1881. | Botany. 895 
One flower was of the normal form, but the other was almost 
perfectly regular. “It had all three sepals distinct, and of equal 
size; it had no ‘slipper’ or lip, but the three nearly equal petals 
were shaped alike, differing from the sepals only in being a little 
narrower, and, of course, alternating with them. The ovary, 
which in most Orchidacez, and all other Cypripediums, is twisted 
through half a revolution, in this case was not twisted at all, and 
it was only slightly, instead of conspicuously bent to one side, so 
that the flower faced more nearly upward than in the ordinary 
form. The column, as usual, consisted of united stamens and 
pistils, but it was much less bent to one side, and the union of 
parts was not nearly so complete. There were three distinct an- 
thers instead of two, alternating with the lobes of the distinctly 
three-lobed stigma. Instead of one Jarge, dilated, triangular, 
fleshy body, apparently occupying the place of the third stamen 
in the ordinary form, and heretofore supposed in fact to be homol- 
ogous with the third stamen, there were two of these bodies 
alternating with the petals, and evidently belonging to a distinct 
whorl. They may really be the homologues of stamens, but if 
so, the plan of the flower contemplates two distinct sets of sta- 
mens, with three in each set. Or we may, perhaps, with better 
ason, regard them as petals belonging to an inner whorl that — 
re 
alternates with the first. 
_ Tue Contrers or JaPAN.—Dr. Maxwell T. Masters publishes 
in the Fournal of the Linnean Society for July, a valuable paper 
on the Conifers of Japan. Thirteen genera are represented, and 
of these one, Sciadopitys, is peculiar to Japan; two, viz: Crypto- 
meria and Cephalotaxus are peculiar to Japan and China. Ginkgo 
iS Supposed not to be a native of Japan, although often cultivated, 
Of the forty-one species enumerated, no less than twenty-two 
(which are indicated by an asterisk in the subjoined list) are — 
Peculiar to Japan, and this fact leads Dr. Masters to infer “ that 
apan may have formed a special center whence Conifers have 
migrated elsewhere.” The species given, omitting varieties, are 
© following: *Zhuja dolabrata L., *T. Faponica Maxim., 7. 
orientalis L.. ( Biota orientalis Endl., the Chinese arbor vita of the 
gardens), *T. pisifera Masters ( Retinospora pisifera Seib. et Zucc.), 
/. obtusa Masters (Retinospora obtusa Seib. et Zucc.), Funiperus 
“igida Seib. et Zucc., *¥. nipponica Maxim., ¥. littoralis Maxim., 
F. taxifolia Hook. et Arn., % chinensis L., Cryptomeria Japonica 
n., *Cephalotaxus pedunculata Seib. et Zuce., C. drupacea Seib. 
Mg Zucc., C. umbraculifera Seib., * Taxus cuspidata Seib. et Zucc., 
Sake lardiva Laws., *Torreya nucifera Seib. et Zucc., *Podocarpus 
_ Nageia R. Br., *P. casia Maxim., *P. appressa Maxim., P. macro- 
2 an “a Don., * Sctadopitys verticillata Seib. et Zucc., Pinus denst- 
ora Seib. et. Zucc., P. Thunbergit Parl., P. parviflora Seib. et Zuce., 
£, horaiensis Seib, et Zucc., P. cembra L., var. pumila Parl., Picea 
o 
a ““exmowiczii Regel, *P. polita Carr., *P. Alcockiana Carr, 2. : 
