238 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



the woods of Cambridgeshire occurs only where the lime-content 

 and the water-content are suitable. If either of these factors 

 varies outside an ascertainable range, the Oxlip no longer occurs. 

 It is probably true with regard to all the so-called chalk-plants 

 that factors other than calcium carbonate must be taken into 

 account and correlated with the lime-content. The most serious 

 defect in Prof. Kraus's otherwise excellent memoir is that there 

 is no general summary of conclusions, and no index. 



C. E. M. 



BOOKNOTES, NEWS, dc. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on June 6th, 1912, 

 Miss May Eathbone showed a portion of an unusually thick stem 

 of Hedera Helix, stating that this specimen was taken from a 

 plant of ivy growing on a tree in Cheshire. The stem, which was 

 somewhat triangular, measured 18^ in. in circumference and 5| in. 

 in diameter at its widest part. The phloem, which was very well 

 marked, measured about f in. in its thickest part. The rings in 

 the wood were not very distinct but about forty-six could be 

 counted. The wood was very heavy. The specimen, which was 

 18| in. long, weighed 14 lb., and the specific gravity was 0-91, 

 but, as it was weighed without removing the bark, this is only an 

 approximation. Dr. Marie Stopes exhibited a plant of Cardamine 

 pratensis, showing bulbils in abundance from the blade of the leaf 

 as well as the axil of the flowers. Dr. Stapf remarked on the 

 interest of the exhibit, and hoped by cultivation to find out more 

 of the causes of this phenomenon. The phenomenon however is 

 of very common occurrence, and may be observed in damp places 

 where the plant occurs. It was the subject of more than one 

 paper by the late John Price, of Chester, and has been discussed 

 by other observers. 



The Beport of the Botanical Exchange Club for 1911 (Parker, 

 Oxford, price 2s. Qd.) by the Secretary, Mr. G. C. Druce, resem- 

 bles its predecessors under his editorship in its useful as well as 

 in its less useful features. Among the valuable matter we may 

 mention the notes on Viola; on the Ben Bulben Poly gala, on which 

 a note appears on p. 229 and for which Mr. Druce, having already 

 coined one name, now substitutes another ; on Sagina ; and on the 

 Steep Holme Plantago which Mr. Williams considered to be 

 P. Serraria, but which Miss Cardew and Mr. E. G. Baker place 

 as a variety — Sabrince—oi P. Goronopus. xA.mong the less useful 

 features are such notes as those on the supposed Nymp>hcea 

 Candida, which has already been withdrawn from our flora by its 

 discoverer (see p. 207) — not, however, in time to prevent its 

 receiving at Mr. Druce's hands two new and useless synonyms : 

 the unfortunate obsession for the creation of new names is as 

 usual in evidence throughout the Eeport. Less useful still is 

 the swelling of our lists — or at any rate of Mr. Druce's List, for 

 we trust they will find place in no other — by aliens from Himalaya, 

 Greece, North America, Russia, Hungary, Pyrenees, California, 



