130 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The plants, when brought home, were placed in 

 water and kept under observation for several days, 

 during which many flowers expanded. When I 

 came to closely examine these recently-opened 

 flowers I noticed a rather singular fact. These 

 opened flowers were lying quite loose in the 

 calyx-tube, that is to say, the corolla was not 

 connected at the base with the receptacle. What 

 had happened was evidently this. The flowers 

 were cleistogamic, the stigma had been pollinated, 

 and fertilization had followed, after which the 

 developing and swelling ovary had effected the 

 separation of the corolla from the receptacle, and 

 by its own growth had pushed the corolla 

 up the calyx-tube. That this view was correct 

 was confirmed by the fact that in many 

 flowers the corolla did not expand, but was 

 separated at its base from the receptacle, and 

 elevated by the ovary, which was now developing 

 into the fruit. About Oxshott, in Surrey, Mr. 

 Turner and I met with this same plant on March 

 23rd last. Though the species was plentiful, we 

 failed to find the ordinary opened flowers, these 

 being of the cleistogamic type. 



" There are one or two problems connected with 

 the occurrence of these closed self-fertile flowers, 

 on the cut-leaved red dead-nettle, which is so 

 closely allied to the common red dead-nettle ; and 

 I shall refer to these further on. 



"In the foregoing part of this paper, when 

 treating of the cleistogamic flowers of the cut- 

 leaved red dead-nettle, I mentioned there were 

 certain problems connected with these flowers 

 that deserved further attention. When two 

 closely-allied plants grow in similar situations 

 and flower about the same period, there must 

 be a certain amount of competition between them 

 Should one of the species, however, flower 

 slightly before the other, as in the cut-leaved 

 dead-nettle, and should these flowers prove fertile, 

 and also if the plant continues in flower as long 

 as its competitor, it seems likely that this species 

 will have a certain advantage over its ally. Against 

 this view, we must balance the fact that, of the 

 two, the cut-leaved dead-nettle is the less common 

 plant." 



With regard to the first paragraph in Mr. 

 Meehan's article, on page 105, whilst there seems 

 to be much evidence to support the idea that plants 

 have not a uniform behaviour in every place, and, 

 with regard further to the implied query as to 

 Lamium incisum in Europe, my rough notes, made 

 over three years ago, seem to show that the fer- 

 tilization in bud of the flowers of this species is 

 not a new departure in the New World, and that 

 the same thing occurs in Europe. 



189, Beresford Street, Camberwell, London, S.E. ; 

 September gth, 1S97. 



BOTANICAL RAMBLES ROUND EDINBURGH. 

 By R. Dickson-Bryson, B.A., F.P.S. 



T'HE wealth of hill and glen and marsh encir- 

 cling this fair metropolis of the north affords 

 a happy hunting ground to the botanical enthu- 

 siast. Here his diligence will be amply rewarded ; 

 for plant life is profuse everywhere, and with few 

 exceptions easily procurable. During the three 

 months of summer I collected considerably over 

 three hundred specimens, representing some fifty 

 natural orders. This is not exhaustive, for I had 

 not the time to devote to the more familiar mem- 

 bers of the kingdom ; the researches were chiefly 

 confined to the more rare and unnoticed plants. 

 The hills to the south and south-east of the city ; 

 Duddingston Loch and its extensive marsh ; 

 Craigmillar Castle and the adjoining woods ; 

 Colinton and its romantic and well-wooded glens ; 

 and, occasionally, the Pentlands, were visited. 



Scarcely a mile south-east from the city stand 

 out in bold pre-eminence those huge, rib-like pre- 

 cipitous rocks, known locally as " Samson's Ribs." 

 Here, among the cliffs, a few rare plants luxuriate. 

 Chief among them is the Lychnis viscaria, or sticky 

 campion, with its dense panicle-like heads of 

 bright pink corollas and alternate leaves of dark 



glossy green. A little further round towards the 

 east of the cliff, and on a grassy slope, the sand- 

 wort, Armaria vema, may be found ; it is not very 

 common. Lying low in the more shaded parts, 

 several species of the Viola, or pansy, may be 

 seen: the V. tricolor, V. canina and V. odor at a. 

 The tri-coloured species is very common, and is 

 perhaps the prettiest. No one can mistake its 

 pretty yellow, white and purple petals standing 

 out from the mass of green. The popular appella- 

 tive, " pansy," is probably derived from the French 

 phrase, " Peitsez a moi." Shakespeare makes 

 Ophelia, in Hamlet, say, " Pray you, love, remem- 

 ber, there's pansies, that's for thoughts." The 

 rock-rose, Helianthemum vulgarc, is plentiful, and its 

 bright yellow corollas delight the eye everywhere. 

 To the untutored eye the rock-rose is apt to be 

 confounded with the cinque-foil, or Potentilla 

 reptans, here in lavish profusion ; but it may be 

 readily distinguished by its quinate leaf. The 

 silver weed, P. anserina, is not quite so frequent. 

 The tall Ecliium vulgare, or bugloss, with its beauti- 

 ful spikes of mingled blue and purple, is, if a 

 little care be exercised, easily procurable. The 



