Page images
PDF
EPUB

bluntish. In S. fragilis the scales vary exceedingly in length and shape, and are sometimes nearly naked; in S. alba it is the same, and they are sometimes quite naked; in S. triandra they are always quite naked, more tenacious in texture, broader, and in shape bluntly spathulate.

S. undulata. Mr. Watson sends also a set of specimens in leaf from North Surrey, thus labelled on the authority of Dr. Anderson. This species is easily distinguishable from S. triandra, when in flower, by its shaggy scales, elongated style, and in the normal form by its silky capsule.

Hymenophyllum Wilsoni. Sent by Mr. W. Richardson from Harehope Moor, near Eglingham, on the Northumberland flank of the Cheviots. This is questioned as a plant of the Tyne province, in 'Cybele' supplement; but there are specimens in Winch's herbarium gathered on Simonside by Sir Walter Trevelyan, who has recently refound it on the same hill.

INTRODUCTIONS.-The principal plants which come under this head, which we have to notice this year, are the following:

:

Alyssum calycinum. Field near Little Marlow, Bucks. J. Britten. Neslia paniculata. On the beach at Sandown, Kent, August, 1865. Mrs. Benson.

Erysimum orientale.

Saponaria Vaccaria.
Arenaria montana.

Mitcham, Surrey. H. Trimen.

Beach at Sandown, Kent. Mrs. Benson. Wimbledon Common, Surrey; first noticed seven years ago by Mr. Pollock, of Wimbledon. W. Thistleton Dyer. Trifolium agrarium, Linn. (T. aureum, Pollich.) Clover-field at Dounton, High Wycombe, Bucks. J. Britten. A weed in a barleyfield at Hawnby, N.E. Yorks. (J. G. Baker), and seen several times by both of us in forage fields in the neighbourhood of Thirsk.

Vicia (Ervum) monanthos. Numerous specimens in a field of V. sativa, at Allenheads, Northumberland, 450 yards above sea-level, July and August, 1865. J. G. B.

Bupleurum protractum. Meadow near Gloucester. Dr. St. Brody. Ammi majus. Bank of the Severn, near Gloucester. Dr. St. Brody. (See Journ. of Bot. 1865, p. 26.)

Artemisia scoparia, with Hibiscus Trionum, Malva crispa, and other mostly mid-European species, in great abundance in London on the site of the Exhibition of 1862.

Aster leucanthemus, Desf. One root from 1860 to 1865, near Thimble-bridge, Thames Ditton, Surrey, where it will likely be soon lost by building changes. H. C. Watson.

Phyteuma spicatum. A single root of the blue-flowered variety, on a railway embankment near Hill Wootton, Warwick. H. Bromwich. Echinospermum Lappula. In the same station as the Neslia and Saponaria Vaccaria mentioned above.

Plantago arenaria. Southend, Essex; a few plants on the beach east of the gasworks. J. T. Boswell Syme.

Amaranthus retroflexus. Waste ground near Gloucester. Dr. St. Brody.

Thirsk, January 24, 1866.

ON PAPAYA VULGARIS, De Cand.

BY A. ERNST, Esq.

R

In a letter dated October 14th, 1865, Dr. B. Seemann drew my attention to the aestivation of the male flowers of Papaya vulgaris, asking whether it was always dextrorsal and sinistrorsal in the same raceme, as he had found it in his Vitian specimens. It was only within the last few days that I had material enough for answering this question satisfactorily. I examined 875 flowers, 626 of which (or 71.5 per cent.) had a dextrorsal, 249 (or 28.5 per cent.) a sinistrorsal æstivation, both forms really occurring in the same raceme.

At the same time I made some other observations on this imperfectly-known plant, which I may here briefly state.

Papaya has three different kinds of flowers,―staminiferous, pistilliferous, and hermaphrodite. The latter two are found on the same tree, whereas the stamen-bearing flowers grow exclusively on distinct individuals, which in this country is called "Lechoso macho" (i.e. male).

Alph. de Candolle's description of the male flowers of Papayaceæ (Prod. 15. ii. 412) agrees very well with our species. Nevertheless there are two additions to be made. The difference of æstivation is already mentioned. In all the male flowers I examined, the anthers had no appendix at all, but a very small mucro, which marks the upper end of the longitudinal slit by which the anther opens. The VOL. IV. [MARCH 1, 1866.]

G

back part of the stamen is covered with whitish down. Nearly all the stamen-bearing flowers have a rudimentary pistil, ❝e basi ovoideâ longe subulatum." (A. De Cand. 1. c. ; conf. also Journal of Botany, iii. 310.)

The pistilliferous flowers appear to be little known, as Alph. De Candolle complains of having found none in the different herbaria,* and I beg leave to give the following description:

Petala 5, a basi libera, calyci alterna, lanceolato-linearia, erecta (4–5 c.m. longa, 10–15 m.m. lata) æstivatione dextrorsum contorta (in flore adulto apice bis terve spiraliter contorta); staminum rudimenta nulla; ovarium ovoideum, leviter et obtuse pentagonum; stylus minimus; stigmata 5, irregulariter lobata, ambitu contorto, intus et margine exteriori (limbi instar) papillosa, caduca; ovula ∞, 5-seriata, anatropa.

