186 SUMMARY OF CUKRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



while the fourth had a truncated column. The perianth also varied, 

 both in number of leaves and also in the development of certain 

 coloured patches. Two of the flowers bore little scales at the base of 

 the outer whorl of the perianth, while at the base of the column were 

 brown specks, which sugjjested the action of a fungus upon the tissues. 

 No such suggestion of the cause of malformation can be offered in the 

 first case. 



Modifications of the Flowers of Teucrium due to Larvae of Copium.* 

 C. Houard gives an account of the modifications in the flowers of 

 Tnicrium Chammdrys and T. montamim, brought about by the larvse of 

 Copium. The protective whorls are so modified that they resemble 

 a vegetative growth ; this is due to the thickening of the corolla- 

 wall, and to the formation of nutritive tissue, which is of use to the 

 developing larvae. The influence of gall-formation is most marked 

 upon the reproductive whorls, where it produces the effects characteristic 

 of parasitic degeneration ; each species of Germander has its own 

 peculiar modifications. In T. moiitauiim all the floral whorls share in 

 the change ; the corolla forms the much-thickened wall of the gall, while 

 the reproductive whorls atrophy. 



Composition of Sap of Roots.f — G. Andre has investigated the 

 composition of sap extracted from roots by bruising and pressure. 

 Specimens of Jerusalem artichoke, caiTot, and Phytolacca decandra w'ere 

 gathered at different periods of growth, and subjected to gradually in- 

 creased pressures. It is found that the composition of the juice so 

 obtained is nearly constant and is independent of the pressure. The 

 concentration, on the contrary, varies with the pressure, being greater 

 when the pressure is small, and decreasing as the pressure increases. 



Seeds and Inflorescence of Callipteris.J — F. Grand'Eury has ex- 

 amined the flora of the mines of Margenne and T(^Jots, and is con- 

 vinced that the seeds which always accompany the leaves of Gallipteris 

 conferta, and which hitherto have been known as Carpolithes variabilis, 

 are actually the seeds of Callipteris. They are round, ovoid, or elliptical, 

 with a thin testa, and striations diverging from the base, and converg- 

 ing towards the apex. There is no line of dehiscence, and they were 

 pro])ably of the nature of berries, and hence the most simple of Pterido- 

 sperm seeds. The author has also examined some curious male organs, 

 recalling a very enlarged type of Crossoiheca, which he also considers as 

 belonging to Callipteris, although there is no positive proof that this is 

 the case. 



Inflorescences of the Seed-bearing " Ferns." § — F. Grand'Eury 

 contributes the results of investigations upon the inflorescences of the 

 seed-bearing Ferns. After remarking upon the round seeds, with thin 

 testa, similar to those of Sphceroxpernnun Br., which so often accompany 

 Callipteridium, the author proceeds to describe two kinds of inflorescences 

 which abound in the Upper Culm of Brittany, in company with seeds 

 and fronds of Sphenopteris. The first consists of involucres with spread- 



* Comptes Rendus, cxliii. (1906) pp. 927-9. f Tom. cit., pp. 972-4. 



X Tom. cit., pp. 6G4-6. § Tom. cit., pp. 761-4. 



