on the green parts of Hibiscus vitifolius Linn. 201 



different. Kerner 1 states that a leaf of Mesembryanthemum crystal- 

 linum, when separated from the plant may be left without water 

 for a long time without withering. A leaf of Hibiscus vitifolius 

 was placed in water in the dry air of the laboratory and left for 

 two days, when the outgrowths were found to have become quite 

 dried up. 



The stems of these old plants were long and only slightly 

 branched. The leaves soon dropped off so that only the tops of the 

 shoots were leafy, and the axillary branches remained small. 

 Both plants flowered but did not ripen many capsules of seeds. 



On the 16th of August the plants were all once more carefully 

 examined. Daring the interval but little growth had taken place 

 and some more of the older leaves had dropped off, so that it was 

 not very easy to compare the condition of the plants at the 

 two dates. All the plants except the vigorous one in the garden 

 had nearly finished flowering, and all, except the one in the Filmy 

 Fern House, had ripened some seed capsules. These seeds were 

 collected and at once sown in the Tropical Pit. 



The condition of each plant on August 16th may now be con- 

 sidered separately and as briefly as possible. 



The Plant in the Garden now differed still more markedly from 

 all the others, not only in the entire absence of outgrowths but 

 also by its numerous strong lateral branches which gave to it a 

 bushy habit quite distinct from that of the weaker greenhouse 

 plants. The leaves were large, flat and of a dark-green colour. 



The Plant in the Temperate House had also large leaves but of 

 a much paler green. This plant like the other indoor plants had 

 one main stem and only weak and comparatively small axillary 

 branches. The outgrowths, though present on all but the two 

 youngest leaves were still, with the exception of one leaf, ex- 

 clusively confined to the under sides. 



The Plant in the Water-Lily House. This had altered very 

 little. The leaves were slightly curved round at the edges. 



The Plant in the Tropical Orchid House. This was still more 

 thickly covered than the other plants, with outgrowths, especially 

 on and near the edges, and on the veins, of the leaves. Their 

 distribution was, however, irregular and their size, though generally 

 large, was unusually variable. One older leaf had a few very 

 large conical outgrowths on the principal veins ; another was 

 densely covered above and below. 



The Plant in the Filmy Fern House had altered little, but was 

 even more unhealthy in appearance. Most of the leaves had 



i Kerner, Natural History of Plants, English edition, 1894, Vol. i., p. 329. 



