NOTES ON RECENT RESEARCH. 



231 



Casuarina with four leaves at each node only one branch arises at the 

 node, and the successive branches form a j spiral. In Strobilanthes 

 WallicJiii the two leaves at each node are unequal, and a branch is 

 emitted solely from the axil of the large leaf ; the larger leaves and the 

 branches form racemose " cicinni." 



In addition to modes of branching simulating those of inflorescences 

 others of an original kind are found. The buds on the under surface 

 (hypo trophic), on the upper surface (epitrophic), on the flanks (latero- 

 trophic), may be favoured in their development, or combinations of these 

 systems of branching may occur. For example, in a species of Uncaria 

 that climbs by means of irritable hooks, which are dwarf branches, the 

 leaves are opposite and decussate ; but the hooks arise only in the axils 

 of the leaves on the flanks and lower (outer) face of the long shoots, 

 whereas the leaves on the upper (inner) face subtend no buds. [The 

 eminent utility to the plant of this arrangement is obvious.] 



The origin of the tier-like arrangement of the branches in Erio~ 

 dendron anfractuosum (Silk Cotton tree) and other plants is described. As 

 an instructive example of this, and as an example of the familiar group- 

 ing of the leaves of tropical woody plants at the tips of the branches, 

 Alstonia scholaris serves. In this plant during each period of growth 

 only a single whorl of foliage-leaves is produced, and this falls when the 

 succeeding whorl is completed ; and very remarkable is the stated fact 

 that each lateral stem produces only two (rarely one or three) of such 

 whorls of leaves, then ceases to grow, the increase in length being 

 continued by axillary buds, which very commonly sprout forth from the 

 tip of the shoot. 



Doubtless many interesting new observations on the branching of 

 hothouse plants in Great Britain could be made by persons interested in 

 the subject. — P. G. 



Anatomy op Ceratopteris. 



Ceratopteris thalictroides, Anatomy of. By Sibille 0. Ford, 

 Bathurst Student, Newnham College, Cambridge (Ann. Bot. vol. xvi., 

 No. lxi., p. 95 ; March 1902). — This plant is an annual aquatic Fern, 

 widely spread throughout the tropics and not uncommon in botanic 

 gardens. It grows very readily from spores and also increases freely by 

 means of vegetative buds, found not only on the sterile, but also on the 

 fertile fronds. It is not without claim to beauty. The authoress in this 

 paper, while gathering together the previously known facts, provides an 

 excellent account, from her own observations, illustrating the most 

 important points by means of fifteen figures in a plate and eight illustra- 

 tions in the text. Interesting facts, apart from the main subject, are 

 sometimes alluded to, as, for instance, that the plant is cooked and eaten 

 as a vegetable by the natives of the Indian Archipelago. Thomae, it 

 appears, had given a description and figure of a petiole containing a 

 single median vascular bundle, while the investigations of the authoress 

 confirm Engler and Prantl, that the number of bundles varies consider- 

 ably with age and development. Even in small petioles measuring only 

 2-3 mm. in diameter a fairly regular ring of bundles was found towards 

 the periphery. The single large median bundle described by Thomae is 



