ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 729 



ceolatum. This genus, less well known, and more difficult in the limita- 

 tion of its species, is divided into two groups : (1) that of B. lanceolatum, 

 containing ten North American species, which ripen their spores in the 

 early summer ; and (2) that of B. tematum, maturing in the late summer. 

 The modes adopted by Milde and by Prantl for grouping the species do 

 not seem to Benedict to be natural. He gives an analytical table of the 

 ten species of the first group. 



Lycopod with a Seed-like Structure.* — M. Benson publishes 

 her full paper on Miadesmia membranacea Bertrand, a new palaeozoic 

 Lycopod with a seed-like structure. This small herbaceous plant had 

 sporophylls akin to those of the ligulate Lycopodiacese, especially 

 Selaginella. The megasporangium produced a single thin-walled spore, 

 which germinated in situ. Around the sporangium was an integument 

 provided with a micropyle ; from the surface of the integument arose 

 several long processes, giving the organ a fringed appearance. At the 

 time of maturity the sporophyll was detached, and the whole structure 

 resembled a winged and fringed seed. 



Sporangium-bearing Organs of the LycopodiaceaB.f — M. G. Sykes 

 has studied the sporangium-bearing organs of the Lycopodiaceas, and 

 has arranged the different species of Lycopodium in a continuous series 

 according to the shape and structure of the sporophyll, the position of 

 the sporangium, and the position of the line of dehiscence. It is 

 suggested that the genus Lycopodium should be regarded as a reduction 

 series, also that the sporangium-bearing organ is to be regarded as an 

 axial structure, morphologically equivalent to a reduced branch. 



Lycopodium squarrosum and its Allies. — R. Pampanini $ gives a 

 resume of what has been written by previous authors concerning 

 Lycopodium squarrosum Forst, L. epicecefoUum Desv. and L. ulicifolium 

 Vent. The first species occurs from Tahiti to Ceylon, the second in the 

 Mascarene Islands, the third in India, Malay Islands, Mascarene 

 Islands, and Madagascar. The author points out what the three species 

 have in common, and adds a distinctive diagnosis for each, for he 

 prefers Pritzel's view (that they are distinct) to Clarke's view (that they 

 are forms of one species). Pampanini then gives a detailed description 

 of an allied new species L. pseudo-squarrosum, recently described briefly 

 and figured, § which probably came from the East Indies and is in cultiva- 

 tion in the Botanic Garden at Florence, and which is synonymous with 

 L. squarrosum Drake del Castillo. || 



Bryophyta. 



(By A. Gepp.) 



Sphagnum and Sphagnology. — G. Rothf replies to some of C. 

 Warnstorfs criticisms, and publishes descriptions of twenty-five new- 

 forms of Sphagnum, including five new species. 



* Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, B. 199 (1908) pp. 409-25 (5 pis.). 



t New Phvtologist, vii. (1908) pp 41-60 (2 pis.). 



J Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital., 1908, pp. 6G-77. 



§ Bull. R. Soc.Tosc. di Orticult., xiii. (1908) p. 99 (pi.). 



|| PI. I'olyn. fr. 1892, p. 327. If Hedwigia, xlvii. (1908) pp. 321-9 (figs.). 



Dec. mih. 1908 3 



