Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 9 (1871).djvu/90

 76 SHORT NOtES AND QUEKIES.

colour, from typical F. palUiUflora, gatliered at the same time. In the series occur souie specimens with perfectly white flowers, and others more or less tinged with purple, and the curvature of the pedicels is very vari- able even in the same plant. In any case, the supposed F. Borai from Brightstone differs widely from the plant given as F. Borcei in Billot's ' Exsiccata.' I may add that Dr. Boswell Synie also refers ilr. Stratton's specimens to F. palUdiJlora.

■\F. coiifusa^ Jord. On the shore west of Kyde; hedge at Alverstone; garden of the Vicarage at Carisbrooke; Appuldurcombe! (A. J. Ham- brough). By far the most frequent of the capreolate Fumarice in the island.

■\F. mm'alis, Sond. Hedge near Freshwater Gate, sparingly, June, 1862. The plant gathered here agrees closely with Mr. VVatson's Azo- rean specimens.

Obs. F. m.icrantJia, Lag. Dr. G. K. Tate reports having found a single specimen, which was not preserved, in waste ground near Yarmouth, in 1865. Dr. Bell Salter recorded, I believe inadvertently, F. micraullm as found by himself flowering in January, 1855, near Hyde (Bot. Soc. Edin. Proc. 1855, p. 18). Dr. Bromfiekl speaks of another specimen found by Dr. Salter as either parci/lora or mlcranlha. But I fear this species cannot be accepted as au Isle of Wight plant.

{To he continued.)

��SHORT NOTES AND QUEEIES.

WoLFFiA. IN Blossom. — Mr. Henry Gillman, in the 'American. Naturalist' for January, says, — " I have just found (August 28th, 1870) the JFolffia colnwbiaua, Karsten, flowering abundantly in a pool at Sand- wich, Ontario, on the Detroit river. I discovered this station for it more than a year ago, but hitherto have failed to find the flowers till now. Untold millions of these tiny plants covered the surface of the water, hid- ing it completely, and lying eii viasse at least three-quarters of an inch thick. I found it also (though not fertile) some miles higher up the river, at Connor's Creek, Michigan, but nowhere else along the shores. Though Gray says ' flowers and fruit not seen,' it has, I think, been found once in flower in the Catskills. The delicate white flowers dis- appear soon after taking it from the water, but on placing some next day in my aquarium the little plants at once ' righted themselves,' and the flowers almost instantly reappeared, expanding fresh as ever from the centre of the frond. Last year, in the same pool, it was quite abundant, growing with Lemna minor, L., which was, however, largely in the majority. Now I find the JFolffia has almost taken possession of the pool, driving out the Lemna, which is ' few and far between,' and of a sickly and clegraded type." The European (and British) species, IF. arrhiza, Wimm., has, 1 believe, been seen in flower hitherto only in West Africa by Dr. Welvvitsch, and his specimens were described and figured by Hegelmaier in this Journal, Vol. III. p. 113, and tab. 29. A hint iiere for those with aquaria who try to flower this tiny plant — stint it of water, and expose it to heat. Perhaps growing it on flannel kept constantly wet with warm water, and exposed to the sun, might cause the reproductive energies to overcome the vegetative ones. — Henky Tkimen.

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