372 Mr Philip Se well's Observations upon the 



natural difference in their rate of growth, just as they did in 

 their morphological features. 



Did we know more as to the exact habitats in which 

 these species are found naturally, we might certainly with 

 more justice attempt to understand the peculiar distinctions 

 of habit between one and another ; at present we must con- 

 tent ourselves with calling attention to certain other dis- 

 tinctions which were very evidently correlated to these of 

 general habit. 



Colour and Hairiness of Leaves Correlated to 

 Habit. 



When we had grouped by themselves those of our seed- 

 lings which showed very evidently the " squat " habit, it was 

 noticeable that they were also distinguishable from the 

 remaining seedlings by the darker green of their foliage and 

 the general absence of hairiness upon the leaves. 



That we might be the more sure that such a correlation 

 was evident, we showed the batch of seedlings to one of Mr 

 Hanbury's boys, who was with us at the time, and asked 

 him whether he noticed any very distinct differences between 

 the two groups. 



He almost immediately indicated the much darker colour 

 of the seedlings of "squat" habit, and, when questioned 

 further, observed the greater abundance of hairs upon the 

 leaves of those species which were distinguished by their 

 lighter green colour. 



"We think that there is a clear suggestion from the above 

 facts, that certain morphological characters may justly be 

 linked to special conditions of habitat ; and, in consequence, 

 we may presume, special cultural conditions for the most 

 successful germination. There would need to be a closer 

 scrutiny as to the conditions of ripeness in which the seeds 

 were gathered — the depths at which they were sown in the 

 soil, &c. — before any very clearly substantiated proof of this 

 could be laid down, but with our present data we may fairly 

 make a few observations on this point. 



From tables which have been given earlier in this paper, 

 we have shown that there were very considerable differences 

 in the total number of seedlings which, in one species and 

 another, germinated successfully. 



