SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 



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hitherto resisted efforts to cross them. It was, however, evidently 

 Hippeastrum calyplraium, a species remarkable in the genus, not only 

 for the curious growth which obstructs the throat of the perianth, but 

 also from its evergreen habit. 



T ricyrtis stolonifera, a plant which Mr. Elwes had found in bamboo 

 jungles in Formosa, where it reaches a height of about 6 inches only, 

 while in England it grows 4 feet tall in gardens, still maintaining 

 its underground creeping habit. 



Mr. Elwes also showed a Lily which he had found growing in 

 Formosa, where it flowered in March, bearing up to as many as forty 

 flowers. It strongly resembled some of the forms of Lilium speciosum. 



Mr. A. C. Bartholomew, of Park House, Reading, sent a number 

 of interesting flowers, including Galanthus Olgae, Gentiana Kurroo, 

 Aspilia buphthalmi flora, Solatium sisymbrifolium, Anchusa myosotidi- 

 flora, Malvastrum lateritium, and others. 



African Fruits, &c. — Mr. W. C. Worsdell, F.L.S., exhibited fruits 

 of a species of Eriodendron with its silky cotton-covered seeds, Areca 

 nuts, and a leaf of Mango from Zanzibar covered with scale insects, 

 which he said was the usual condition there. 



Pelargonium citriodorum. — Mr. J. Fraser, F.L.S., showed beautifully 

 dried specimens of Pelargonium citriodorum and other forms from the 

 Wisley collection, and commented upon the origin of these forms, 

 mostly apparently from P. crispum. The results of Mr. Fraser's 

 investigations will be published in the Journal of the Society. 



" Sporting " of Lilies. — Mr. C. R. Scrase-Dickins showed a most 

 interesting series of specimens of Lilium Sargentiae grown in peat 

 on the west coast of Ireland, much exposed to the wind. A bulb had 

 last year (1912) produced a stem, the upper part of which carried 

 the foliage of L. Sargentiae, the lower part foliage similar to that of 

 L. myriophyllmn. This plant was grown from a bulbil, not from seed. 

 This season the stem from the same bulb had similar narrow leaves 

 throughout its length, and the stem of the adjoining bulb in the row 

 bore narrow leaves on the lower half and wider leaves above. This 

 bulb had two offsets, of which the growth of one had the leaves all 

 narrow and that of the other of the usual size. The flowers of the 

 two stems (in one case four and in the other five) were quite normal. 

 It would appear that this lily is changing the character of its leaves 

 under the special conditions of its surroundings, and at the same 

 time it is becoming dwarf er in stature, and the characteristic production 

 of bulbils in the axis of the leaves seems to be disappearing. Will 

 it approximate eventually to Lilium myriophyllum ? It would seem 

 that Mr. Scrase-Dickins had seen the passage of one species of Lily 

 into another, or that the breadth of foliage which is constantlv used 

 as a distinguishing feature of these plants is a character of less 

 importance than it is usually considered. Mr. Elwes drew attention 

 to the remarkable variation to be seen between Lilies as one passes 

 up the Formosan mountains, as though one species had produced 

 forms adapted to the conditions under which they were growing, and 



