124 Mr Lindsay's Report on Open- Air Vegetation, [sess. li. 



plants in flower out-of-doors during the month were Primula 

 capitata, very dark seedhng forms ; Christmas Eoses of 

 dififerent kinds, Chrysanthemums, and Jasminum nudifiorum. 



For the handsome varieties of Primula cajntata we are 

 indebted to Dr King, of Calcutta, one of the local secretaries 

 of the Society, who, in December last, sent to the garden a 

 valuable collection of rare Indian Primrose seeds. Many of 

 the species are entirely new to European gardens. The seeds 

 were gathered in high elevations of the Sikkim Himalayas. 

 Nearly all the kinds have germinated and gi-own well at the 

 garden, a few have already flowered, but we may expect to 

 see them in greater perfection next spring. The most con- 

 spicuous shrubs in fruit were the various Hollies, Cotoneasters, 

 Euonymus, and Snowberries. 



The following plants came into flower on the Eock Garden 

 during Xovember, viz.: — Aster Peevesii, Eucomis punctata, 

 Gynerium argenteiim, Hellehorus olympicus, H. o. alhus, and 

 M. purpurascens variety. 



Becemher. — The weather of the past month has been of an 

 exceedingly wintry character. The aggregate amount of 

 frost registered has not been exceeded during any December 

 since 1879. 



The thermometer was at or below the freezing point on 

 twenty-six mornings, indicating collectively 174° of frost. 

 During the corresponding month of 1885 frost was registered 

 on fourteen mornings, the collective amount being 111°. The 

 lowest readings for last month were, on the 3rd, 18°; 18th, 18°; 

 19th, 18°; 20th, 14°; 21st, 16°. The highest morning readings 

 were, on the 5th, 40°; 6th, 42°; 9th, 37°; 16th, 35°. There 

 were slight falls of snow and sleet throughout the month, the 

 heaviest being on the 1st and 8th, but at no time was there 

 enough to do any harm. The excessive fall of the barometer 

 on tlie night of the 8th, when it reached the extremely low 

 point of 27"668 inches, was happily unattended by any bad 

 results in this district. Holly and other fruits were eagerly 

 devoured by birds, owing to the combined hardness of the 

 ground and scarcity of other food ; by the end of the month 

 nearly all had disappeared. Not a single plant came into 

 flower in the Eock Garden during December. 



The total number of species and vjell-marlced varieties of 

 alpine and dvxirf-groioinfj herbaceous plants which have flowered 



