230 : BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
development of the hypocotyl and the unfolding of the cotyledons. In the ray 
fruits diminution of the intensity of the light and its complete withdrawal cut 
down markedly both the speed and per cent. of the first steps of germination; 
while in darkness the germination never goes beyond the early stages. The 
favorable influence of white light on the early germination and the later devel- 
opment of the seedling of the ray fruits is due to the less refrangible rays. The 
strongly refrangible rays retard the early stages of germination of the ray fruits 
and inhibit the further development of the seedlings. While Ernst holds that 
the differences in the germinative characters of the two fruits are due to differ- 
ences existing in the living portions of the fruits, it is possible, in the light of the 
results of another investigation,3? that they lie in the coats, and that his results 
with light of different intensity and refrangibility came from accompanying vari- 
ations in temperature, of which apparently he kept no record.—WM. CROCKER. 
A new type of Medulloseae.—The material described by Scorrs3 was derived 
from an abandoned coal mine at Shore-Littleborough in Lancashire, which was 
opened for scientific purposes by its owner Mr. W. H. Surctirre, in honor of 
whom the new genus is named. It presents a strong general resemblance to 
Medullosa, but differs strikingly from it in the fact that it possesses a single axial 
protostele instead of the numerous concentric strands which are found in the 
latter genus. Another noteworthy feature is the exarch character of the wood, 
in contrast to the mesarch condition found in other Medulloseae. In spite of the 
simple character of the cauline vascular system, the leaf-strands are numerous 
and undergo complex branching and anastomosis. The foliar bundles are con- 
centric. Secondary thickening is present to a very slight degree in the central 
cylinder of the stem. The complex leaf supply attached to a protostelic cauline 
cylinder is a unique condition, and, as the author has pointed out, may have 
resulted from a reduction of the central cylinder of the stem. This view may 
perhaps also be taken of the cambium, which is more likely to be vestigial than 
inchoative. Mucilage canals and reticulate peripheral bands of sclerenchyma 
are found to resemble those found in Medullosa. The photographic illustrations 
by Mr. L. A. Boop e are of quite unusual beauty—E. C. JEFFREY 
Items of taxonomic interest.—W. B. Hemstry (Hooker’s Icones Plant. PV: 
9:1906) has described the following 3 new genera from the Seychelles: Indo- 
kingia (pl. 2805) and Geopanax (pl. 2821) belonging to Araliaceae, and Neo- 
schimpera (pl. 2810) belonging to Rubiaceae;. and from China a new genus 
Sinowilsonia, pl. 2817) of Hamamelidaceae.—O. STAPF (idem) has described a 
new genus (Elaeophorbia, pl. 2823) of Euphorbiaceae from western Africa. —W. 
. BLancHarp (Rhodora 9:4-10. 1907) has described 3 new species of Rubus 
from Connecticut.—E. Hasster (Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 7:1-4. fig. 1. 1907) has 
32 CROCKER, WM., Réle of seed-coats in delayed germination. Bort. GAZETTE 
42: sn 1906. 
33 Scott, D. es da esa iad Jefe, Sam a new type of Medulloseae from the Lower 
Coal Measures. Soc. London II. 7:45-68. pls. 4. 1906. 
Se ee a ee se 
