232 IAnruean Society. 



tough and durable, and not liable to split. The Mora tree consti- 

 tutes a new genus of the order Leguminosce, belonging to the sub- 

 order Ccesalpinece, and tribe Cassiece. Mr. Bentham adopts the na- 

 tive name for the genus, and proposes that of excelsa for the species. 

 The following is his character of the genus. 

 Mora. Benth. 

 Calyx urceolato-campanulatus, breviter et late 5-dentatus, sestivatione im- 

 bricativa. Corolla : petala 5, aequalia. Stamina 10, exserta, quorum 5 

 petalis opposita, fertilia sunt, antheris bilocularibus medifixis longitu- 

 dinaliter dehiscentibus, 5 petalis alterna filiformia, antheris clavatis 

 cassis. Ovarium breviter stipitatum, pluriovulatum. Stylus compres- 

 sus, subrectus, stigmate tenui terminali. Legumen coriaceo-lignosum, 

 oblongum, abortu (an constanter?) monospermum. Semen magnum, 

 reniforme, cotyledonibus crassis, radicula conica recta. 



The genus is nearly related to Tachigalia of Aublet, and Leptolo- 

 bium of Vogel, but differs from both in the woody texture of the 

 pod, which is moreover naturally dehiscent, in the greater regularity 

 of the parts of the flower, and in the sterility of the alternate sta- 

 mina. 



April 3. — The Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. 



Read a communication on the existence of Stomata in Mosses. In 

 a letter to R. H. Solly, Esq., F.R.S. & L.S. By William Valentine, 

 Esq., F.L.S. 



The discovery of stomata in mosses was reserved for Mr. Valen- 

 tine, an opinion of their absence from that family having univer- 

 sally obtained amongst botanists. It was inBryum crudum that Mr. 

 Valentine first detected stomata, and of one hundred and three Bri- 

 tish mosses examined by him, seventy-eight were found to possess 

 these organs. Their situation in this family is very remarkable, be- 

 ing confined, with one exception, to the theca, and the thinness of 

 the tissue will readily account for their absence from other parts. In 

 Bryum crudum they occur only on the apophysis, and wherever that 

 organ is present they are to be met with. On the apophysis of seve- 

 ral species of Splachnum they exist in considerable abundance, but 

 in S, ampullaceum they are confined to the upper part of that organ, 

 being the only spot where the subcutaneous tissue has separated 

 from the cuticle. They occur on the whole of the theca in Enca- 

 lypta ciliata and vulgaris, and in several species of Orthotrichum. In 

 (Edipodium Griffithianum they exist on the upper part of the fleshy 

 seta, as well as on the apophysis. In many mosses without the apo- 

 physis, they are found in a single row at the base of the theca, as, 

 for instance, in Trichostomum patens, and in the genus Phascum, with 



