WATFARING NOTES FRO:^r NAMAQTJALAND 55 



Near Liklentzbuclit (Angra Pequena), amid crevices of the rock 

 and close to the sea, two species of jPcla)y/onium were seen in flower, 

 as also tliree species of Mesemhryanthermim ; all succulents. Several 

 flowering Composites were also seen and two small species of Eu- 

 pliorhia. This in early October, 1919 ; but in April 1915, during 

 the campaign, the writer saw many more. 



No arborescent forms were seen near the coast (Angra Pequena), 

 the plants seen were all herbaceous, and usually fleshy. It is not 

 until one has proceeded some miles inland, and the country has risen 

 1000 feet and more that larger forms appear. Probably the high 

 winds which sweep the littoral are responsible for this. In dry 

 desert regions the wind is a potent agent and determines many forms, 

 even that of earth itself. 



SHORT NOTES. 



Newspaper Botany. As a rule one disregards the semi-scientific 

 effusions in the newspapers, but I cannot allow the following, which 

 appeared in the Daily Telegrapli of the 14th January, to pass without 

 protest, especially as it emanates from a Fellow of the Linnean 

 Societ}^ In an article headed "Noxious Weeds," Mr. Donald 

 McDonald makes the following extraordinary statement : — " There is 

 a weedy grass which in recent years has established itself on the 

 confines of Poole Harbour. It bears the name of Spartina Town- 

 shendii [sic] and is supposed to have found its way across the Atlantic." 

 It is diflficult to imagine the mental outlook of a man who could 

 describe ^partina Townsendii 2i^ "a weedy grass," particularly for 

 one who, like myself, has the privilege of seeing the glorious stretches 

 of golden brown — the beauty of which in the sunshine it would be 

 impossible to exaggerate — that it forms in autumn and winter at the 

 mouths of our Hampshire and Isle of Wight rivers. To speak of 

 the plant as a " noxious weed " is a gross libel, considering that it 

 has been found of immense service in fixing the loose mud-banks in 

 the estuaries of our southern rivers, and has been planted for the 

 purpose in several localities to which it had not naturally found its 

 way, thus fulfilling a role analogous to that of the Marram in relation 

 to the sand-hills. From Mr. McDonald's remark one would suppose 

 that the plant had originated in this country at Poole Harbour. Is 

 it possible that he has entirely missed the various papers by Dr. Otto 

 Stapf and others, in which the almost certainly hybrid origin of the 

 plant, its utility, and its progressive distribution have been demon- 

 strated? James Groves. 



[Mr. Groves' s entirely justifiable protest omits reference to the 

 fact that he and his brother were the original describers of Spartina 

 Toivnsendii in the Report of the Botanical Exchange Club for 

 1880 (reproduced in Journ. Bot. 1881, 347) ; a fuller description by 

 them, with an excellent plate by Mr. Henry Groves, appeared in 

 Journ. Bot. 1882 (p. 1, t. 225).— Ed. Journ. Bot.] 



Sex-terms for Plants. I should like to add a few words to 

 my note on this subject in last year's Journal (p. 285). It seems to 



