Page:Natural History Review (1861).djvu/107

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PHANEROGAMIA.
95

trag zu der Abhandlg. üb. Parthenogenesis bei Pflanzen. 6 plates. 4to. Berlin, 1860. (Berl. Abh., 1859).

——— and C. Bouche.—Index Seminum in Horto Bot. Berolinensi, 1858. Ann. des Sc. Nat. Ser. iv., tom. xii,, p. 380.

Buchenau, F.—Die Sprossverhältnisse von Ulex.—Flora, 1860, p. 449–56.

Bunge, Alex, de—Letter from, to M. Decaisne. Bull. Soc. Bot. de France, tom. vii. p. 29, 30.

This letter is in reply to one addressed to M. Bunge, prior to his departure for Persia, by M. Decaisne, directing his attention to the investigation of original sources of certain economic plants and products, the collecting of seeds, occurrence of Chamærops and the Date Palm in Persia, &c. M. Bunge, in reply states—1. That he was unable to learn anything as to the origin of cereals. 2. The Melon was not indigenous in those parts of Persia which he visited. A Bryonia was the only Cucurbitacea. 3. He did not observe the Horse Chesnut (Æseulus Hippocastanum), either wild or in cultivation. Pinus and Abies were absent. Platanus orientalis was not met with in the wild state. 4. The Persian Lilac, Apricot, and Peach, were not found wild, neither was any species of Lilium, or Quercus mannifera. 5. The date occurred only at Teber—in autumn, laden with fruit—and at Chabbis, in spring, in full flower. The dates were quite ripe at Teber by the end of October. No other palms were met with.
Bureall, Ed.—Laboratoire de Botanique à la Faculté des Sciences de Paris. A Letter to Count Jaubert.—Bull. Soc. Bot. de France, tom. vii., p. 5–8

Caruel, F.—Observations sur la nature et l'origine de la pulpe qui entoure les graines dans certains Fruits.—Ann. Sc. Nat. (Bot.), Ser. iv., tom. xii., p. 72–7.

The author traces the development of pulp in the fruit of various species belonging to the following orders, viz. Cucurbitaceæ, Solanaceæ, Ericaceæ (Arbutus unedo), Capparidaceæ, Aurantiaceæ, Cactaceæ, Aroideæ. In most Cucurbitaceæ the tissue of the recurved parietal placentas interposes itself between the ovules, which it encloses in distinct cavities. With maturation of the fruit, this placentary cellular tissue becomes the pulp of varying consistence, in which the seeds are usually found to be embedded. In Momordica the placental tissue becomes spongy and orange-coloured; the layer surrounding each seed ultimately separates from the rest of the tissue, and forms around it a distinct closed envelope. Similar arilloid sacs envelope the seeds in Trichosanthes anguina, Bryonia verrucosa, and, perhaps, Joliffia Africana (Telfairia pedata, Hk.). In Solanaceæ, after flowering, the folds of the endocarp advance towards the interior of the young fruit, eventually uniting with the placentas; at the same time, being interposed between the seeds, they form for each of them a separate niche. In the Tomato (as also in Arbutus unedo), the expansions of tissue surrounding the seeds are due to prolongations from the placentas. In