BOOk'-XOTKS, XKWS, KTC. JU 



tlie shade. On taljuLitiniJ,- the records of hal)itats, it has been ft)nnd 

 that we get approxunately : — 



Blaek-spored forms : 24% occurring in the shade, 76% in the open. 

 Turple „ •„ 30° „ „ ^ „ „ 70'V„ „ 



White „ „ 907„ „ „ ., 10",; „ 



The piidv-spored forms gave 34"/„ in tlie shade, G6% in tlie open. 

 This is intermediate, as miglit have been expected, between the dark- 

 s])Ored and the wliite-spored species. The brown or rustj-spored 

 forms, however, gave figures not quite so good, viz. : — 527o in the 

 shade and 48''/o in the o^jen. These figures are only approximate, 

 as they are compiled from a list of habitats which is probably 

 not very accurately determined as regards light and shade. Spore- 

 e>)lo ration may, however, depend, partly at least, upon the kind 

 of substratimi on which the Fungi grow. It is significant, for 

 example, that a large projjortion of the black-spoi-ed forms groM^ upon 

 dung, wiiilst the white-spored forms are found largely upon the 

 ground, frequently in rich soil in humus, and the rusty-spored forms 

 largely upon rotten wood, old stum})s, &c. It would be instructive if 

 careful records were made of spore-coloration in relation to the sub- 

 stratum as well as to light and shade. 



UxDER a somewhat ambiguous title Planf Maferials of Decora- 

 tice Giirdenitif/ : The Woody Plants, Prof. Trelease has published 

 (at tJrbana, Illinois) in handy j^ocket form a series of dichotomous 

 keys which, if carefully used, should enable an intelligent observer 

 to identify with a fair amount of confidence any hardy tree, shrub, 

 or woody climber likely to be met with under cultivation in the 

 Eastern United States as well as in Northern Eui-ope. The book is 

 well ]jlanned, the materials being primarily divided into four easily 

 distinguished groups: (A) Trees, (B) Shrubs, (C) Undershrubs, 

 (D) Scrambling or Climbing Woody Plants. A systematic arrange- 

 ment of the vai-ious genera follows, with keys to the species under 

 each genus. We think that the usefulness of the keys would have 

 been increased if the page of each genus had been indicated in the 

 keys to the main groups rather than in the index at the end of the 

 volume. A concise description of each genus precedes the keys, 

 wliich intdude 247 genera, 7S2 species, and 375 varieties, contained 

 in S3 natural families. Such highly critical genera as Rosa and 

 Crataef/ns are wisely ignored except as regards Avell-marked species. 

 The determining characters employed are mostly non-technical and 

 easily recognized with the help of a good pocket-lens, while a good 

 glossary is provided for the non-botanist. The author deserves the 

 thanks of botanists and horticulturists for a very useful ]iiece of work : 

 a book on similar lines is badly needed in our country, but to compile 

 this would be no light task, considering that the trees and shrubs in 

 cultivation now number some thousands. Such a c()m])ilation would 

 however ra])idly become indispensable to the large number of people 

 now interested in this fascinating subject, and used in conjunction 

 with Mr. Bean's useful volumes would prove invaluable to all students 

 of ligneous plants. — A. B. J. 



W7<: have received the Thirty-third Annual Report of the Wat.son 

 liotanical Exchange (Mub (IDIG 17) from which we hope later to 



