NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 193 



of "Mutant" were sown, which produced plants with the follow- 

 ing characters: — (1) "Mutant" Fj : plants semitrailers, flowers 

 purplish, seeds similar to "Mutant." (2) "Black" F, : plants 

 semitrailers, flowers purplish, seeds black similar to those of 

 "Black Wax." (3)"Light Brown" F, : plants mostly dwarf, pods 

 green, seeds light brown. (4) "Dark Brown" Fj : plant dwarf, 

 flowers pale purple, pods green, seed dark brown. Only one plant 

 of this, with one pod and one seed, was raised. (5) "White" Fj : 

 plants mostly semitrailers, with green pods; but four plants were 

 dwai-f, with waxy-yellow pods, flowers white, seed white. Among 

 the seeds of "Light Brown" Fi(N'o.3), a few were noticed with 

 pale bi'own or stone-coloured markings; these were separated and 

 labelled "Mottled" F2(No. 6). Six of these were sown, all of which 

 pi'oduced dwarf plants, but five of them had green pods (not yet 

 ripe), and one had greenish-yellow pods, and light stone-coloured 

 seeds, more or less spotted or splashed with purplish-black colour. 



Mr. A. A. Hamilton exhibited the following specimens from 

 the National Herbarium — Beta vulgaris 1j., White (Spinach) Beet, 

 Cult., (Pennant Hills; T. Steel; Mai^ch, 1916) showing prolifica- 

 tion of the inflox'escence, accompanied by spiral torsion. The 

 primary branches of the inflorescence have been subjected to an 

 axial strain, owing to extra-floral branching, and consequent re- 

 duction of the internodal interstices, which has, in some instances, 

 resulted in a considerable degree of curvature of their extremities. 

 On several of the branches, the outer branchlets are recurved and 

 folded back over the rhachis, giving the branch the appearance 

 of having all the branchlets on one side. — Grevillea sericea R.Br., 

 var. diffusa Benth., (Gosford; A. A. Hamilton; January, 1916) 

 showing an interchangeable, foliar tomentum, silvery v. brown, a 

 not uncommon occurrence in the N.O. Proteacefe. Var. diffusa 

 is the common form of G. sericea found on the Blue Mountains. 

 It was recognised by R. Brown (Prod. Fl. Nov. HoU. Suppt. Prot. 

 Nov., p. 17) as a species under G. diffusa Sieb., and later also by 

 Meissner (DC. Prod. Syst. Veg., 14, 355). Sieber, whose n.36 is 

 quoted as the type, was one of the earlier collectors on the Blue 

 Mountains. In a footnote to his var. diffusa, Bentham (Fl, 



15 



'i A R 



