1907] CURRENT LITERATURE 



317 



salts as culture media. 



germ in at 



darkness in the solutions of inorganic salts nor by the addition of organic iron 

 salts to the fluids. Moss spores have been germinated in darkness under chemical 



spores 



TRf Boux. Laage is the first to report 



W. T. G. Land. 



Artificial apospory in ferns. — Goebel'" has published the result of his 

 studies on apospory in ferns and on regeneration in Vicia and Phaseolus. The 

 main part of his paper is devoted to apospory and a very brief account is given of 

 regeneration in Vicia. 



Contrary to Bower's statement that attempts to induce apospor}', though 

 successful in certain mosses, have been entirely without results in ferns, Goebel 

 succeeded in inducing artificially aposporous prothallia from primary leaves of 

 sporophytes in many forms among ferns, such as Aneimia Drageana, Ahophila 

 van Geertiij Ceralopteris Ihaliclroides, Gymnogramme chrysophylla, Polypodium 

 aureum^ Pleris longiJoUa, and others. On certain parts of the under surface, of 

 margin or of petiole of the primary leaf, there are produced prothallia, sporophytes, 

 or even structures which really seem to be intermediate between sporophyte and 

 prothallium by their having stomata and antheridia. 



Goebel drew three conclusions from his studies: (i) regeneration is more 

 active in a young leaf than an older one; (2) the sporophjnic structure is not the 

 constant product of regeneration; (3) there seems to exist no great difference 

 between the nuclei of prothallia and those of sporophjies, and accordingly no 

 sharp distinction between the x and 2X generations. He adds, one might regard 

 the prothallium, phylogenetically, as a rudimentary leaf bearing sexual organs, 

 though to determine this question further investigation is necessary. 



Among the three conclusions drawn by Goebel, the third is a great problem. 

 He does not enter in his paper into nuclear detail at all; therefore, cytologically 

 it is still an open question, — Shig£o Yam-A-XOUCHI. 



Items of taxonomic interest. — W, H. Blanchard (Torreya 7:97-102. 1907), 

 in discussing the eastern species of Amelanchier, describes 2 new species. — N. L. 

 Britton' (idem 102) has described a new Mexican species of Ribes.— H. D. 

 House (idem 133-136), in a second paper on southern violets, has described a 

 new species and a new hybrid. — W. H. Blanch^ard (idem 139, 140) has described 

 a new Rubus (red raspberry) from Vermont. — E. Brainerd (Rhodora 9:93-98. 

 1907) has begun a presentation of the older t}'pes of North American violets.— 

 L. M. Underwood (BulL Torr. Bot. Club 34:243-262. 1907), in continuation 

 of his studies on "American ferns," has published a preliminar)^ review of the N. 

 Am. Gleicheniaceae, all the species being referred to Dicranopteris, in which 18 

 species are recognized, 5 being described as new, and all the rest being transferred. 

 C. L. Shear (Bull. Torr. Bot, Club 34:305-317- 1907) has described 21 new 



L, K., Experimentell-morphologische Mitteilungen; i. KunstHch hcr- 

 vorgerufene Aposporie bei Famen. 2. Uebcr die Bedingungcn der Wurzelregcnera- 

 tion bei einigen Pflanzen. Sitz. Kon. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 37:ii9"i3^- fii^- ^3- ^^9^7- 



