of Pcrnititr <• '/r/„ rat. t'onii the only Australian 



representatives of the large order Ericaceee. Coprosnta pumilu. 

 Hook, f., is described as a prostrate densely-matted glabrous shrub, 

 creeping and rooting sometimes to a great extent, with small ovate 

 -liiiiini leaves and solitary terminal flowers £-inch long. It grows 

 on snowy mossy plains on the Baw Baw and other of the Australian 

 Alps, at an elevation of 4,000 to 6,000 feet. It is also a native of 

 Tasmania ami New Zealand. There are four other species of Coprosmo 

 in Australia, none of which is known to be in cultivation here. 

 It is to be hoped that other- beside Sir F. von Mueller will take up 

 Mr. Wallace's suggestion, as (]„. behaviour of the alpine plants of 



l.—Miss i:. Sar-ant. working in the Jodrell 

 Laboratory, has made a thorough in\ e-ti nation of the structure and 

 development of the ascidia of Disvhulia mjffcxhina (see AY/r lir.Ih-tin, 

 1892, p. 284), with the following results :— 



The structure of the pitcher of /;. rnjfl, .w</ )ia is, in essentials, that of 

 the leaf. The similarity is most striking in the younger stages of 

 development of the pitcher, when its mesophyll is of "uniform structure 

 throughout, and resembles that of the mature leaf. The orientation of 

 the usually bicollateral vascular bundles is such that their protoxylem is 

 always directed towards the upper surface of the leaf, and the outer 

 surface of the pitcher. This confirms Dr. Treub's view, based on the 

 history of development of the pitcher, thai its outer surface corres- 

 ponds to the superior surface of the normal leaf. Certain structural 

 differences which exist between the mature pitcher and the leaf 

 are interesting in their bearing on the question of the function of the 



tivorous pitcher-plants are to be found. The -'processes " described b\ 



probably resin also, hut they cease to be fnuci ional lone; before the pitcher 

 is mature. These processes are common to the young pitcher and tie- 

 young leaf. They occur at the base of the petiole, and on the superior 

 surface of the lamina near it* base, ami a -land is also present at the 

 apex of the lamina. The Lrlai-.dnlar and woolly hairs found on the 

 young leaf and pit. her are- also transitory structure.-, having no relation 

 to the functions of the mature organ. In the normal leaf the stomata 

 are about equally numerous on both surfaces (2o or 2(5 per square 



