62 



II.— BOTANY. 



1. Instructions in Botany. By Dr. J. D Alton Hooker, 

 C.B., President of the Royal Society. 



There are many observations to be made on the habits and dis- 

 tribution of Arctic plants, and important collections to be formed 

 illustrative of the local conditions of the climate and geological 

 character of the regions they inhabit. A reference to the account 

 of the Greenland Flora, republished in the Manual prepared for 

 the use of the Expedition, shows how complicated is the problem 

 of the migration of Arctic plants, and how much there is still to 

 be learned from mere collections of specimens, provided these be 

 complete for each locality, Avell preserved, and carefully ticketed. 

 Quite as much also is to be learned of the life-history of Arctic 

 plants ; a field of research in which nothing has been observed, and 

 one so wide that but a few indications as to what may be done can 

 here be given. In this particular branch of inquiry the observa- 

 tions must for the most part be suggested by the observer himself; 

 and an original and inquiring mind may find many paths to dis- 

 covery even in the study of the poorest flora under its most un- 

 promising aspects. 



Flowtering Plants. 



There is reason to suppose that certain of the species of Arctic 

 genera freely hybridise, especially those of Draba, Saxifraga, and 

 Salix. I can account in no other way for the number of inter- 

 mediate forms that are found m all extensive collections, and this 

 between plants so distinct in other countries as the white and. 

 yellow-flowered Drabas. Hybridisation may also account in some 

 degree for various supposed species rarely fruiting, though this is 

 more probably due to the sudden accession of snow or other meteo- 

 rological causes at the period of fertilization. 



In connexion with the above subject, the pollen of the various 

 species should be carefully examined, and observations made as to 

 whether it is carried by the wind or by insects from flower to 

 flower ; and whether the surface of the stigma is viscid, or papil- 

 lose, or clothed with hairs ; and whether the flowers secrete honey 

 on the petals, disk, or elsewhere. All association of insects with 

 plants should be carefully noted, and their eflects watched. It is 

 doubtful if any annual flowering plant attains a very high latitude ; 

 the haunts of land animals, as the musk ox, &c. should be searched 

 for such. Specimens of flowering plants should be abundantly 

 collected both in flower and fruit, and this in all localities, keeping 

 a very careful look out to secure all the species of such Families as 



