Dec. 1S94.] BOTAXICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 339 



must have been conveyed through the medullary rays.) In 

 the British oak, from which the bark and all the under- 

 lying sap-wood had been removed, no callus was produced 

 below, although the stem beneath continued to live and to 

 send out shoots from its sides. 



Laburnums {Lahurnum vulgare, Presl). — "Where the 

 bark only had been removed, a callus was formed above 

 and a very slight one below, but no shoots were produced. 



IV. On Plants in the Plant Houses. By Pi. L. 

 Hareow. 



The dull days of November have brought a large 

 reduction in the number of flowering plants in the houses 

 of the Eoyal Botanic Garden, not more than fifty species 

 having during that period produced their flowers. In the 

 cool houses, the chrysanthemums, acacias, and other 

 winter-flowering plants have done much to relieve the 

 dense green of the foliage. The mild weather experienced 

 during that time ha\dng considerably hastened the blooms 

 of several of the late winter and spring flowering plants. 

 A group of Cypripediums and the deciduous Calanthes, 

 especially C. Vcitchii and C. vestita, var. oculata, have 

 given a rather pretty effect. Among the most interesting 

 of the plants that have flowered are : — 



Bignonia venusta, Ker-Gawl. A Brazilian species, 

 ranking amongst the most lovely of the genus ; and, 

 although introduced to cultivation in 1816, seldom seen in 

 our gardens. It is a vigorous growing climber, shoots 

 nearly thirty feet in length having this year been made in 

 the Palm House. The foliage at the base of the shoots is 

 occasionally teruate, while at the extremities tendrils only 

 are often produced. The inflorescences are clustered on 

 short axillary branches, the flowers being of a rich orange 

 colour, the tube of the corolla about two inches long. 



Melastoma maldbathricum, Linn. This also is seldom 

 seen in cultivation, and is a native of India and Malaya. 

 In the "Botanical Magazine," t. 529, this species is stated 

 to be the one upon which the genus was founded by 

 Professor Burman. The habit is shrub-like, the foliage 



