JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Syngenesis of Anthers of Compositae : Connation or Ag- 

 glutination ? By A. Tschirsch {Flora, vol. xciii., 1904, pp. 57-85, 

 t. ii.).— The anthers are united by an interrupted agglutination where 

 they touch. The union may be so complete as to form an apparently 

 simple "ligament." — M. H. 



Syringa, The Genus. By K. K. Schneider (Wien. III. Gart.-Zeit., 

 Heft 3, 1903, pp. 99-109).— What is the Persian Lilac? This is a 

 question which the author has essayed to solve in a review of the genus 

 Syringa. Everyone who knows this beautiful spring-flowering shrub by 

 name naturally supposes that being called the Persian Lilac, it, of course, 

 originally came from Persia. But not a scrap of evidence is forthcoming 

 to show that it has ever been seen wild in Persia, or even in any of the 

 surrounding countries ; and no one can say with certainty whence it 

 originated. From notices of it from time to time by pre-Linnaean botan- 

 ists, it is ascertained that the Persian Lilac has been in cultivation in 

 Europe ever since the latter part of the fifteenth century, so that it ranks 

 among the oldest of cultivated plants in the gardens of the present day. 

 Now, it has long been observed that Syringa persica does not produce 

 perfect pollen and seldom ripens seeds ; that seed is produced only when 

 the stigma is dusted with the pollen of the common Lilac, S. vulgaris, and 

 consequently the few seedlings that have been raised from S. persica are 

 hybrids. This sterility of S. persica combined with other circumstances 

 enumerated by Herr Schneider has led him to conclude that it is a 

 Kulturprodukt," most probably a hybrid derived from S. vulgaris and 

 S. afghanica, a species discovered by the late Dr. Aitchison in Afghan- 

 istan and since known to spread far eastwards into Central Asia. That 

 S. vulgaris is one parent may, I think, be assumed with much certainty, 

 but the participation of 8. afghanica in the parentage seems to require 

 more direct evidence. A. H. K. 



Tacsonia manieata. By Ed. Andre {Be®. Hort. Aug. 1, 1903, 

 pp. 356-7 ; coloured plate). — A very pretty Tacsonia with brilliant scarlet 

 flowers, and by the description suitable for outdoor culture in mild climates ; 

 resents warm-house treatment, and thrives but moderately in the temperate 

 house ; stands several degrees of frost. Native habitat Ecuador, 10,000 to 

 12,000 feet above sea-level. — C. T. D. 



Taxodium, On the Gametophytes and Embryo of. By W. C. 



Coker (Bot. Gaz. vol. xxxvi. Nos. 1, 2, pp. 1, 114, pits, i.-xi.). — The author 

 discusses in detail the structure and development of the staminate cone, 

 the pollen-tube, the ovulate cone, the megaspore, the large-celled tissue or 

 tapetum, the development of the prothallium and of the archegonia. The 

 formation of the ventral canal nucleus, the development of the female 

 ii acleus, fertilisation and embryo. The paper concludes with a discus- 

 sion on the systematic position of Taxodium and a summary. — G. H. 



Thian-schan and Turkestan, Travels in. By Ed. Ryssel (Die 

 Gart. pp. 459, 470, 489, 498, 515 ; June and July 1903). — A scientific 

 expedition by a German gentleman, accompanied by the author as 



