CXiv PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



recommendations followed the rules for the nomenclature of flowering 

 plants passed at the Vienna Congress of 1905, with the additions 

 necessary to make them apply to garden varieties and hybrids. They 

 will be pubhshed in extenso in due course (see also pp. 405 and xcvi.). 



Rose de Madera. — Sir Albert KoUit showed a specimen of the ' Hose 

 de Madera ' or ' Eose de Palo ' from Guatemala. The specimen was 

 a woody growth somewhat resembling an open Eose about 3 inches 

 in diameter, at the end of a branch about 1^ inch in diameter. These 

 formations are the result of the attack of a parasite, in this case 

 probably a species of Phoradendron, on a flowering plant, inducing 

 a considerable development of tissue in the host. Later, the parasite 

 dies and decays, leaving the tissue of the host intact, showing the 

 impressions where the sucker-like organs of the parasite were in 

 intimate contact with the host. The growths are well figured in 

 Engler's " Pflanzenfamilien, " Abt. I., p. 161. 



Fungus on roof. — Mr. Hales showed a specimen of a fungus which 

 was growing in quantity, depending from the roof of Chelsea Old 

 Church. Dr. Eendle took it for further examination (see p. cxvi.). 



Saxifraga Geum, &c. — Mr. Fraser showed seedlings of Saxifraga 

 Geum var. Colvillei, illustrating the great range of variability possessed 

 by seedlings, and the probability of the hybrid origin of some forms. 

 There were seventy-eight seedlings in all, of which some had yet to 

 flower. Of those that had flov/ered three were like the seed-parent, 

 two were hybrid forms of S. umhrosa, twenty were broad-leaved forms 

 of S. Geum dentata, two had the primary flowers ^ inch in diameter, 

 seventeen had creamy-white ovaries, two were like S. Geum elegans, 

 and five were like *S'. Geum serrata. Considerable difficulty was 

 often experienced in classifying the forms of this section, since the 

 plants produce two sets of leaves, unlike one another, in the spring 

 and autumn respectively, and botanists had described foliage without 

 reference to the season. 



Iris with bearded standards. — Mr. Bowles drew attention to an Iris 

 shown by Mr. Perry, a seedling raised by the late Sir Michael Foster, 

 having the spathe valves of Iris pallida, and probably a seedling from 

 that species, but with a forked stem. The standards were somewhat 

 drooping instead of being erect, and each had on its upper surface a 

 small amount of bearding similar to that on the falls, but less in 

 extent. 



Hybrid Primulas. — Messrs. Veitch sent hybrids of Primula pulveru- 

 lenta and P. Cockburniana, together with the parents for comparison. 

 The series was as follows: — 



1. P. pulverulenta $ x P. Cockburniana S =P. x 'Unique'; 

 and (2) the reciprocal cross, giving P. x ' Unique ' and P. x ' Unique 

 improved. ' 



3. P. Cockburniana $ x P. ' Unique ' <^ = P. x * Excelsior.' This 

 form has bright flowers nearly approaching P. Cockburniana, but dis- 

 tinct and, like the other two before mentioned, perennial, whereas 

 P. Cockburniana is biennial. 



