189 



revision. There must therefore for the present be some doubt 

 as to the proper nomenclature of some of the forms considered 

 in this paper. 



THE GAMETOPHYTE. 



The first discovery of the gametophyte of the Ophioglossaceae 

 was made by Hofmeister (Abh. d, k. sachs. Gesellsch. d. Wiss., 

 1857, pp. 657 — 662) w^ho, in 1854, found the gametophyte of 

 Botrychium Lunaria and two years later Mettenius (Filices 

 Horti Botanici Lipsiensis, Leipzig, 1856, p. 119) described much 

 more fully the gametophyte of Ophioglossum pedunculosum, 

 which was cultivated in the botanical garden at Leipzig. No 

 further additions were made to the subject until the writer 

 (Structure and Development of Mosses & Ferns, 1st edit, 1895, 

 pp. 224-228) succeeded in obtaining the first germinating 

 stages of 0. pendulum collected in the Hawaiian Islands, and 

 those of Botrychium virginiamun; and the older gametophyte 

 of the later species was also described. In 1898 Jeffrey (The 

 Gametophyte of Botrychium virginianum, University of Toronto 

 Studies, 1898) published a complete account of the gametophyte 

 and embryo of Botrijchium virginianum. The latest contributions 

 to the subject have been those of Lang (On the ProthalU of 

 Ophioglossum pendulum, and Helminthostachys zef/lanica, Ann. ot 

 Bot., XVI, pp. 23 — 56, 1902) who has described the gametophyte 

 of 0. pendulum and of Hehninthostaclii/s; and the still more 

 recent papers of Bruchmann (Uber das Prothallium und die 

 Sporenpflanze von Botrychium Lunaria, Flora, XCVI, pp. 

 203—227, 1906; Uber das Prothallium und Keimpflanze von 

 0. vulgatum, Bot. Zeit, 1904). The latest contribution to the 

 subject is a pi-eliminary paper by Lyon (A New Genus of 

 Ophioglossaceae, Bot. Gaz., XL, pp. 455—458, 1905) on the 

 embryo of B. ohliquwn. 



About six weeks in January and February of 1906 were spent 

 by the writer in Ceylon. The greater part of the time was 

 passed in the l)otanical gardens of Peradeniya, but an excursion 

 was also made to the Barawa Forest. The Barawa Forest is not 



