Page:Natural History Review (1861).djvu/123

PHANEROGAMIC. Ill This paper embraces observations upon the various forms, both wild and in cultivation, their synonymy, &c, with remarks on the variability of the species. Sciiketzlein, A. — Iconographia Familiarum Naturaliuni Kegni Vege- tabilis. — Heft. xiv. Bonn. This part contains detailed descriptions of about twenty natural orders or sub-orders, in Latin and German, with figures and elabo- rate dissections. The illustrations of the orders are not issued in their natural sequence, but indiscriminately, as the author finds material. Einige merkwiirdige Formen von Ovula bei Monocotylen . — Flora, 1860, pp. 529-32. These remarks apply to the ovules of Astelia Banhsii and Conostylis dealbata. In the former the anatropous ovules are provided with a long, curved funicle, which eventually becomes bent at an angle over the micropyle ; opposite to this point a plait or fold is developed, which covers a considerable portion of the outer side of the ovule. In Co- nostylis, Sehnitzlein finds the ovules to be orthotropous, with two well-marked integuments. The cells of the outer coat are transverse to the axis of the ovule, and give it a wrinkled aspect. It finally assumes a remarkable appearance, from resting upon a bulbous raised base, as though two ovules were superimposed with a constric- tion between them. The thickened funicle or support is shorter than the ovule. Schott, H. G. — Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum. Vindobonae, 1860. 8vo. 602 pages. This work comprises descriptions of 960 species, referred to 107 genera, of which 70 have been proposed by the author himself in his various publications. Schenk, Peof. — Beobachtungen wahrend der Sonnenfinsterniss am 18 Juli, 1860, angestellt in dem botanischen Garten zu "Wurtzburg. — Botanische Zeitung, 1860, pp. 277-8. In plants out of doors an alteration in the position of the leaf was observed in species of Edwardsia, Sophora, Colutea, Caragana, Lu- pinus, Vicia, Oxalis, &c. Several others under glass, chiefly Legu- minosse and Oxalideae, distinctly manifested the phenomena of " sleep." None of the expanded flowers which were observed (JVt'co- tiana, Mirabilis, (Enothera), showed any alteration with the dimi- nished light. Schultz, C. H. (Bipoxt). — TJeber Loricaria thyoides. — Bonplandia viii., Jahrg. pp. 258-60. TJeber die Gattung Ormenis, Cass. — Flora, 1860, pp. 433-4. — The geographical distribution of the several species is given. Soweeby, J. E. — British Wild Flowers : Described, with an Introduc- tion and a Key to the Natural Orders, by C. P. Johnson. 8vo. London, 1860. Senft, De. — Praktische Beobachtungen iiber das Auftreten der Grami- neen im Gebiete der Walder.— Flora, 1860, pp. 305-14, 321-30, 337-45.