299 



tion. In many instances, wlien tlie Mouotropa roots were purposely separated from the 

 decayed roots, leaves, or portions of cone, their extremities remained attached to these 

 extraneous substances. The proportion of living roots to which the fibrous extremities 

 of the Monotropa roots had found their way was small as compared with that of those 

 in a state of decay, yet such instances did occur ; and although I used every endea- 

 vour to mate out a decided continuity between the roots of the Monotropa and those 

 of its supposed supporter, I relinquished the search without any proof that this occa- 

 sional contact between the living roots was a matter of choice, or by any means essen- 

 tial to the vitality or well-being of the Monotropa. In candour it should further be 

 remarked that in some instances the connexion between these byssoid fibres and the 

 Monotropa was not fully made out ; the more beautiful examples occurring on frag- 

 ments detached from the mass before the superincumbent network had been observed ; 

 yet between attached and unattached fibres I detected no difference. The conclu- 

 sions at which I have arrived as to the true nature of the byssoid covering of the rhi- 

 zoma having been drawn from observations made with what might be considered, in 

 the present day, an imperfect instrument, I obtained the kind assistance of Mr. E. J. 

 Quekett, and by means of his superior microscope and able manipulation, the opin- 

 ion which I had previously fonned of the fibres became fully established. 



It is, I believe, generally admitted that many species of ferns derive part of their 

 food through the decaying portions of the bark and wood of trees to which their 

 rhizomata are appressed : if this be strictly parasitism, then I think it will not be diffi- 

 cult to prove a like parasitism in the plant now under consideration. If, on the other 

 hand, we are to understand by the word parasitism that one plant extracts the living 

 juices of another by immediate contact and positive adhesion, as in the case of the dod- 

 der and mistletoe, or, as suggested by Mr. Lees in the case of Monotropa, by means 

 of " hairy vesicular knobs seated on and of necessity nourished by the radical fibres of '' 

 another plant, (Phytol. 99), then I must confess that I met with nothing to induce 

 such a conclusion. — Edivard Neivman ; Peckham, July 8, 1842. 



196. New locality for Carex clandestina. I am pennitted by my brother-in-law, 

 the Rev. Thomas Butler, of Langar, Notts., to state that on visiting Brean Down, 

 Weston-super-Mare, in May last, he discovered Carex clandestina growing abundant- 

 ly over the hill, in the same places with Helianthemum polifolium and Iris foetidissi- 

 ma. I say discovered, because I have never seen any locality quoted for C. clandestina 

 but that of St. Vincent's Rocks. The addition of a second station for so rare a plant, 

 seems a fact of much interest. — A. Worsley ; Brislington, July 12, 1842. 



197. Carex axillaris and C. remota. These two species are readily distinguished 

 from each other, as C. vesicaria is from C. ampullacea, by the structure of the culm or 

 stem and leaves. In C. axillaris (and in vesicaria) the stem has three acute angles and 

 the leaves are flattened : in the other two the stem is nearly round, and the leaves are 

 bent at the sides so as to be almost semicylindrical. The bracteas of C. axillaris are 

 by no means constant in their length ; in one of my Cheshire specimens the lowest 

 bractea scarcely overtops the spikelet to which it is attached ; while in one gathered 

 by John Martin in this county, it is twice as long as the spike. In this species, how- 

 ever, the second bractea is always very small compared with the lower one, having a 

 membranous base much resembling the glumes in size and shape, the upper part rough, 

 very narrow and awn-like. All the bracteas are auricled at the base j while those of 

 C. remota, instead of auricles, have generally a pale very obscure lignle, passing 

 completely round the rachis or common stalk of the spike, where a striking feature 



