BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 85 



Whitwell never married. In 1S92 he was elected a Fellow of the 

 Linnean Society : his extensive herbarium has been presented by his 

 relatives to the Birmingham Museum. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on Feb. 3, Mr. Miller 

 Christy made the communication on Wistman's Wood which will be 

 found on p. 71. Mrs. Agnes Arber gave an account of her paper 

 " On the Leaf-tips of certain Monocotyledons," in which the leaves 

 of Monocotyledons are studied from the standpoint of the Phyllode 

 Theory — that is to say, it is assumed that these leaves include no 

 region equivalent, morphologically, to the lamina of the Dicoty- 

 ledon. It is concluded, on the evidence of comparative morphology 

 and anatomy, that, in the case of simple Monocotyledonous foliage 

 leaves terminating in a solid apex, and also in the case of spathe 

 leaves ending in a similar tip, the main part of the leaf is of leaf- 

 sheath nature, while the apex represents a vestigial petiole. In the 

 case of those more complex Monocotyledonous leaves, which are 

 differentiated into sheath, stalk, and " blade," certain cases are known 

 in which the " blade " terminates in a solid apex. It is provisionally 

 suggested that such apices represent the unexpanded tip of the 

 petiole : in other words, the main part of the distal region of the 

 leaft-stalk has developed into the " pseudo-lamina," while the extreme 

 tip has remained relatively unmodified, retaining its solid petiolar 

 character. 



At the same meeting, Mr. T. A. Dyines communicated a paper on 

 the seeding and germination of Rnscus aculeatus. In the south- 

 eastern quarter of England the berries and seedlings perish by severe 

 frost, although the adult is hardy. Many seeds fail to germinate, 

 because immature. Germination begins in July or August with the 

 extrusion of the radicle ; the cotyledon remains within the endo- 

 sperm. During the first season the plumule is merely a short axis, 

 completely invested by scale-leaves ; it remains underground from the 

 close of the first season until the following summer. Frost kills 

 many seedlings during the first winter. Better results are obtained 

 by sowing, as soon as the seeds are ripe, at a depth of one inch than 

 at a greater depth or in the spring. Survivors in the second season 

 produce an axis some three inches long, bearing a few scale-leaves 

 and, at the apex, about six phylloclades in the axils of scale-leaves, 

 which are longer than those of the adult. The radicle perishes, and 

 adventitious roots are produced of about five inches in length. 

 During the second winter the seedlings are unable to withstand severe 

 frost. There is no recapitulation of the ancestry by the seedling. 



The Proceedings of the Linnean Society for 1919-20 includes 

 as a supplement the papers read at the Banks Celebration in June 17 

 last :— "' Banks as Traveller," by Dr. Jackson ; " Banks as a Man of 

 Science," by Dr. llendle ; and " Banks as Botanist," by Mr. Britten — ■ 

 the last with special reference to his MSS. and collections in the 

 National Herbarium. 



Bhodora for November last contains " Studies of some Boreal 

 American Cerastiums of the section Ortliodon" by M. L. Fernald 

 and K. M. Wiegand. Although concerned only with the plants of 

 the region indicated, the paper should interest British botanists, as 



