\iii PKOCEEDINGS OF THE 



written from St. Kitts, West Indies, giving an account of a lu- 

 minous fungus observed on the leaves of Spermacoce, vphicli had 

 since been submitted to the Eev. M. J. Berkeley, F.L.S., who 

 considered it to be a species of Didymivm. 



December 4th, 1873. 



Geobge Bentham, Esq., !F.E..S., President, in the Chair. 



J. Home, Esq., Sub-Director of the Botanic G-arden, Mauritius, 

 was elected a EeUow. 



Dr. J. D. Hooker, Pres. E.S., Y.P.L.S., exhibited an authentic 

 photograph of Bqfflesia Arnoldi, sent by Dr. Scheffer, Curator of 

 the Botanic Gardens in Buitenzorg, Java. 



Dr. Trimen, F.L.S., exhibited a dried specimen oiBumex maxi- 

 mus, Schreber, gathered by the Hon. J. L. "Warren in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Lewes, Sussex. 



The following paper was read, viz. : — 



1. " Eevision of the Genera and Species of Tulipese." By J. 

 G. Baker, Esq., E.L.S. 



In this tribe of Liliacese the author iucludes the caules- 

 cent capsular genera with distinct perianth-segments and leafy 

 stems bulbous at the base, viz. Fritillaria, Tulipa, Lilium, 

 Calochortus, MrytJironium, and Lloydia. After referring to the 

 literature of the subject and pointing out the great want of a 

 better systematic arrangement of these important plants both by 

 the botanist and the horticulturist, Mr. Baker proceeds to describe 

 the characters of the different organs seriatim. In the structure 

 of the underground stems there are four leading types: — 1. A 

 squamose perennial bulb, consisting, when mature, of a large num- 

 ber of thin flat scales tightly pressed against one another and ar- 

 ranged spirally round a central axis which is not produced either ver- 

 tically or horizontally, as exemplified in all the Old- World species 

 of Lilium. 2. In most of the species oi Fritillaria we have a pair 

 only of hemispherical scales, half as thick as broad, pressed against 

 the base of the flower-stem, these scales being the bases of single 

 leaves which die down before the flower-stem is produced. 3. An 

 annual laminated tunicated bulb occurs generally in Tulipa, Calo- 



