SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, JANUARY 1-5. 



XXV 



the genus Cereus, and I could now nam9 the species, and did so in 

 honour of the finder, Cereus Wittii. The species is very interesting, 

 because it is the " missing link " between the gene ra Phyllocactus and 

 Cereus. The form of the joints is perfectly typical of the former ; the 

 characteristics of the fruits and spines are those of a Cereus. 



Some days ago I received a notice from Dr. E. Ule, a botanist, whom 

 I had sent from Manaos to the river Furna, a tributary stream on the 

 right side of the Amazon — that he had found a peculiar Cactus in the 

 upper part of the swampy forest, densely appressed to the tree- stems. 

 His further description of the plant convinces me that C. Wittii is widely 

 distributed. He told me that the older joints of C. Wittii turn from 

 green to a beautiful wine-red or purple colour, a peculiarity which I had 

 also seen on the plants we are cultivating in the Royal Botanic Garden 

 of Berlin. 



The two photographs wera taken by our skilful Orchid grower, 

 Herr Benick, who cultivated these two splendid specimens. In the 

 " Monatsschrift fiir Kakteenkunde " Dr. Schumann gives a fuller account of 

 this new species (vol. x. p. 153), accompanied by an excellent plate, in which 

 not only the habit of the plant but the fruit and seed are well illustrated. 

 The armature of sharp spines along the edges of the flattened, adhering 

 stems probably do not come out very clearly in fig. 120, but they are very 

 characteristic in the figures published in the above-named organ of the 

 German Cactus Society. 



Carnations, Single and Double j on one plant. — A drawing was received 

 from Mr. ^Yilliam Cuthbertson illustrating this not uncommon occurrence. 

 Mr. Michael, Mr. Sutton, and Dr. Masters had observed similar cases, as 

 in Begonias also, especially late in the season. An analogous occurrence 

 is seen in Clematis Proteus, which bears double flowers early in the 

 season, but single ones afterwards. In all cases it appears to be due to a 

 check of nutrition. 



Pinus Cone. — Dr. Masters, F.R.S., exhibited a fine cone, received from 

 Sir Ch. Strickland, of Pinus ponderosa var. Benthaniiana. It is a native 

 of California. 



Mistleto variety. — Mr. Corderoy, of Didcot, sent a bough of Mistleto 

 bearinsr longer and broader leaves than those of the usual wild form. It 

 was believed to have been cut from an Apple tree. It was observed that 

 the variety arose from some innate cause, but, of course, traceable to its 

 parasitism, and that as Apples vary by the change of .their environment, 

 so the Mistleto is similarly aftected. 



Australian Bhiibarb. — Mr. A. Sutton, V.M.H., called attention to a 

 variety of Rhubarb from Australia, grown at Reading for some few years. 

 It starts into growth every year in November, producing leaves with 

 stalks 2 feet long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, of a scarlet 

 colour. Unfortunately, in this climate it can only be depended upon 

 during a mild season, the late frosts having destroyed it. As Rhubarb is 

 a native of N.E. Asia, it had apparently quite changed its habit in 

 Australia, where the seasons are reversed ; but this variety has for the 

 present retained in this country the period of leafing which it accpiired in 

 the S. hemisphere. 



Clavaria, Bare. — Mr. Geo. Bunyard, V.M.H., sent a plant found grow- 



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