116 REPORT— 1870. 



Yarying' from a few inches to a foot or more, "was discovered in a pit. The water 

 was about 4 feet deep and quite clear, and gave full eilect to the splendid array of 

 such very unusual iiowers. 



When the stem is cut and left in the water, the petals of flowers which blow on 

 the detached branch are not inflated, and are in form and size like those produced 

 bv Raminculm jietaliis-Jloribttiidus, being broader and shorter, and having the nec- 

 tary much more produced than those of H. heterophyllus. 



It has no floating leaves, and its capillary or submerged ones are quite rigid, and 

 liavino- the peduncle opposite on a stem which is rather slender, very hollow, of a 

 whitish-green colour, and semitransparent. The stipules are like those produced 

 by Ranunculus hcterophjllus. 

 " The author has paid great attention to this Ranunculus each year, and has found 

 abundance of flowers ; but only a small portion of them with inflated petals, and 

 those generally under water and always without a cah^x. 



After studj'ing the habits of this curious plant carefully for the last five sum- 

 mers, he has come to the conclusion that it is capable of making a great effort to 

 extricate itself when the water suddenly becomes too deep for it ; and so, just as a 

 man who had fallen into the deep would throw oft' his coat and his shoes to enable 

 him to keep his head above water, this little plant, when in like difficulty, throws 

 off its calyx and inflates its petals to enable it to reach the surface and there per- 

 form its usual functions in the sunshine in its usual waJ^ 



In 18B5 there had been a heavy and rather sudden fall of rain, and the pit was 

 much fuller of water than usual, which fully accoimts for the great number of in- 

 flated flowers which were to be seen at that time. 



Parasitic Habits of Pyrola rotundifolia. Bif Thomas Gibson. 



During a few months' residence at Southport in the summer of 18G9, the author 

 spent some time and labour with a view of clearing up a difliculty respecting this 

 plant, some naturalists considering it to be a parasite, while others hold the oppo- 

 site opinion. He examined a large number of roots, but failed to find any situation 

 where the Dwarf Willow (Salix rcpcns) was not in company with the Pip-ola, the 

 roots being frequently so matted together as to render it almost impossible to sepa- 

 rate them. 



The long stoloniferous root of the Tyrola differs from the root of any other plant 

 which has come under the author's notice. It is smooth, of a yellowish -white 

 colour, and about one line or the tenth of an inch in thickness; it runs underground 

 at from 2 to 3 inches below the surface, and threads its way amongst the roots of 

 other plants for yards together, throwing off at various distances others, which, 

 after threading their way for some distance, generally terminate by sending a 

 young plant to the surface ; the root-stock still proceeding and frequently making a 

 turn almost at right angles, especially where it comes in contact with the root of 

 Salix rcpcns, the vicinity of which it never leaves. 



Clumps of the Pi/rola covering a piece of 'ground were frequently found several 

 3'ards in circumference, which was evidently all growing from one underground 

 root-stock or stolon. This root-stock sent out at intervals on the underside little 

 tufts of small fibrous roots, of a dark but bright claret-colour, which contrasted 

 beautifully with the white stolon out of which they grew. The roots of the Dwarf 

 Willow arc much thicker than those of the Pyrola, very woody, and of a light 

 brown colour. Out of these roots there also grew at various distances little tufts of 

 claret-coloured fibre, so like those which spring from the root-stock of the Pyrola, 

 both in colour, shape, and size, that it was impossible to find a difl'erence even with 

 a good lens. These tufts of fibre, so much alike in both plants, were frequently 

 matted together in such a manner as to render it almost impossible to separate them 

 without breaking either one or the other. 



Only one instance was found where the two plants were in actual contact with 

 each other. One of the lateral shoots from the stolon of the Pyrola had penetrated 

 the root of the Willow and stuck fast in it. The root was about the thickness of a 

 good-sized office pencil, and in a state of decay. Whether that decay was caused 

 by the root of the Pyrola sucking the sap, and so causing the death of the plant, or 



