PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



n. 590.— >S'. cnmpestris, Heldr. Herb. Graec. Norm. n. 831 (not 



oi: Ascherson); Willk. & Lange, Prod. Fl. Hisp. ii. p. 165.— 



SiMrgularia diandm, Boiss.M. Or. i. p. 733 ; and Index Kew. 



ii. p. 956. 



Descr. Annual or biennial. Glandular-viscous, prostrate or 



ascending, nearly leafless at the base. Leaves long, linear, flat. 



Stipules subtriangular, broader than long, and overlapping at the 



base, dull greyish-yellow. Elowers numerous, in dense leafless or 



nearly leafless cymes, the pedicels shorter than the capsules. 



Sepals lanceolate, with scarious margiu. Petals obovate, as long 



or a little shorter than the sepals. Stamens from 5 to 10, usually 



about 7 or 8 in number. Capsule slightly exceeding the calyx. 



Seeds wingless, greyish-brown, larger than those of -S'. rubra. 



From S. ruhra it may easily be distinguished by the absence of 

 the basal rosette of leaves, and by the short, broadly-ovate, dull- 

 coloured stipules, so different from the long, narrow, lanceolate, 

 glistening silvery-white stipules of -S'. ruhra. From the more 

 closelv allied S. diandra, with which it is united or confounded by 

 Lebel", Kindberg, and ' Index Kewensis,' and under which as a 

 subspecies it is placed by Nyman, Alsine atlicniensis may be known 

 bvits more robust appearance and by the more numerous stamens, 

 S. diandra, as its name im])lies, having 2 or 3 only. 



Alsine atheniensis is found in sandy places on or near the coast 

 of the Mediterranean from Phaleron, near Athens, where I have 

 seen it, westwards to Spain, and it also occurs in Corsica. S. 

 diandra is recorded by Nyinan from Portugal. 



The above description has been drawn up from the Jersey 

 plant, which I found last June growing on loose sand at and near 

 St. Hehers. Its occuri^ence in Jersey, where there is, I suppose, 

 no reason to doubt its being indigenous, although it grew on 

 ground near the coast railway, is especially interesting from its 

 ijeing a Mediterranean species unrecorded for the coast of 

 Western Prance, although, as we have seen, the closely-allied 

 S. diandra is reported from Portugal. The presence of the 

 Mediterranean element in the flora of the Channel Isles at present 

 awaits a perfectly satisfactory explanation, although Mr. Lester- 

 Garland, in 'Flora of Jersey,' offers an ingenious suggestion. 



IV. 



On the CEc'ological Functions of Stolons and Cleistogamous 

 Flowers. By J. C. Shenstone, F.L.S. 



[Eead 18th April, 1007.] 



The colonies of plants formed by means oT rhizomes, creeping 

 stems, offsets, runners and suckers, or by the self-planting of seeds 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of the parent plant, are familiar 

 to us all, but an important service which this habit of forming 

 colonies affords to the species appears to have been overlooked. 

 It is self-evident that a more or less dense colony of plants has 



