58 PROCEEDINGS OF THB 



destroyed by fire. Very few of these copies were held by private 

 individuals, and the work, which was issued in 1840 at the price 

 of £40, >vas hardly ever purchasable. The drawings shown were 

 formerly in the possession of J\lr. E. Meinsliausen, of the Imperial 

 Botanical Garden at Nt. Petersburg, and are now the property of 

 the University of Birmingham. 



Dr. OiTO Staff, F.li.S., Sec.L.S., exhibited specimens of Utri- 

 cularia rifjida, Benj., from West Africa, and C. neottioides, St. Hil., 

 from Brazil, the only known representatives of Kamienski's section 

 Avesicaria, whicli is characterised by the absence of bladders. 

 This condition seems to be correlated with the habitat of the plants, 

 that is, rocks and stones submerged in running watfT. The plants 

 are attached to the rocks or pebbles by modified clawlike rhizoids, 

 very like the ' haptera ' of Podostemonacea;. The fertile stems are 

 erect, bearing the flowers and fruits above the water. The 

 assimilation-apparatus is submerged and consists of much-divided, 

 in their ultimate divisions, capillary branches which resemble the 

 ' leaves ' of our native Utricularias. In U. riyida they seem 

 always to spring from the base of the fertile stems and often 

 attain a considerable length. Here and there they give rise to 

 young fertile shoots which attach themselves by tlirowing out 

 'haptera' from their bases. In r. neottioides, however, they also 

 spring from the axils of the lower 3-5 scale-leaves of the flowering 

 stems, and remain rather short. Xowhere is any trace of bladders 

 to be found. The flowers are those of typical Utricularias. The 

 capsules are small and open, in U. rigida at least, by lateral slits, 

 the valves remaining united at the top for some time. The seeds 

 of both species are rather peculiar in the genus in as fai- as they 

 exude mucilage when wetted. The coat of mucilage thus formed 

 helps them in becoming fixed in positions suitable for the growing 

 plant. U. rifjida is known from the Sierra Leone coast to the 

 head-\\aters of the Niger ; U. neottioides from the mountains of 

 Brazil (Bahia, Goyaz. Minaes Geraes). Thus they form another 

 link connecting the floras of AV'est Africa and Brazil. In habit 

 these Utricularias resemble two other aquatic plants of tropical 

 Africa also found in running water, namely Quartinia, a Lythracea, 

 and Anr/olii'a, a Podostemonacea, of whicli specimens were shown. 



An animated discussion followed in which the following took 

 part:— Mr. E. M. Holmes, the Eev. T. E. E. Stebbing, Prof. 

 Dendy, Prof. Poulton, and Mr. Henry Groves, Dr. Stapf replying. 



Mr. E. N. AN'iLLiAMS brought up for exhibition fresh specimens 

 of a straw-coloured variety of Lathrira S(/iia)naria, Linn., from 

 Harefield, Middlesex, growing upon elm-roots ; the normal form 

 grew also with it, but was earlier in its develo])ment than the 

 variety now show n, and besides had the property of quickly turning 

 black after being gathered, whilst the new variety retained its hue 

 for more than 24 hours without much change ; it was distinct 

 from the pure white variety nivea, known on the Continent. 



