iS8 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



variable species in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe, 

 Lancashire, May 14th, 1S92. Shell conical, pale 

 pink ; interior of aperture on the antepenultimate 

 whorl, yellow ; extremely thin, transparent, delicate, 

 mottlings somewhat subdued, bandless. — R. Wiggles- 

 worth, 13 Arthur Street, Clayton-le-Moors, Aecrington. 



BOTANY. 



Remarkable Specimen of the Tvvay-elade 

 Orchis. — We have received lrom Mr. F. J. Provis, 

 Coleford, Gloucestershire, a specimen of the T way- 

 blade (Listera ovata) in which the three leaves belie 

 the common name. It is doubtful whether we should 



slight muddle in their use of the terms "involucre," 

 "petal," and "sepal" with regard to them. In a 

 letter to "Nature," December 3rd, 1891, I pointed 

 out, and, as far as I know, no one has disputed it, 

 that the so-called involucre of the anemone (coronaria 

 or nemorosa) was really a calyx. I had not then 

 noticed that the term " involucre," was also applied 

 to the leaf-like sepals of Eranthis hiemalis, the term 

 "sepal" being used for the yellow petals; whilst, 

 forsooth, the nectaries within were honoured with the 

 name of petals ! These nectaries are, unless I am 

 much mistaken, homologous with the scales at the 

 base of the petals of Ranunculus bulbosus, the only 

 difference being that in this case the neclaries are 

 united with the petals, in the Eranthis they are free. 



Fig. 116. — Remarkable specimen of TzvayJilade. 



ascribe such a departure from the normal type of the 

 plant to reversion or otherwise, but we should be glad 

 to hear if any of our readers have come across similar 

 specimens. 



Practical Botanical Queries. — Will some 

 correspondent kindly answer the following questions 

 in Science-Gossip? — (1) Can Botanical Paper that 

 has been used for drying plants be used a second 

 time ? (2) I find it noted in your book of " Notes on 

 Collecting and Preserving," that a weak solution ot 

 alum painted on the flowers will preserve their colour. 

 About what strength should the solution of alum be, 

 and should the flowers be painted before putting in 

 the press ? — E. P. 



Morphological Notes on some of the 

 RanunculacE/E. — After a careful examination of 

 several of the common genera of Ranunculaceae, I 

 cannot help thinking that botanists have made a 



If this opinion should prove correct, the Helleborus 

 nigcr would have to be considered as without a 

 corolla ; for its nectaries are evidently the homologues 

 of those of the Eranthis. While on this subject, I 

 would suggest that the term "involucre" should be 

 used simply of agglomerations of bracts, such as we 

 find in the Asteraceae (Composite) ; and that the 

 term bract should be restricted to those leaves from 

 the axils of which the floral branch theoretically 

 springs. Then, if I am wrong in terming the leafy 

 appendages of the scape of the Eranthis sepals, it 

 would be necessary to invent some new term to 

 describe thein. Now that the Aquilegia is in flower, 

 I should like to call attention to a remarkable feature 

 in it. In the centre of the flower, within the stamens 

 and surrounding the carpels, exists a whorl of ten, 

 representing, I suppose, two whorls of five, minute 

 colourless leaves ; for leaves they must be, morpho- 

 logically speaking, though they are too small and 



