SHORT NOTES. 157 



Hab. Friendly Islands, Dr. Harvei/ ! 



2G3. S. leptophylla, n. sp. — Stems very weak and slender, 

 trailing, densely tufted, 2-3 in. long, distantly pinnate, the branches 

 erecto-patent, the lower slightly compound. Leaves of the lower 

 j)lane very distant, even on the branches, rather ascending, oblique 

 oblong, subobtuse, a line long, bright green, very membranous, 

 more produced on the upper side of the midrib, broadly rounded, 

 not ciliated, and imbricated over the stem on the upper side at the 

 base ; leaves of the upper plane half as long, ovate, shortly cuspi- 

 date. Spikes resupinate, \-^ m. long, l-12th to l-8th in. diam. ; 

 bracts very dimorphous, those of the upper plane oblique oblong- 

 lanceolate, erecto-patent ; of the lower plane ascending, ovate- 

 cuspidate, strongly keeled, 



Hab. Formosa, at Tamsuy, Oldham 79! A near ally of S. 

 pronijiora. 



(To be continued.) 



SHORT NOTES. 



Variation in Ulex europ.eus. — On February 1st I noticed a 

 marked peculiarity in the abundant flowers of a whin-bush on 

 Putney Heath. On looking closely, I found the vexillum of each 

 flower, except one or two imperfect ones, had on each side, near the 

 top, a small extra lobe, about f of a circle in shape and about ^ in. 

 across, turned back at right angles to the rest of the petal. 1 do 

 not find this variation mentioned in the usual test-books. Several 

 bushes near had slight attempts to follow this one's example, but 

 none had the extra lobe on both sides, and seldom more than a 

 pinched-up corner to the vexillum. One bush, 300 yards away, 

 had one flower with the peculiarity developed on one side. The 

 point indicated does not seem to be touched by the humble bees. 

 It makes the bush showy, and if we are to credit plants with 

 deliberate intentions now-a-days we may hope the fashion may 

 spread. — Donald Matheson. 



Saussurea alpina in County Wicklow. — In the course of a 

 week's botanising in the County Wicklow, towards the end of July 

 last (1884), it was my good fortune to discover a well-established 

 colony of Saussurea alpina, growing in association with Aleheiiiilla 

 alpina, in the cliffs above Lough Ouler, on the south slope of 

 Tlionalagee Mountain. This, I believe, is the first and only 

 station recorded for Satissarea in eastern Ireland. Lough Ouler 

 lies at an elevation of 1829 feet above sea-level according to the 

 Ordnance Survey, and as I found the plant growing at not more 

 than 100 feet above the lake, this would give about 1900 feet for 

 elevation of the Wicklow habitat. — N. Colgan. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 

 The Eev. T. A. Preston has issued, in tabular form, the 'Eesults 

 of twenty years' observations in Jlotany, Entomology, Ornithology 



