154 Botanical Society of London. 



habitants of Praslin proves that each tree produces only one leaf a 

 year, and " as three leaves occupy about eight inches of the trunk, 

 and twentv years expire before that appears above the surface, a tree 

 of eighty feet in height must be about 400 years old." The flowers, 

 about twenty in number, succeed each other one at a time, but oc- 

 casionally two. The nuts are two-lobed, and sometimes two nuts 

 are enclosed in one husk. Three-lobed nuts are very rare, but some 

 are met with ; and it is said that specimens with five lobes have been 

 found. The form of the nut is very singular, and cannot be com- 

 pared to that of any other production. Two highly remarkable cir- 

 cumstances in the history of the Lodoicea are, the duration of its 

 blossoms and the period necessary for maturing its fruits ; for the 

 latter, seven or eight years are required. The Lodoicea growls in 

 every variety of soil, but delights most in the vegetable mould of the 

 deep gorges of the mountains. It is, nevertheless, found on the bare 

 mountain-tops, and forms a very conspicuous and remarkable object 

 in such situations. It is curious that the vegetation of the nut is 

 prevented by burying it, but if suffered simply to rest on the earth 

 in a situation not too much exposed to the sun, germination readily 

 takes place. The fruit in its unripe state is an agreeable and re- 

 freshing aliment ; when ripe it yields oil. Its germ furnishes a very 

 sweet food. 



November 29. — Sixth Anniversary Meeting. J. E. Gray, Esq., 

 F.R.S., &c.. President, in the Chair. 



The Report of the Council was read, from which it appeared that 

 thirteen new members had been elected since the last Anniversary, 

 and that the Society consisted of 152 members. The donations to 

 the library had been very considerable. 



Many valuable parcels of British and Foreign plants had been re- 

 ceived, and the return parcels sent to the members had given the 

 greatest satisfaction. 



Mr. Edwin Lees had forwarded an Herbarium of the IMalvern 

 Hills, accompanied by many very valuable remarks upon the geogra- 

 phical distribution of the plants of the neighbourhood ; and it w^as 

 hoped next year to report the receipt of other local herbaria now in 

 course of formation for the Society. 



Amongst the most valuable parcels received during the past sea- 

 son, may be mentioned a large collection of British plants, from Mr. 

 Hewett C. Watson, comprising upwards of 5500 specimens ; also 

 numerous Jersey plants, from ]\Ir. G. H. K. Thwaites ; a large col- 

 lection of Shropshire Riibi, from Mr. H. Bedwell ; 300 specimens of 

 Bupleurum falcatum collected in Essex, from Mr. E.Doubleday; and 

 numerous specimens of Lastraa cristata, collected in Norfolk by Mr. 

 B. D. Wardale, and presented by that gentleman. 



Numerous specimens of Mosses, Lichens, and Algae had been re- 

 ceived. 



Foreign Plants. — These form a valuable part of the Society's col- 

 lection, and comprise plants from North and South America, British 

 Guiana, New South Wales, Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, China, 

 and various other parts of the world. 



The more interesting plants are 350 species collected by Mr. R. 



