discovered accidentally by 

 Mr. Bailey some mile or so distant from the station 

 of the Caulinia when visiting the neighbourhood in 

 company with Messrs. Byrom, Lee, and Whitehead. 

 Mr. Bailey sent it to Mr. Arthur Bennett, of Croydon, 

 who at once pronounced it new to Britain, and 

 belonging to the Coronata group of Charas. It was 

 growing with Potamogeton pusillus, and Zannichellia. 



Mycological Observations. — Three years ago 

 I found Puccinea graminis, Pers., very common on 

 straw that was lying about on the roadsides here, but 



I had never seen the fungus on living plants in this 

 district, so I determined to carefully examine all the 

 cornfields in the neighbourhood. I have done so 

 each year since, and have not seen a trace of either 

 the mildew or the rust. (Ecidium berberidis, Pers., 

 is also absent. The straw doubtless came from some 

 other district. On Whit-Tuesday of the present 

 year I visited Grange, and found on the branches of 

 Juniperus communis (Podisoma Juniper/', Fr.) a 

 fungus which I had never met with before. Whilst 

 I was there I examined the hawthorns {Rcestelia 

 lacerata, Tul.), but only found remnants of last year's 

 plants. I visited the same district in August and 

 found Rcestelia lacerata very common indeed, 

 especially near to bushes of juniper. Rccstelia lacerata, 

 Tul., has not yet been found in this district (Airedale), 

 neither has the podisoma. In the middle of June 

 I visited Malham, and found in a wood near there 

 Allium ursinum, badly affected with (Ecidium allii, 

 Grev. On September 1st I visited the same wood, 

 and noticed about fifty yards away, over the stream, a 

 quantity of Phalaris arundinacea. I gathered a few 

 of the leaves, and upon microscopic examination I 

 found they were attacked with the minute Puccinia 

 sessilis, Schr. My friend Mr. Birks, of Goole, sent me 

 a short time ago, from that district, (Ecidium rumicis, 

 Pers., and Puccinea arundinacea, Korn., the latter 

 occurring on the common reed, which is altogether 

 absent from this portion of Airedale. The same may 

 be said of both forms of fungi. (Ecidium tussilaginis, 

 Pers., is very common throughout this district, and 

 is generally associated with Puccinea poarum, Niel, 

 a form that occurs on Poa annua, &c. (Ecidium 

 ranunculacearum, DC, is also common, and is, like 

 the last, generally associated with Uromyces poa, 

 Rabh., a fungus on poa grasses. During a ramble 

 with my friend Mr. Hebden, of Keighley, we noticed 

 (Ecidium tragopogonis, Pers., on goatsbeard (Trago- 

 pogonpratensis), attacking both leaves, stem, and invo- 

 lucre. I gathered a few specimens and visited the 

 same plants a few weeks later, when they were found 

 to be badly affected with Puccinia sparsa, Cke. At 

 the commencement of this spring I scattered a 

 quantity of spores (teleutospores) of Puccinia mentha, 

 Pers., upon mint plants that were just coming up 

 (inside). In a few weeks each plant was affected with 

 (Ecidium menthce, D.C. I took the CEcidia spores 

 and scattered them on mint in the garden. Every 

 plant was affected with Trichobasis labiatarum, Lev. 

 (so was my neighbour's), and at the present time every 

 leaf is affected with Puccinia menthce, Pers. (Ecidium 

 urtictv, D.C, is very rare here. — H. T. Soppitt, 

 Salt aire, Yorks, 



" Hardy Perennials." — By J. Wood. (London : 

 L. Upcott Gill.) This useful and well-written work 

 keeps issuing in monthly parts, and when completed 

 will prove a very attractive manual of our old- 

 fashioned garden flowers. 



