10 THE FLOKA OF WALES. 



testa, owing to its not being closely adherent to the albumen, 

 though somewhat inflated in fresh seeds. This character dis- 

 tinguishes C. JatifoUuni from such a species as C. arvense, in which 

 the nucleus is closely invested by the testa which is uniformly 

 adherent to the albumen. Such seeds are not angular in the dried 

 state. This character, however, is sometimes difficult to make out 

 in small seeds, in which the dorsal curvature is less marked. 



The species of Cerastium may be associated into primary groups 

 on the basis of characters which have been relied on previously for 

 the definition of sections, though of different grades in grouping. 

 The subgenera of Cerastium are defined in accordance with the 

 views expressed in these short notes. 



Subgenus I. Dichodon. — Petala profunde emarginata. Styli 3. 

 Capsula recta, dentibus 6 erectis vel patulis margine subrevolutis 

 dehiscens. — Herb^ annuae vel perennes. 



Subgenus II. Strephodon. — Petala incisa vel emarginata. 

 Styli 3 vel 5 (interdum 4). Capsula recta vel curvata, dentibus 

 6 vel 10 apice circiuato-convolutis, margine non revolutis, dehiscens. 

 — Herbte annu» vel perennes, dichotome ramosas, multiflorse, rarius 

 simplices, corymboso- vel subumbellatim cymosae. 



Subgenus III. Orthodox. — Petala incisa, emarginata, vel laci- 

 niata. Styli 5. Capsula recta (insuper interdum apice leviter 

 curvula) vel plus minus e basi curvata, plerumque calyce longior, 

 rarissime brevior ; dentibus 10 erectis vel patulo-rectis, dorso planis 

 vel margine revolutis, dehiscens. — Herbse annuae vel baud saepius 

 perennes, habitu et florum dispositione variae. 



THE FLORA OF WALES. 



[In view of the increasing interest which is now being manifested 

 in the botany of the Principality, it may be well to render accessible 

 to British botanists the summary which was issued in August, 1896, 

 as an Appendix (B) to the Report of the Royal Commission on Land 

 in Wales and Monmouthshire. 



It may be well to say that the Appendix was sent in proof by 

 the Secretary of the Commission, Mr. D. Lleufer Thomas, to the 

 Editor of this Journal, with a request that he would make such 

 additions as were desirable. This he did at once, although at some 

 inconvenience, as the matter was said to be urgent ; and his very 

 considerable additions were embodied in the published sketch. 

 No acknowledgment whatever, however, is made of this help — an 

 omission all the more remarkable inasmuch as Mr. Llenfer Thomas 

 stated in one of Jiis letters that he himself was "not very conversant 

 in the literature of botany." That this is no exaggerated expression 

 of modesty on Mr. Thomas's part is manifest from the list of plants 

 (from Evans's A^or^/i Wales) "almost exclusively confined" to the 

 Principality, given on p. 30, which includes such species as Jasione 

 mofitana, Nartliecium, Osmimda, Scilla verna, Campanula latifoliat 



