466 J. H. MAIDEN. 



My paper is in part a plea for more attention to be given 

 to the gland for diagnostic (taxonomic) purposes. At the 

 outset I am met with the following statement: — "The 

 glands on the upper edge of the phyllodia and on the com- 

 mon petiole in the compound leaf seldom afford even a 

 specific distinction . . . and I have therefore in the 

 description seldom mentioned them." (B. PL ii, 301). A 

 statement from such a source demands respect, but I think 

 I shall be able to show that some glands are remarkable 

 and characteristic. I am aware that many glaDds are ill- 

 developed, and afford no special characters for description. 



It is such as these that, when speaking of phyllodineous 

 (in contradistinction to petiolar) glands, Mr. Reginald 

 Kelly (op. cit. infra) states they are now "almost obliter- 

 ated." One of the objects of my paper is to ask botanists 

 to give further consideration to glands in Acacia, for it 

 seems to me that they merit further notice. 



Mr. A. D. Hardy truly says 1 that the glands of the 

 Acacias have received but little attention, and he makes a 

 valuable contribution to the subject. His paper is illus- 

 trated by one plate, in which the glands are not figured or 

 described in detail, but only indicated as regards their 

 number and position on the phyllode, which was, indeed, 

 his object. A large number of species are referred to. At 

 p. 30 there is a useful summary of the paper. 



This paper was followed up by Mr. Reginald Kelly, 2 who 

 dealt with the function of these glands. He joins issue 

 with those who call them glands, and reminds us of the use 

 of the term " extra floral nectaries" by some authors. He 

 quotes Solederer that petiolar glands in Acacia have 

 secretory functions; he (Mr. Kelly) found them, rarely, to 

 be tenanted by insects. 



1 " The distribution of leaf glands in some Victorian Acacias," (Vict. 

 Nat. xxix, 26). 



2 "Observations on the function of Acacia leaf glands/' lb., xxx, 121. 



