LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LOXDOK. 9 



The President stated tliat a vacancy existed in the list of 

 Poreici^n Members by the death of Julius von Wiesuer, 



Mr. C. E. Salmon made a communicatioii on " Some Plants 

 that might occur in Britain," showing s])ecimens of the plants 

 considered likely to occur, and certain allied forms possibly to be 

 mistaken for them. Some undoubtedly native species would 

 seem unlikely from their European distribution to occur here, 

 such as Safjina Reuteri, Boiss., and IJoi/cUa alpina, Salisb., whilst 

 it is manifestly uncertain wliat species may be ultimately found 

 in Britain. He had therefore chosen the ten following species, 

 all well-deiined plants, and recognized on the Continent, leaving 

 out consideration of microspecies for the present. 



Ranunculus oloUucos, Lloyd, allied to R. trijiartitus, DC; 

 Cerastium brachypetalum, Desp., close to C. glomeratum, Thuill., 

 especially its subvariety elongatum ; Alsine dunensis, Corbiere, 

 distinguishable from A. tenuifolia, Crantz ; Spergula Morrisonii , 

 Boreau, closely allied to *S'. pentandra, Linn., found in Ireland by 

 Dr. William Sherard, and recorded in Eay's ' Synopsis,' ed. 3, 

 p. 351 ; Veronica opaca, Fries, very near V. agrestis, Linn., 

 and V. polita. Fries ; Rhinanthus hirsutus, Lam., comparable 

 with our R. major, Ehrh. ; Ruppia hrachypus, J. Gray, very near 

 R. rostellata, Koch ; Heleocharis mamillatus, Lindb. f., between 

 H. pcdustris, R. Br., and H. xmiglumis, Schultes, distinguished 

 by their fruits, as shown in the diagram exhibited by the 

 author ; Carex frigida, AIL, previously reported from Scotland, 

 but the plant then found is now known as C. binervis yav. iSadleri, 

 Linton ; and lastly, C. kevirostris, Fries, nearest to C. rostrata of 

 our British species. 



Mr. James Groves, Dr. C. E. Moss, Mr. F. K". Williams, 

 Mr. E. G. Baker, and Mr. E. A. Roli'e took part in the discussion 

 which followed. 



Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.E.S., then gave an account of a 

 paper by Prof. J. W. Dakin, F.L.S,, on his exploration of the 

 Houtman Abrolhos Islands. 



The last communication was by Messrs. J. Chaeleswobth 

 and J. Eamsbottom, F.L.S., "On the Structure of the Leaves 

 of Hybrid Orchids." 



An investigation of the various anatomical characters of the 

 leaves of the parents and their hybrids — cuticle, epidermis, 

 water-storage tissue, mesophyll, vascular bundles, sclerenchyma, 

 structure and shape of midrib, etc. — shows that, as a general 

 rule, a structure when present in both parents in different 

 amounts, appears in the hybrid intermediate in every way — 

 quantity, distribution, size and shape of parts, etc. This can 

 be well seen by observing the microscopic characters of hybrids 

 which have one parent in common ; Cochlioda Noezliana occurs as 

 the female pai'ent in six of the primary hybrids investigated and 



