252 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



5. T. obliquu?n (Fr.), Dahlst. \T. officinale^ var. IcBvigatum^ of 

 Bab. " Man."]. — This has almost the same distribution as 

 T. icBvigatum, from which it can be distinguished with cer- 

 tainty by its ripe fruit being pale greyish-brown instead of 

 deep reddish - purple, or almost purple - black. "Near 

 Arbroath," and from England also. 

 The author expresses the view that the numerous forms named 

 and described by Dahlstedt and Raunkiaer in recent years are not 

 of specific value. 



Forms of Senecio vulgaris. — Dr. A, H. Trow has studied these 

 in the vicinity of Cardiff, and has tested their length of life and 

 constancy when cultivated, and the results when they are crossed. 

 In his "Flora of Glamorgan" (part iii. pp. 91-93), quoted in 

 the "Journal of Botany," 1909, pp. 304-306), he names four 

 varieties and distinguishes them as : — 



1. prcECox., requiring from date of sowing to ripening of seed a 



shorter period (72 days); stem while young rather zigzag, 

 wath a few very long internodes ; main axis soon overtopped 

 and displaced by a lateral branch; leaves i^ early plane, not 

 deeply pinnatifid ; capitula small and slendci. 



2. eredus, requiring longer time (83 days); stem straight and 



erect, internodes many, rather short and stout ; leaves deeply 

 pinnatifid or pinnatisect, strikingly pectinate when half de- 

 veloped, yellow-green, capitula of medium size, not radiate. 



3. eredtis, var. radiatus, differs from eredus 07ily in having 



8 to 13 ray-florets in each capitulum, sometimes very long 

 and revolute. 



4. 7nidticaulis^ requiring longer time (90 days) ; basal internodes 



short, hence a rosette of basal leaves ; dark-green leaves 

 resembling those of eredus but longer ; stems numerous, 

 with upper internodes long, rendering inflorescence less com- 

 pact, w^ith capitula nearly erect, bracts long ; capitula large, 

 broad and rather short ; disc florets soft yellow, browning 

 after pollination ; cotyledons of seedlings large. 

 Experiments in growing and crossing these forms, carried on 

 since 1905, show that they remain constant when grown side 

 by side if not crossed, and that when crossed they follow the 

 Mendelian law. 



The prize offered by the Edinburgh University to students in 

 the classes of Botany for the best Herbarium of British Mosses and 

 Hepatics (not less than 400 species and varieties correctly named), 

 collected between May 1908 and June 1909, has been awarded to 

 Mr. W. Edgar Evans, B.Sc, an occasional contributor to our pages. 

 The specimens w^ere collected entirely in the Edinburgh district and 

 central Perthshire. 



