676 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



large size without any woody elements. The malformation is due 

 neither to the attacks of parasites nor to external causes, nor to a 

 formation of gum, but to simple hypertrophy of the tissues. 



Homology of the Floral Envelopes in Graminese and Cjrperacese.* 

 —Mr. F. Townsend seeks to prove that the pale in the floret of 

 grasses is the homologue of the ochrea and utri cuius in Car ex, and 

 that the latter is a single floral envelope ; hence the pale is also 

 single. 



The author gives notes on several species of the order Cyperaceae, 

 more particularly with the view of ascertaining the homology of the 

 parts of the inflorescence ; and records a few instances of abnormal 

 development in the order Graminese which bear on the subject. 



The utriculus of Carex, like the inner and lower barren glume of 

 grasses, is always next the rachis, and the position of the subtending 

 bract of the female spike of Carex is exactly that of the usually 

 suppressed bract at the base of the spikelets of grasses. 



The tendency of the utriculus or ochrea is to become divided, and 

 this division occurs in the lower barren glume of Festuca, and also in 

 the pale of grasses generally, which is the homologue of the utriculus 

 of Carex ; as the fertile glume of the spikelet in grasses is the 

 homologue of the subtending bract of the utriculus in Carex. The 

 seta, more or less developed in many species of Carex, is the rudi- 

 mentary development of a secondary axis, while the " acicula " of 

 Dumortier is the terminal portion of the spikelet. 



Bulbils of Begonia socotrana.f — M. P. Duchartre describes the 

 peculiar bulbils of this species, formed in large quantities on the 

 rhizome. They have a peculiar organization which enables them to 

 develope, after a period of repose, into a new plant bearing flowers 

 and bulbils. This organization is extremely complex, each bulbil 

 containing within it a rudimentary branch, consisting of a vp^ell- 

 developed axis to which are attached thick fleshy bodies 4-5 mm. in 

 length, the rudiments of leaves. This structure is itself a store of 

 nutriment for the young plant, its envelope consisting simply of two 

 large but very thin leaf-scales, superposed entirely one on the other, 

 except at the base. 



Petalody of Ovules.J — Dr. M. T. Masters describes a remarkable 

 case of malformation in Dianella ccerulea, belonging to the Aspara- 

 gacese, from Australia. The flowers are very much more densely 

 crowded than in the normal form, and in a large number of the 

 flowers a multiplication of perianth-segments has taken place at the 

 expense of the stamens and carpels, but with scarcely any intermediate 

 forms. In other flowers the amount of change has been much less ; 

 the perianth retaining its normal condition while the thickened fleshy 

 filament is replaced more or less completely by a slender ribbon-like 

 stalk, to which the anther is dorsifixed instead of basifixed. The 

 ovary is transformed from a trilocular condition with axile to a 



* Journ. of Bot., xxiii. (1885) pp. 65-74 (19 figs.), 

 t Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxii. (1885) pp. 58-63. 

 i Nature, xxxi. (1885) pp. 487-8. 



