Jan. 1894.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 83 



Mr. T. CuTHBERT Day exhibited twin and quadruple 

 barley corns from grain grown in France. 



Surgeon-Captain II. H. Johnston exhibited specimens of 

 Ficus from Mauritius, beautifully dried and showing the 

 fruit uncompressed, and therefore preserving their features 

 in a way the crushed specimens of the genus, as usually 

 found in herbaria, do not show them. He remarked that 

 Mr. Scott, Assistant-Director (now Director) of the Botanic 

 Garden at Pamplemousses, Mauritius, had found that he 

 could not raise the endemic F. mauritiana from seed, and 

 in explanation of this Dr. Johnston stated that he had failed 

 to find a single perfect achene in many fruits he had 

 examined. On opening a fresh ripe fruit he noticed a 

 swarm of flies flew out, and the achenes all showed a 

 puncture at one end and were empty. 



Mr. J. H. BuRRAGE exhibited twigs of the Peruvian shrub 

 Efcilla voluhilis, A. Juss, showing remarkable root-cushions 

 in the axils of the leaves. These are developed only on 

 twigs which are adjacent to a support, such as a wall ; 

 they do not appear on twigs growing erect in the air 

 away from a support. A further communication upon the 

 structure and development of these cushions was promised. 



Professor Bayley Balfour exhibited : — A specimen of 

 Orchis macidata, showing regular peloria of the perianth. 

 The six parts are all alike in size and form, the labelluni 

 wanting the spur, but the androBcium and gynai'ceum are 

 normal. The specimen was found and sent by Miss Munro, 

 Alness, Caithness. Specimens sent by Mr. Walter Berry, 

 Atholl Crescent, of piles bored by teredo ; also a series of 

 dried leaves of Banhsia scrraia, prepared by Mr. Harrow, 

 from a plant in the temperate house of the Pioyal Botanic 

 Garden, showing remarkable heterophylly. 



The following papers were read : — 



African Species of the genus Ficus. By G. F. Scott 

 Elliot, B.Sc. 



