524 



as tlie cells of the anthers vanished the connective expanded, until at 

 last it became a perfect horn-shaped nectary. In the flower alluded 

 to above, the connective of one of the stamens shot forth beyond the 

 anthers, and by the time they had opened and discharged their pol- 

 len, it had assumed the form of a complete ovate petal, about four 

 lines long and three broad ; the part of the connective that formed 

 the claw or stem of the petal, was about three lines long and one in 

 breadth ; the anthers were as close together, and to all appearance as 

 full of pollen, as those on any of the other filaments, and the colour 

 of the petaloid expansion was the same rich purple as the petals, be- 

 ing in the stem part, before it reached the anthers, of the scarlet hue 

 of the filaments. We have thus a corroborative proof of the truth of 

 the hypothesis advanced by the Professor, — a stamen not only per- 

 forming its own proper functions, but further, from its luxuriance pos- 

 sessing the power to form, and fully develope, one of the next outer 

 circle of floral organs, or the very reverse of the statement of Mr. Hill 

 (Phytol. 368), that a stamen is only a modified petal. 



Another flower on the same plant exhibited a redundance in all the 

 floral organs, with the exception of the pistil ; the calyx having six 

 segments, and there were eight petals and twelve stamens : thus de- 

 parting, in its calyx and stamens, from the binary character of its fa- 

 mily, but even in its irregularity showing the intimate connexion of 

 the sepals and stamens. — James Bladon ; Pontypool, Feb, 6, 1843. 



266. Retnarks on the Fern-lists. I have had much pleasure in 

 reading the three county lists of ferns and their allies ; but perhaps 

 you will allow me, through the medium of ' The Phytologist,' to ask 

 your Lancashire friends the two following questions : — first, whether 

 Greenfield is situated in the county of York or Lancaster ? secondly, 

 whether Cotteril-clough is in Cheshire or Lancashire ? The locality 

 for Hymenophyllum Wilsoni at Hake-Hey common involves a two- 

 fold error, since Rake-Hey common is undoubtedly in the county of 

 York, and the plant growing there is certainly Hymenophyllum Tun- 

 bridgense. — R. Langthorn ; Heptonstall near Halifax, Feb. 7, 1843. 



267. Mr. Hewett Watson's grounds for connecting the name of 

 " Mr. S. Gibson " with some botanical localities. In the February 

 No. (Phytol. 477) the name of a Mr. Gibson, but I know not whether the 

 Mr. Gibson who writes to ' The Phytologist,' is stated to have been in- 

 correctly connected by Mr. Francis with an alleged locality of Polj'po- 

 dium calcareum "near Lancaster." It is probable that the locality was 

 communicated to Mr. Francis, on the authority of a specimen pre- 

 served in my herbarium with a memorandum to indicate that it was 



