242 



Proceedings of the Botanical Club A. A. A. S-, Toronto Meeting, 



August 29th to September 3rd, 1889. 



Thursday, August 29th. 



The first meeting was held in the lecture room of the Bio- 

 logical Hall of the University of Toronto at 9 A. M., Prof. 

 T. j. Burrill, Chairman, Dr. Douglas H. Campbell, Secretary. 



Mr. Thos. Meehan read a paper on *' The fertilization of Hy- 

 pericum Canadense^' maintaining that the plant is self- fertilized. 



Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant remarked that in the common pea 

 {Pisum sativtun) the pollen often meets the pistil before the flower 

 opens, and that the English bean {Faba vulgaris) while bloomuig 

 heavily at Geneva, N. Y., forms but few pods. 



Hon. David F. Day stated that the Rose Acacia {Robinia 

 hispida), while blooming freely in the vicinity of Buffalo, rarely 

 produced pods, and he had observed that the anthers were com- 

 monly devoid of pollen. 



Prof. Halsted stated that he had recently experimented on 

 the common barberry {Berberis vulgaris) by covering a number 

 of the racemes with paper bags, and in no case where the protec- 



w 



tion was complete were berries produced. 



Mr. Coville said that in Lupinus pereniiis the pollen was often 

 shed on the pistil before the latter was in a receptive condition. 



Mr. Meehan read a paper on " The Cleistogamy of Cerastitii^ 

 nutanSy' which he had observed constant in many plants growin^, 

 in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and that it was indicated in all the 

 specimens contained in the Philadelphia Herbarium. His obser- 

 vations were confirmed by Judge Day and by Mr. C. F. Wheeler. 

 Dr. Britton remarked on the frequency of apetaly in the Caryo- 

 phylle^. Mr. Coville stated that Draba verua is certainly cleis- 

 togamous in winter in the vicinity of Washington. 



Prof Halsted read a paper describing his detailed observa- 

 tions on the pollen of Poniederia cordata, containing the study 

 begun by Mr. Wm. H. Leggett. Prof Halstead described also 

 the explosive dehiscence in the legumes of the bean known as 

 Phascolus diver sifolhis, stating that in the elastic coiling of the 

 valves the seeds were expelled to a considerable distance. D^- 

 Britton remarked that this was a quite constant feature in the 

 tropical species of the genus, as well as in some related genera; 



