368 



distinct, or more or less combined, according to the character of the plant under con- 

 sideration. Examples of partial reversion of calyx to the character of the leaf are seen 

 in specimens of Trifolium repens, the Polyanthus of the gardens, and in cultivated roses. 

 In monstrous specimens we sometimes meet with the petals becoming leafy, of the 

 occurrence of which in Anetnone nemorosa M. DeCandoUe has represented a remarka- 

 ble example ; and the author had seen the same condition occurring in the petals of 

 Papaver Argemone. 



Stamens appear to be formed from petals by the gradual narrowing of their lower 

 part, so as to form the filament, while the anthers develope themselves on the upper 

 margins. Nympecea alba affords a beautiful example of the gradual transition of all 

 the floral organs ; and in it this transmutation of petals into stamens is clearly seen, 

 the petals at first become narrower, then one of the margins has an abortive anther 

 developed on it, to this another is afterwards added on the opposite margin, and finally 

 the contraction of the petal having completely taken place, a perfect stamen is deve- 

 loped. 



The petaloid cup which is found in the genus Narcissus is formed from an addi- 

 tional row of three stamens, as is evident from the frequent division of this organ into 

 three pieces, which alternate with the divisions of the corolla. 



The only instance with which the author was acquainted, wherein the carpellary 

 leaf is to be found in an extended or unfolded state, naturally occurs in the order Co- 

 niferae, where it simply covers but does not enclose the ovules. The carpellary leaf in 

 this condition manifestly approaches a bractea. 



The conversion of the pistil into a leaf is likewise frequently seen in Trifolium re- 

 pens ; and the author has a specimen of a species of Potentilla, which exhibits this 

 change in a remarkable degree. 



It was announced that the paper would be continued at the next meeting. 

 Mr. Adam White laid before the Society a selection of the plants he had lately 

 found in a walk from Whiting Bay, Isle of Arran, to Brodick, and from Brodick to 

 the top of Goatfell. He alluded to the strangely contrasted climates of Arran, arising 

 partly from its insular position and its alpine mountains ; he exhibited a few lichens, 

 mosses, and pheenogamic plants peculiar to alpine districts, and at the same time from 

 the garden of Mr. Paterson of Whitehouse, Lamlash, laid before the meeting dried 

 specimens of two species of Leptospe^inum from New Holland, one of them believed 

 to be new, as well as of three or four other New Holland plants, the names of which 

 were as yet unascertained. He particularly referred to the fine plants of warmer re- 

 gions reared by Mr. Paterson in the open air, some of which stand the winter without 

 shelter ; as instances he referred to two species of Salvia, Pentstemon, diC, and exhibit- 

 ed luxuriant sprigs of Fuschsias, one of which was taken from a tree-like shrub, 18 

 feet high, and 22 feet wide, which, in its native soil, could scarcely have been more 

 luxuriant. The damp atmosphere, he remarked, so different to their own dry climate, 

 prevented some of the New Holland plants from flowering, but, he added, their luxu- 

 riant foliage and strong shoots nearly compensated for this. He alluded to the lists 

 of the rarer plants found in the island, and communicated by the Eev. David Lands- 

 borough to Dr. M'Naughton, for insertion in his account of Kilbride (one of the island 

 parishes) published in the ' New Statistical Account of Scotland,' and mentioned that 

 he had been lately informed that Professor Gardner of Glasgow, in company with the 

 minister of Stevenston, had found Funaria Muhlenbergii, a rather scarce moss, in 

 tolerable plenty. — G.E.D. 



