237 



easily recognised by the three corn er€d branches. The final branches 

 are usually very numerous, about ^-^ li. w. 1-2 or 3 in. 1., sharply 

 tiigcnal, fluted between the angles. The plants grow in fissures of 

 rocks and between the roots of trees, the roots peretrating deeply. 

 In some cases the branches are short and stiff with the capsules reach- 

 ing to the ends; in others long and pliant extending much I eyond 

 the capsules. 'I he capsuh s are like the fruit of many Euphorbiaceous 

 plants in miniature — Hevea, for instance. It varies a good deal, and 

 many species have been made by Karl, Muller, and other authors, of it. 

 It is most common in the iiiiddle altitudinal n gion, but occurs quite 

 frequently both above and below that range. 



2. P. coviplanatunij Swartz. -Stems few to several in. 1. cylindric at 

 the base, becoming gradually ttiquetrous below the primary furcation, 

 stiff or pliant ; branches flattened, flaccid, repeatedly dichotomous, 1-1 j 

 li. w., with a distinct midrib ; leaves minute, J- J li. 1., hardly more, 

 simple or forked, pointed, forming mere dentations along both margins 

 at intervals of J-f in. apart ; capsules 2-3 valved, auxiliary, dehiscent. 

 Bak. Fern Al. p. 30. 



Included on the authority of Swartz, who founded the species, but I 

 have seen no local specimen myself. Grisebach included i in his Fl. 

 B. W. I. Islands but had seen no specimen. However, as it is 

 undoubtedly found in Cuba (Wright d. 947), the locality is not 

 unlikely. Differs from the preceding by its flat 2-(dged broader 

 branches with a rib down the centre. It varies from 6 in. to 2 f. I t 

 in different parts of the world. 



ADDITIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 

 DEPARTMENT. 



Library. 

 Annals of Botany. Stpt. [Purchased.] 



Brisish Museum, Annual Returns. 1897. [Director Nat. Hist.] 



British Trade Journal. Oct. [Editor.] 



Chemist & Druggist. Sept. 10, 17, 24. Oct. 1. [Editor.] 



Garden. Sept. 10, 17, 24. Oct. 1. [Purchased.] 



Journ. Board of Agr. England. Sept. [Editor.] 



Journal of Botany. Oct. [Purchased.] 



Nature. Sept. 15, 22, 29. [Purchased.] 



Pharmaceutical Journal. Sept. 10, 17, 24. Oct. 1 



Sugar, .--ept. [Editor.] 



Sugar Cane. Oct. [Editor ] 



Cantor Lectures. Plants yielding Commercial India-Rubber, By Dr. Morris. 

 [Author. ] 



Flax Culture. By C. R. Dodge. [Author.] 



Sucrerie Indigene et Coloniale. Sept. 13, '^0, '^1 . Oct. 4. [Editor.] 



Bulletin Koloniaal Museum, Haarlem, No. J 9. July. [Director.] 



Bulletin L'Herbier Boissier. Sept [Conserraieur.] 



Bulletino, Laboratorio ed Orto Botanico, Siena. Ease. 2, 3. [Editor.] 



Reports, 1895-96, Bot. (hardens, Old Calabar, Niger Coast Protectorate. [Curator.] 



Times of Ceylon. Aug. 24. ^ept. 1, 7, 15. [Editor.] 



Tropical Agriculturist. Sept. [Purchased.] 



Proefstaiion E. Java, Selectie van Suikerriet. [Director.] 



Proef station B. Java. De Mineerlarven van Suikerriet op Java. [Director.] 



Agri. Gazette, N. S. Wales. July. [Dept. of Agr.] 



