February!?™'}    Plant s  Which  in  Drying  Stain  Paper.  65 
POLYGAL  ACEyE  . 
Comesperma  retusum,  Labill.,  C.  sylvestre,  Lindl.,  and  C.  ericinum, 
DC,  stain  the  paper  purplish.  This  tends  to  confirm  the  close 
affinity  between  these  three  Eastern  Australian  species,  already  as- 
certained on  morphological  grounds. 
The  stain  is  also  seen  in  C.flavum,  DC,  and  C.  calymega,  Labill., 
two  Western  Australian  species.  The  stain  is  of  considerable  per- 
sistence, it  being  well  marked  in  Dr.  Leichhardt's  specimens  col- 
lected in  1843. 
The  stain  is  most  marked  in  C.  retusum  so  far  as  my  specimens 
go.  I  have  also  observed  that  in  some  specimens  (e.g.,  C.  ericinum) 
the  purplish  stain  is  succeeded  by  a  dull  brown  one.  This  opens 
the  enquiry  as  to  how  long  the  purple  stain  persists  as  such  and 
when  it  changes  color  in  the  cases  in  which  it  appears  to  change 
with  age. 
RANUNCULACE.E. 
Clematis  pubescens,  Huegel,  a  Western  Australian  species,  affords 
a  purplish-brown  stain  which  I  notice  in  no  other  species. 
RHAMNACE.E. 
Alphitonia  excelsa,  Reissek.  A  well  marked  brown  stain  is  ob- 
servable in  specimens  from  the  Kurrajong,  N.S.Wales.  I  do  not 
notice  it  in  specimens  from  other  localities.  This  may  be  connected 
with  the  coloring  matter  surrounding  the  seeds,  but  the  pigment 
which  has  made  such  a  marked  photographic  representation  of  the 
included  plant  must  be  somewhat  volatile. 
SAMYDACEiE. 
Homalium  rufescens,  Benth.,  a  Natal  plant,  exhibits  a  grey,  not 
abundant,  stain. 
SANTALACE/E. 
Fusanus  persicarius,  R.  Br.,  and  F  acuminatus,  DC.  (Quandong) 
both  Australian  plants,  show  a  profuse  brown  stain.  Fusanus  is, 
according  to  some  botanists,  congeneric  with  Santalum.  I  do  not 
notice  the  stains  in  any  species  of  Santalum  (as  recognized  by  Ben- 
tham). 
