SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, SEPTEMBER 10. 



cxxxix 



Carnations and other genera of the CaryopJujUacecE attacked by fungi, 

 accompanied by two plates, was presented by ])r. M. C. Cooke. 



Potentilla with Foliaceoiis Floiccrs. — Rev. C. Wolley-Dod sent 

 specimens of P. ncpalensis, in which the parts of the flowers were re- 

 placed by tufts of minute green leaves. 



Malformed Vetch Leaflets. — Miss Armitage, of Ross, sent specimens 

 of the foliage of a Vetch, in which the leaflets in many cases resembled 

 Pea-pods. A somew^hat similar result from the puncture of insects is 

 known to occur to Pistacia Lentiscus. In this case it is probably due to 

 an aphis or a mite. 



Begonia Subvirescent. — Rev. W. "Wilks received and exhibited a flower 

 one petal of which was partially green. 



Epilohium, Monstrous. — Mr. Rasor, of Woolpit, Sufiblk, sent mal- 

 formed flowers, observing : — "In a ditch some 40 or 50 yards long were 

 growing hundreds of E. hirsiitum, one particular batch of which, con- 

 taining about a score of plants, has flowers similar to those sent. You 

 vAW. observe that instead of the usual rose-coloured petals they are much 

 reduced in size, and have but a faint tinge of colour on the margin." 

 The essential organs were quite perfect, the pollen being shed in the bud, 

 the pistils finally setting abundance of seed, though the flowers were quite 

 unattractive in appearance to insects. 



Oclontoglossum Diseased. — Mr. Crawshay asked for information as to 

 the cause of the tips of leaves becoming yellow, brown, and black. The 

 spots appear to start anyw^here, and in his opinion were endophytic. The 

 disease has been known for six years, and though often examined, a fungus 

 had not previously been discovered. The spots appear on the leaves of 

 the last-formed bulb, as also on three- and four-year-old leaves, though 

 they may be otherwise perfectly healthy, and they cause no difference in 

 the flowers. No certain interpretation had yet been found for the 

 phenomenon, but Dr. Cooke was asked to examine them. 



Cotton-trees. — Rev. W. Wilks asked, on behalf of a correspondent, 

 how these trees, presumably the Bomhax or Eriodendron of S.W. Africa, 

 could be destroyed. The large trunks are so soft that the timber cannot 

 be sawn or cut with an axe. Moreover, the natives will not attempt to 

 destroy them, for fear of the spirits which they suppose to reside in these 

 particular trees. Gunpowder and dynamite were suggested, and saturat- 

 ing with saltpetre and then burning might probably prove effective. 



Bark stripped off. — Dr. Masters referred to an inquiry made at a pre- 

 vious meeting with reference to strips of bark of an oblong shape, neatly 

 taken off the branches of Larch-trees ; no interpretation could then be 

 given. It has been now suggested that the strips in question may have 

 been picked oft' by the nuthatches for the purpose of nest-building. 



Plum Boots Diseased. — Mr. Veitch sent some specimens, which Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke undertook to examine and report upon. 



Viola sylvatica cleistoganious. — Professor Henslow exhibited specimens 

 of this plant in flower and in fruit, observing that he had never found it 

 otherwise than with cleistoganious buds, which are borne in all the axils 

 of the leaves, whereas in V. odorata and V. hirta they only occur on the 

 runners concealed beneath the leaves. Though not alluded to by Hooker 

 in the Students' Flora, it seemed to be an important distinction between 



