ERYTHR.EiE IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 327 



development of several embryos from a single fertilised oosphere, 

 than the formation of spores in a sporangium ; that these are, in 

 fact, cases of polyembryony comparable to those occurring in Gym- 

 nosperms.''' If this be so, the exj)ressiou " fii-st neutral generation " 

 is inapx^licable to these zygospores and oos^oores, and'the products of 

 their development. Again, it has been shown above that in those 

 Thallophytes which exhibit " mi/celienkeimimg,'' the product of the 

 germination (here this word is the correct one) of the zygospores 

 and the oospores is by no means always an asexual generation, 

 and therefore it cannot be generally described as a "first neutral 

 generation." On these grounds it may be fairly concluded that 

 the phrase "first neutral generation" is of no value as a general 

 expression, and that it tends, therefore, rather fo confuse than to 

 make clear our ideas of the life-histories of the difierent groups of 

 Thallophytes. 



The results of this discussion may be briefly summed up as 

 follows : — It appears that it is impossible to detect any distinct 

 alternation of generations in the life-histories of Thallophytes, 

 with the exception of the CuleochtBtece and the CharacefC. In both 

 these groups the oospore undergoes division wdiilst it is still 

 enclosed in the oogonium, and gives rise to a mass of cells, 

 combined together into a tissue, which constitute an embryo : in 

 the former, each cell of the embryo, which is the sporophore, sub- 

 sequently gives rise to a swarm- spore from which a potential 

 ooxDhore is developed ; in the latter, the embiyo developes into an 

 aposporous sxDoroj)hore from' which the oophore is produced by a 

 process of lateral budding. 



. erythrjeje in the isle of wight. 



By Fred. Townsend, M.A., F.L.S. 



I HAVE been asked by the Editor of the ' Journal of Botany ' if 

 I would send a notice of an Erythraa which I collected this summer 

 on the chalk dowais in the neighbourhood of Freshwater and the 

 Needles, in the Isle of Wight. I have with me few books and no 

 specimens, but an early notice may lead to light being sooner 

 thrown upon the subject by engaging the attention of botanists 

 who have materials ready to hand. After the examination of 

 very numerous specimens, I drew up, on the spot, the following 

 characters : — 



Stem usually simple, solitary, or several from the crown of the 

 root ; lower kaves ovate, obtuse, 3-5 nerved, shorter than the inter- 

 mediate, and forming a rosette ; intermediate linear-oblong, some- 

 what narrowed below, uppermost bract-like, often broader below, 

 one or two usually equalling or exceeding the flowers; flowers 

 sessile, numerous, densely corymbose, bracts linear, obtuse but 

 apiculate ; calyx equalling or exceeding the corolla -tube ; stamens 



* For a typical instance see Strasljurger's account of Eijhcdra altissima in 

 his ' Zellbiklung und Zelltheilung.' 



