136 
Dr. A. W. Chapman, second edition. It is, however, not yet 
really familiar, has attracted no special attention, and apparently 
no oe has "been taken of the size and development it here 
attain 
On n 30th October the ume visited a station where it is both 
abundant and accessible, and measur ted three individuals, of which 
he here offers the re viz 
1. Staminate. eee at collar 3 ft. 14 in.—Total 
height 22 ft. 0 in 
2. Pistillate. Circumference at collar i ft. 8 in.—Total 
height 17 ft. 3 in. 
3. might dd en at collar 2 ft. 14 in.—Total 
The above i earra were selected on account of their size, but 
they are not of m m height, as the writer observed at least 
one plant in their " tiotghbonrhood which considerably exceeded 
them but which it was not practicable to measure on account o 
treacherous footing. He is, moreover, well satisfied that greater 
b ir 
o ; 
the collar, and certainly 18 to 20 in. in diameter at the collar 
itself. Besides, he has himself measured a dry and en stem 
of a previous season’s growth that was 21 ft. 10 in. in height. 
He is, therefore, quite satisfied that this plant dm the height 
of 25 ft. in this neighbourhood, while, since it is found further 
south, it may grow still taller. “ Thirty feet high and as big as a 
barrel " is a phrase he has heard used in characterizing it, from 
which some discount must probably be allowed. e average of 
the multitude of plants in sight must be between 12 and 15 ft. 
and the extent of their branches from 4 ft. in the case of slender 
specimens, to 10 ft. or more for the larger ones. 
The site occupied by the Acnidas is a considerable ee 
amongst sandy and timbered hills, sinuous in plan and c 
cating with, really forming a part of, the basin of Lake  KpOpER, 
the water-level of which within a few years was continuous on it. 
The water has now receded owing to lack of rainfall and to the 
partial reclamation of the marsh-lands adjacent to the lake leaving 
the depression in a boggy condition, filled as it is with the débris 
f the former aquatic growth, which consisted of Pontederia, 
Sagittaria, Nuphar, Cladium, &c. augmented considerably by 
that of Acnida itself, forming a muck, or vegetable mud, of a 
spongy conaistenes from 3 ft. in depth downward. 
In this soil the Acnida seems to meet with its most favourable 
conditions, its central or tap root tapering abruptly and usually 
bending into a right angle about a foot below the surface, while 
its lateral roots radiate from the collar and make their way down- 
wards at a slight angle to a distance of 3 ft. or more, their function 
being to some extent that of affording anchorage. The base o 
the trunk is dilated to four or five times its average thickness into 
which it tapers some 2 or 3 ft. above the base. en trunk itself 
is columnar, and hollow from the base upwards to the apical 
growth, strongly thickened within and without ak distinct nodes 
from which the branches grow. 