The hermaphrodite flowers, which produce fruit like the female flowers, have been altogether overlooked; at least I could not find any notice of them in the books at my disposal. I found them on all the female trees I examined, though never in any great number. I add the following description:

Calyx ut in fœmina; corolla gamopetala, tubo ovoideo, calycino, obtuse quinque-angulato, pariete crassa, lobis 5, dextrorsum contortis, erectis; stamina ut in mare, fauci corollæ inserta; ovarium semisuperum, parte inferiori inclusa, non adnata; ovula ∞, in juvenili floris statu pariete externa inordinatim acervata, in flore adulto 5-seriata; stylus minimus (aut, si mavis, nullus); stigmata 5, inæqualia, indivisa, papillosa.

The stem of Papaya is generally simple; but sometimes it becomes branched when getting old, and then it does no longer produce fruit. The pith disappears very soon, and the hollow parts fill up with a watery fluid, which even in the hot season does not evaporate. The tree thus acts as a kind of natural drainage, a fact well known to the people of this country, and it is planted, not so much for the fruit, which is no favourite here, as for its water-absorbing power.t

* I have preserved a considerable number of female and hermaphrodite flowers in alcohol, which I shall forward for distribution to the Editor of this Journal.

+ The seeds of Papaya have a very pungent, aromatic taste, which resembles most that of Tropaolum majus, L. They are used on account of their anthelmintic properties. The milky sap of the fruit has the well-known effect of rendering the toughest meat tender. By making slight incisions in the unripe

About Caracas, I have as yet met with the following three Papayaceœ only, viz. Papaya vulgaris, De Cand.; Vasconcellea cauliflora, De Cand. (conf. Journ. of Bot. iii. 310); and Vasconcellea microcarpa, De Cand. Of the last species I have seen the fruit only, which is truly 5-celled; whilst the shape of the fruit and the seeds are exactly as described in the Prodromus.'

Carácas, Venezuela, January 1, 1866.

A NEW FIJIAN HEDYCARIA.

BY PROF. ASA GRAY. R

1. Hedycaria dorstenioides, sp. nov.; foliis fere membranaceis ovatis oblongisve plerumque integerrimis longius petiolatis; racemis terminalibus 5-7-floris; receptaculo cum perigonio peltato-disciformi margine subintegerrimo, masculo glabro supra antheris in numeris dense vestito, connectivi apice dilatato truncato quam loculi angusti latiore; fructifero supra pubescente; drupis haud stipitatis.

Var. B. denticulata; foliis membranaceis rariter dentatis vel denticulatis.

HAB. Sandal-wood Bay, Fiji Islands; with broadly ovate, also Vanua Levu, with oblong leaves, all entire. Samoan Islands; mostly with larger and thinner, ovate-oblong leaves, sometimes toothed (var. B.)

The peculiarity of the species is in the flat, disk-shaped, Dorstenialike male (and I suppose also female) receptacle, the lobes or calycine part of which is reduced to obscure crenatures, and in the truncatedilated tip of the connective of the anther, resembling that of most Anonacee.

I have from the Fiji Islands imperfect specimens of what I take may be a new genus of Monimiacea-Atherospermeæ, with alternate entire

fruit, the milk runs forth abundantly; it is then of a bluish-white colour, and of a very strong smell. It congeals almost instantly, forming a kind of transparent gelatine, which has no smell, but an acrid, burning taste. This substance is soluble in alcohol. Mr. Feustell, of this town, is engaged in making a careful chemical analysis of the milk. The vernacular name, "Lechoso " (i. e. containing milk), is of a comparatively recent date; Gumila, Caulin, and all the writers of the last century call the tree Papaya.

leaves, and a sort of lignescent receptacle, bearing achenioid ovaries, very hairy, and a perianth of 4 or 6 broad lobes; but we can make nothing of it, unless Dr. Seemann should have some materials.

REMARKS ON THE MODERN TENDENCY TO COMBINE SPECIES.

BY H. F. HANCE, PH.D., ETC.

The extreme tendency shown by some of the most illustrious and experienced of modern botanists to combine closely-allied species, is no doubt to be regarded as a practical protest against the views of such writers as MM. Boreau, Jordan, Schott, and, to some extent, Boissier. But as is usual in such cases, the reaction has been as excessive as the evil which called it into existence; and, as I have elsewhere had occasion to remark, in many instances the reductions are evidently proposed on purely abstract grounds, or mere theoretical notions as to the possible extent of variation, and not from direct observation; in other words, a given plant is assumed to be a form of some allied species, because, in the writer's judgment, that species ought to vary within certain limits. It is not difficult to adduce direct proof of such being the case. The Australian continent, from climate and physical configuration, appears pre-eminently to favour variation. After years' close study of the vegetation of that vast territory, influenced doubtless by daily accumulating examples of the protean forms assumed by common and well-known plants, the excellent and laborious Dr. F. Mueller, in his Plants Indigenous to Victoria,' combined various species of Boronia, Dodonaa, and Tribulus. Mr. Bentham, re-examining the species of these genera in his 'Flora Australiensis,' with the same materials used by Dr. Mueller, not only in many instances is at issue with that author, but even in some cases considers the reduced species more nearly to others than those to which they had been referred. At page 18 of the above work, Dr. Mueller unites without hesitation Hibbertia angustifolia and H. fasciculata; Mr. Bentham, after careful revision of the whole genus, not only keeps them apart, but places them in different subsections. Dr. J. D. Hooker, in his paper on the distribution of Arctic plants, reduces the American Viola blanda, Willd., to V. palustris, L., on which Professor Asa Gray observes (Am.

« PreviousContinue »