1100 



can be supposed to possess any general bearing or interest. I do this 

 in my capacity of Secretary to the Botanical Society ; though I can- 

 not go so far as to allow that any office-bearer of the Society should 

 feel called on to answer queries like this : — "if Carex irrigua is a va- 

 riety, why not also rariflora ? " 



I have now only to add further, that any competent botanist, en- 

 gaged in writing on the plants of Britain, will find no difficulty in 

 obtaining such information as can be affijrded, about any species or 

 variety included in the London Catalogue, — provided his inquiries be 

 addressed to me through the post-office. There seems no good rea- 

 son for such questions being addressed to the readers of ' The Phyto- 

 logist ' generally : it looks too like mere display or notoriety-seeking. 



G. E. Dennes. 



Art. CCXLI. — Notice of PresPs ' Hymenophyllacecs.^ 

 (Continued from p. 1059). 



The characters given to the Hymenophylloideae are these. 



" Sorus in dentibus aut laciniis frondis apicalis immersus vel his consumtis subla- 

 teralis exsertus. Indusium e duabus laminis frondis divisis et alteratis constructum ; 

 hae in varia altitudiue marginibus connatee indusium ad medium usque ad basim bi- 

 fidum efformant. Eeceptaculum indusio longius vel aequilongum vel brevius, aut fili- 

 forme in parte superiore capsuliferum inferne nudum, aut apice globoso-incrassatum 

 ibidem capsuliferum inferneque nudum, aut cylindricura aut obovalo- vel lineari- cla- 

 vatum undique capsuliferum.'' — p. 26. 



It has already been pointed out (Phytol. 1047), that the main dis- 

 tinction between the Trichomanoideae and Hymenophylloideae, is 

 founded on the structure of the involucre ; this part, in the latter tribe, 

 being for the most part composed of two distinct valves, which are se- 

 parated nearly to the base. A perusal of the characters above cited 

 will show that the receptacle affi)rds litte or no assistance, since it is 

 occasionally longer and occasionally shorter than the involucre, and 

 that its form is as variable as its length. Indeed the author seems ra- 

 ther to have adopted this dichotomous division in compliment to his 

 numerous predecessors, who, following Sir J. E. Smith, have treated 

 the groups as genera, than to be impressed with any idea of its value 

 or importance. Passages clearly evincing his views on this subject, 

 are of frequent occurrence ; for instance, in describing Leptocionium, 

 he observes, " It is a genus intermediate between the Trichonianoidese 

 and HymcnophylloideaD, possessing the receptacle of the former and 



