PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 199 



marked forms such as these, whose distribution extends over all 

 the Arctic, Alpine, and sub-Alpine regions of Europe, and having 

 at the same time so short a synonymy, must be a plant of very 

 decided characteristics, and very distinct from the other members 

 of its genus. It seems, indeed, as if we had here a distinct and 

 pure species. The stem, leaves, and general mode of growth of 

 the plant are to all appearance identical, but the dififerences 

 between the three forms, though slight, are distinct and constant. 

 The typical form with corolla, stamens, and styles golden yellow, 

 and dusky dots on the petals — the form with which we are so 

 familiar on our own hills — was named aizoides by Linnaeus 

 (Species Plantarum, 1st Edition, page JfiS) ; the second form 

 Linnaeus apparently did not notice, but it is so named in the 

 Flora Danica, Table 72, and also in Fries' Herbarium, normal 

 fascicula 14, n. 46. The third form was named by Linnteus S. 

 auium,nalis. Bertoloni gave to this form the name of atrorubens, 

 under which name it appears in Bennett's Flora of the Alps, 

 and Haworth gave to the second form the name of crocea. 

 A curious point in the case is that Lightfoot describes the 

 typical form under the name of autumnalis, though he must 

 have been aware that the form described by Linn^us under that 

 name was distinguished by having dark purple petals. I do not 

 know whether this accounts for the note after Dr. Buchanan 

 White's record of the plant in his Flora of Perthshire that ' most 

 of our dried specimens are S. autumnalis,' but possibly it may 

 be the origin of it." 



Mr. R. S. Wishart, M.A., exhibited germinating spores of 

 Ustilago carbo, Tul., U. hypodytes, Fr., on Agropyron junceum, 

 Beauv., and plants infested by Tubercinia trientalis, B. and Br. 



He also exhibited the mycelium of a fungus which appears to 

 attack living Lobelia plants and to destroy them. The specimen 

 was forwarded to Mr. Wishart from his brother, Mr. James 

 Wishart, Nunhead, London. The main feature of interest 

 in this exhibit was the fact that the mycelium of a fungus 

 developed on a rotting piece of wood appears to have the power 

 and the tendency to attack a li^'ing plant, even though the plant 

 be at a con.siderable distance, and to effect its destruction. 



Mr. Shearer exhibited the following plants : — Genista anglica, 

 L. ; Vaccinium, uliginosum, L. ; Pyrola rotundifolia, L., all from 



