QOO 



9 



fronds are bonic on a short siiljglobose trunk, they are le&s rigid 

 than in E. Hildehrandtil, tlieir wool is more copious and jjcrsists 

 Icnger^ their pinnae' are thinner, those of the middle of the froiul 

 are about 13-15 times as long as broad, tho teeth are usually 4 in 

 number on each side, ^vith the upper ones close to the apex or they 

 are almost absent, they are less rigid than in E. HildehrandtH , 

 and distinctly directed forward so as to be often parallel to the 

 midrib of the 23inna. As to the female cones the diferences, as 

 far as I can judge from i\\Q dried and spirit material at Kew and • 

 from drawings and jdiolographs made at different times, are quite 

 conspicuous and constant. It i& true the toothing and crenulation 

 of the transverse ridge of the apophysis of E. v'dJo.^-ns may be 

 obscure in some scales and tlie convex portion above this ridge may 

 become flattened where it rises highest, the head of the scale 

 assuming the shape figured by Hennings l.c. Abb. 55, fig. 2a; but 

 these' modifications are confined to the portions of the cone near 

 one or the other end (the scale figured by Hennings was taken 

 from the \ipper nart) where the scales are generally reduced, or so 

 modified as to lose somewhat of their characteristic appearance. 

 In anv case sucli flattened scales of E. villosus. with their entire 

 transverse ride'e, are still verv different from those of E. Hilde- 

 hrandtii with their polygonal umbo and the straight ridges 

 radiating out from its corners, a character not sufficiently empha- 

 sized bv Hennino-s' fijr. L 



It may finally be added that the male and female cones of E* 

 Hildchrandtii vary considerably in size, and especially in length, 

 and the male occasionally also in colour, so much so that Dr. Kirk 

 was for some time doubtful whether there were not two species on 

 the East coast of Africa ; but in the end he came to the conclusion 

 that this v/as' not so, and the examination of the Kew material 

 certainly supports this view. Both suspected forms are repre- 

 sented by living males at Kew, one producing cones up to 42 cm. 

 by 10 em. with greenish-brown apophyses and pale brick-red 

 claws, the other bearing cones not much over 20 cm. long and 

 6 cm. in diameter and brick-red all over. Apart from these dimen- 

 sions and colour differences, there is nothing in the plants to 

 allow of discrimination. 



LXXIII.— MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Mr. R. a. Rolfe, A.L.S., an Assistant, Second Class, in the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has been promoted to the grade of 

 Assistant, First Class, with effect from November 6th. 



Mor.DKCAi Clbitt Cooke. — It is with sincere regret that wo have 

 to announce the death, in lis ninetieth year, of Dr. M. C. Cooke. 

 Dr. Cooke had charge of the Lower Cry])togams in the Herbarium 

 from 1880 till 1892, during which time he comjiletely re-arranged 

 the fungi, incorporated large collections, and published the most 

 important of liis Avoiks, *^ Illustrations nf British Fungi." 

 ordinarily industrious he accomplished during his long life an 



