516 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
In Distichium Hageni each of the eight lobes of the peristome corre- 
sponds to two teeth analogous to those of Distichium capillaceum, each 
divided into two or three branches. In Leucodon each tooth includes 
normally in the interior of its thickened mass two distinct rows of cells ; 
hence its tendency to branch. In the peristome of several species of 
Orthotrichum there is a system of accessory plates on the upper surface 
of the teeth ; the author proposes to call them, from their position, the 
dorsal peristome , their origin being quite different from similar plates 
in the Aplolepideae. A remarkable mountain form of Orthotrichum 
rupestre is described with a pink or bright-red peristome. 
Algae. 
Cystocarp of Rhodomelaceae.* — Mr. R. W. Phillips has followed out 
the development of the cystocarp in additional species belonging to the 
genera Bhodomela, Dasya , Laurencia, Polysiphonia, and Chondria. In 
all cases except Dasya the procarp is a modified leaf, the second joint of 
which is the fertile joint ; in Dasya the procarp is axial. The carpo- 
gonial branch is invariably four-celled, arising from tbe fifth pericentral 
cell ; two sterile branches always arise from the pericentral cell. The 
development of these sterile branches differs in the different genera. In 
Bhodomela , Polysiphonia , and Dasya there is cut off from the pericentral 
cell a superior cell which is the auxiliary cell, and conjugates with the 
carpogone. In Chondria and Laurencia the pericentral cell itself appears 
to act as the auxiliary cell. The cavity of the cystocarp is always lined 
with paranematal cells derived from the central cell. The pericarp is 
formed chiefly from pericentral cells of the fertile joint ; the degree of 
development of the wall varies in the different genera. 
Spencerella, a new Genus of Floridese.f — Under the name Spencer- 
ella australis g. et sp. n., Herr 0. Y. Darbisliire describes the type of a 
new genus of Florideae from Western Australia, with the following 
diagnosis: — Frons teretiuscula vel plus minusve compressa, evidenter 
distiche pinnatim ramosissima ; stratis fere tribus axim monosiphonium 
centralem ambientibus contexta, medullari filis et longitudinalibus 
articulatis intricatis (in parte juniore nondum evolutis) et verti- 
calibus laxius dispositis in stratum intermedium cellulis rotundatis 
constantem transientibus, corticali cellulis minoribus verticaliter seriatis 
constante. The cystocarps being still unknown, the systematic position 
of the genus is uncertain. 
Propagation of Lemanea.J — Herr F. Brand has studied afresh the 
structure and mode of propagation of Lemanea jluviatilis. The filaments 
of which the thallus is composed are of three kinds, — creeping filaments 
or plates of cells, ascending “ Chantransia-filaments,” and descending 
rhizoids. Vegetative propagation by tetraspores or non-sexual mono- 
spores is entirely wanting. Sexual reproduction takes place by means 
of carpospores which are formed within the bristles, and which vegetate 
after the decay of the latter. Vegetative propagation is effected by the 
* Arm. Bot., x. (1896) pp. 185-204 (2 pis.). Cf. this Journal, 1895, p. 553. 
f Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xiv. (1895) pp. 195-200 (1 pi.). 
£ Tom. cit., pp. 185-94. Cf. this Journal, 1890, p. 641. 
