168 BOTANICAL NEWS. 
in the flower-bud. The flowers remain timall and closed, and the OTarj is fer- 
tilized in this condition. In some of these cases tlie petals are not developed^ 
and are $o minute as scarcely to be recognized. The first indications of the 
floral functions having been accomplished is in the appearance of the impreg- 
nated ovarj. In these closed flowers the pollen-grains send out tubes without 
contact with the stigma. 
March *dth. — Dr. -Alexander Dickson, President, in the chair. The following 
communications were read : — 1. jS^otice of rare Plants collected in the South- 
West of England. By F. Xaylor, Esq. — 2. INotice of Esparto, Ey the Eight 
Hon. the Lord Provost, who communicated the following letter from Mr. Hardy 
Hislop, of Lisbon: — "I have made the inquiry you wished relative to the 
' Esparto/ and find there are thousands of tons annually shipped from Alicante 
and Carthagena. In Alicante I found three large vessels loading the goods for 
England, and discovered that last year 4000 tons were shipped to the following 
countries : — England, France, Belgium, and Sweden. Its use is for the manu' 
facture of paper. The fibres are used in the Scotch carpet trade^ Kidderminster 
and Brussels. The grass is grown in a dry soil. It is not grown from seed ; 
when planted, it spreads rapidly. It is not cut, but torn up by the roots — a 
very easy process when ripe. The fibre makes a paper with a fine surface, and 
strong, A process is employed for extracting the glue-like matter in it, leaving 
the fibre clean and fit for use after drying." The Lord Provost suggested that 
the plant might perhaps be cultivated in some of the milder parts of this 
country. Dr. Balfour remarked that the plant was Macrochloa fenacissima^ 
and grew on sanely shores like bent. The common name of the grass is derived 
from the Latin sparium, the appellation given to a plant from which the 
ancients made bands to tie vines and ropes for ships. In some of the Latin 
dictionaries it is said to be a kind of broom, but this is a mistake. — 3, On the 
discovery of Neotinea intacta (Eeich.), in Ireland. By A. G. More, F.L.S. 
In the same field with the plant occurred a rare species of Hawk-moth, AntlirO' 
eera minos. It is remarkable that in Killamey Arhutus Unedo is associated 
with two local species of insects, Nofodonta lieolora and Hi/dralia Banlcsiana, 
A MoUusk, Geomalactis maculosus, is also peculiar to the Killamey district. 
Dr. White stated that Aiithrocera minos had also been met with in Argyleshire 
4. Summary of some of the more interesting Botanical Papers published in 
France since July, 1864. By G. M. Lowe, Esq. The author alluded to the 
remarks of Boussingault on vegetation in darkness ; to the chemical researches 
on vegetation by M. Corinwcnder; to M. Chatin's observations on Balano- 
p7iorace(B; M. Jodin on Chlorophyll and its connection with light ; M. Godron 
on the morphology of CrucifenB and of Fumariacece ; M. Bazin on the spores 
of Achorion ScMnleinii ; M. Halst on the Chemistry of Cofj/hdon Umbilicus, 
and M. Gkston de Saporta on Plants with deciduous leaves in the gypsum of 
Ail. — 5. Report on Vegetation in the Open Air. By Mr. M'Nab. 
