on the green parts of Hibiscus vitifolius Linn. 193 



Bentham 1 , who describes the Australian form of the plant, 

 which is common in Queensland, says that the leaves are very 

 densely and softly villous tomentose, the capsule hirsute with 

 scattered hairs. He also compares the hairiness of the species 

 in different parts of the world. In India it is usually shortly 

 tomentose, in Africa more hispid, in Australia still more beset with 

 rigid hairs. 



Grisebach 2 says that in the West Indies, where, in Jamaica, 

 Dominica and S. Vincent the species has been naturalized from 

 plants brought from the East Indies, it is " velvety " and the 

 capsule " pilose." 



Oliver 3 , describing the plant from Tropical Africa, says that 



it is " villose, hispid or even aculeate The leaves nearly smooth 



or tomentose and villose. The calyx lobes are pubescent. The 

 hairiness of the surface is subject to great variations." 



Hooker 4 states that in British India, where the plant is found 

 from the N.W. Provinces to Ceylon, and in all the hotter parts 

 of India, the leaves are " tomentose on both sides." 



Trimen 5 , describing the form found in Ceylon, says that the 

 stem is wholly pubescent or has a line of pubescence down one 

 side. The leaves are glabrous or with a few stellate hairs 

 beneath. 



Part I. Anatomical. 



The following pages contain an account of the anatomical 

 characters of certain outgrowths developed on the stems, the 

 leaves, the green parts of the flower and on the young fruit of 

 Hibiscus vitifolius. 



The plants from which the material was obtained were raised 

 from seeds sent by Mrs Lort Phillips to the Cambridge Botanic 

 Garden from Somaliland. In November 1898, when the investi- 

 gations were begun there were three plants all possessing out- 

 growths. 



These outgrowths, which are entirely or partly colourless, are 

 distributed, very irregularly, all over the green parts of the plant. 

 In some cases they thickly cover the whole upper surface of a 

 leaf, in others the whole under surface ; or they may be distri- 

 buted locally. Frequently they are more numerous near the 

 edges or on the veins of a leaf than on other parts. A few 

 leaves are quite devoid of outgrowths. Their size varies con- 

 siderably. They may be so small as simply to cause the surface 



1 Benthara, Flora Australiensis , 1863, p. 215. 



3 Grisebach, Flora of the British West Indian Islands, 1864, p. 85. 



3 Oliver, Flora of Tropical Africa, 1868, p. 197. 



4 Hooker, Flora of British India, Vol. i., 1875, pp. 338, 339. 



5 Trimen, Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon, 1893, Part I., p. 154. 



