The President's Address. By Lord Avehcry. 295 



We have two genera — very different in habit and appearance. 

 Convolvulus has an indehiscent capsule. In C. sepium the seeds 

 are rather large and heavy. In the smaller species we have a 

 somewhat rare case, the form of the capsule depending on the 

 number of seeds which are fertilised. If the capsule has its full 

 complement of four seeds, it is 4-angled. 



In Cuscuta europcea (the dodder) the capsule bursts transversely 

 at the base. It seems probable that the long, filiform, twisted and 

 curling stems often get torn away by passing animals, carrying the 

 seeds with them. 



Boragine^e. — The ovary as a rule is deeply 4-lobed, with a 

 simple style inserted in the centre. The fruit consists of four 

 small nuts, resembling seeds, and inclosed in, or surrounded by, 

 the calyx. 



In Symphytum the seeds are hard, smooth, and polished, resem- 

 bling small pebbles. They are probably distributed partly by 

 water and partly by birds. Those of Lithospenmini are similar, and 

 in L. officinale bright blue, which makes them very conspicuous. 

 Birds are fond of them, and, as they are so slippery, must often drop 

 them about. 



In Myosotis, the Forget-me-not, the calyx tube contracts more or 

 less over the nutlets, so that they generally remain for some time 

 together. The species may be divided into three groups. In M. 

 ccespitosa, M. palustris, and M. repens, the hairs on the calyx are 

 straight and depressed. The nutlets readily adhere to the fingers, 

 and may probably thus be carried about by animals. 



In M. versicolor, M. arvensis, and M. collina, this is evidently 

 the case. The calyx is covered with bristly hairs, many of which 

 are hooked. They cling tenaciously to any woolly or rough surface. 

 In M. sylvatica there are three kinds of hairs, adpressed and short, 

 long and arching, while some are hooked and of intermediate 

 length. 



The most highly modified fruits in this direction are those of 

 the Hound's-tongue, Cynoglossum. The nutlets separate from the 

 receptacle, and only remain attached to the central axis by the 

 produced upper ends, which makes them more liable to be carried 

 away by animals. Tins is still further promoted by the fact that 

 the nutlets are densely covered with conical, " glochidiate," or 

 many-barbed warts, which readily catch in, and hold tight to any 

 woolly or rough surface. 



OROBANCHACEiE. — The Orobanchacese are all parasitic, and, as 

 is usual in such cases, the seeds are small, in some species so small 

 as to resemble dust. The fruit is a capsule. Green leaves are 

 entirely wanting. 



ScrophulariaceyE. — The fruit is generally a capsule, sometimes, 

 however, though rarely, and not in any of our British species, a 

 berry. The seeds are generally more or less sculptured, though 



