1 * >0 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



New Ferns from Yunnan.*— (i. Brause describes new ferns collected 

 by K. P. Maire in Yunnan. A.mong them are four species of Cheilanthes, 

 which brings the number of Chinese species up bo 25, of which 20 are 

 endemic. Adiantum venustum Don is remarkable in China for its 

 great variety of form. Eleven new species and one new variety are 

 described. 



Bryopliy ta. 

 (By A. ( i-BPP.) 



Protoplasmic Connexion in Mosses. t — A. Piskernik has investigated 

 and tested the various methods hitherto employed for proving proto- 

 plasmic connexion in mosses, and considers certain modifications advisable. 

 Besides the moss speciea in which connexions had already been found, 

 principally by Kienitz-Gerloff, she proves their presence in •". hepatics 

 and 22 more mosses. In certain parts of the mosses they were found in 

 great numbers, in Plagiochila about 1000 in one cell. Between sporo- 

 phyte and gametophyte no protoplasmic connexions were found. The 

 best reagents were either saturated solutiou of iodine ; or sulphuric 

 acid 25 per cent, with or without methyl-violet : or sulphuric acid 

 10-25 per cent, run under the cover-slip and then slightly warmed and 

 the specimen examined at once. 



Starch in Bryophytes.} — H. Rancken publishes the result of his 

 studies on the starch of Bryophytes. In an historical introduction he 

 shows how previous authors have arrived at several different conclusions, 

 not only with regard to the presence or absence of starch in certain 

 species, but also as to the meaning of the diminished starch formation 

 found in many species. The paper is divided into : 1. The distribution 

 of the starch in moss plants. 2. Independence of the starch contents 

 from a developmental stage and from outside influences. 3. The starch 

 formation of the various bryophytes ; this treats of no less than 275 

 species examined, of which 151 were tested by the author. Then follows 

 an account of the author's methods and work, and a biliography. The 

 different moss species vary greatly in their power of producing starch, 

 and each species has its specific capability. They may be divided into 

 three categories : 1. The amylophyll species form starch in the assimi- 

 lative organs of the gametophyte, and store it also in most of the other 

 tissues ; some species very richly as Pellia and Marchantia, fairly richly 

 as Mnium and Kantia, moderately as Bartramia, sparely as Sphagnum 

 and many species of Hypnum. 2. In the saccharophyll species the 

 glucose, which is formed during assimilation, is not condensed into starch 

 in the assimilative tissues. On the other hand, in other organs starch 

 or starch-like substances are stored in greater or less quantity (Ortho- 

 triclmm or LopJiozid). 3. A few species (Andresea petrophila, Hedwigia 



* Hedwigia, liv. (1913) pp. 199-209 (1 fig.). 



t Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr., Ixiv. (1914) pp. 107-20 (2 pis.). See also Bot. Cen- 

 tralbl., exxvi. (1914) p. 419. 



X Acta Soc. pro Fauila et Flora Fennica, xxxix. No. 2 (Helsingfors, 1914) 101 pp. 

 See also Bot. Centralbl., exxvi. (1914) pp. 536-7. 



