ALBERT

Description: Vochysia sectio Ciliantha Stafleu, subsectio Ferrugineae Warming. A V. vismiifolia Spruce ex Warming stipulis incrassatis, foliis lanceolatis longe acuminatis, floribus calcari longo modice incurvo, petalo intermedio stamen aequante, stigmate terminali parvo instructis differt. Holotypus: “coll. unknown” (comm. D. Allen) in U, fl. 14 Nov. 1953. PERU, Nanay River near Iquitos, altitude 100 m., “quillo sisa”, tree more than 100 feet high, on clayey soil about 20 feet above river (Isotypes: US 2104976, Y 47782).

Description: The water economy, the mineral content of the soil, and human influence are the principal ecological factors governing the variation of the heath vegetation of a limited region. Sloping of the surface is also an important factor. In hilly country it is of a twofold nature: on the one hand the difference between high and low altitudes, based on the water economy, on the other hand differences in (micro-) climate. If the hills are higher, this results in greater climatic differences. In extremely oceanic and in boreal regions a rise in altitude of 100 m is sufficient for creating a noticeable decrease in temperature and an increase in precipitation, aerial moisture, and wind force. This results in the occurrence on the hills of heath communities that have their main distribution more to the North. The same observation was made by Gimingham (1961). On Slieve League on the Donegal coast (Ireland) Salix herbacea and Lycopodium selago occur in the heath at an altitude of 600 m, near Tongue on the Scottish north coast Dryas octopetala, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Alchemilla alpina and Thalictrum alpinum at an altitude of 60 m. West of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands are found extensive stretches of heath with abundant Vaccinium myrtillus and V. vitis-idaea at an elevation of 60-80 m, even on south-facing slopes. This is an area with high precipitation due to ascending air west of the hill ridge of the Eastern-Veluwe. Here the Vacciniums, elsewhere requiring the protection of the forest, can tolerate the habitat of the open heath (Stoutjesdijk, 1959; De Smidt, 1966). Higher elevation combined with north-facing slopes creates extreme conditions e.g. on Roc Trévézel (300—360 m) in Brittany, with Vaccinium myrtillus, Melampyrum pratense, Hymenophyllum wilsonii and Rhytidiadelphus loreus. These species are virtually lacking in the surrounding plains where the heath consists of such South Atlantic species as Erica cinerea, E. ciliaris, Ulex gallii, Lobelia urens, Lithospermum prostratum and Symethis planifolia.

Description: From the general discussion of the effect of mass selection on the genotypic array of the next generation we have seen that under certain conditions mass selection can lead to homozygosity, but does not do so necessarily. Outcrossing, mutations and disadvantages of certain genotypes may prevent reaching equilibrium condition with complete homozygosity even in the simplest case of one locus with two alleles. It depends on the magnitude of these factors and the degree of heterozygosity of the variety how close to genetic uniformity we ultimately can come. The advancing of one generation has only a small effect, which becomes less as the frequency of one of the genotypes becomes less. Mass selection can reduce segregation in a variety, but only in ideal situations and only in small steps. Obviously the most effective way to promote genetic uniformity is to begin with non-segregating material obtained through careful inbreeding and within-family selection. Then, if this is available, mass selection is hardly necessary and seed collection should be done so as to prevent a return to a heterozygous condition. When only segregating populations are available, some changes can be expected if the selection intensity is low, but they will not be great and may not be noticed until after several generations. Returning to the original question of the stability of the tobacco variety, the conclusion can be drawn that when large numbers of plants from a field are selected as seedplants the changes in the next generation as a whole will be small, regardless of the selection procedure used. When 10-30 % of all plants are allowed to produce seed we cannot expect important changes. Also, when the environmental variations are as great as in shade tobacco, the possibilities of selecting against certain genotypes for a number of characteristics simultaneously becomes virtually impossible. Concerning whether or not mass selection can lead to improvements in the variety, it was explained that the selection intensity and the heritability of a character determine the selection response. Perhaps this response can be predicted in the case of one character, but it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to forecast the results when many characters are involved at the same time. Reference was also made to a selection index which has been effective in livestock breeding. Even if an index could be determined for shade tobacco, its use is not necessarily effective, as Kempthorne (1957) pointed out. The genotype-environment interaction makes questionable the choice of certain fields over others. Without experiments, such questions cannot be answered. It is likely that mass selection with low selection pressure changes a variety very little. Again, in a field where up to 30 % of the plants are selected for seed, the pressure cannot be very great and we should not expect great changes. Only when a few plants are carefully selected for certain characters should progress become noticeable, as is the experience of single plant selection in plant breeding. We conclude that mass selection for seed and plant breeding to improve a variety should not be confused with each other. Each has its own aims and methods, which are not interchangeable. Where uncertainty exists about seed, progeny tests usually are made to compare a seed with the parent seed. Bolsunov (1959) has described a number of such procedures for tobacco, though the more elaborate of them appear impractical.

Description: A survey is given of the types of the sclereids and the sclereid patterns occurring in the leaves of the Marcgraviaceae. Eight main categories of sclereids are distinguished on the base of the morphology of the sclereids. A comparison is made with the foliar sclereids found in some other families. The systematic value and the function of the sclereids are briefly discussed. Some new combinations of names are published.

Description: Eight species of the genus Sanguisorba L. were studied. Two distinct types could be recognized, viz., the Sanguisorba minor and the Sanguisorba officinalis type. Sanguisorba filiformis (Hooker fil.) Handell-Mazzetti appeared to be a transition between these two types.

Description: The pollen assemblages of a core in the coniferhardwood formation in northwestern Minnesota are compared with the floristics of the recent vegetation in the region. Percentage levels of the main tree components have been compared first with those from recent surface samples taken at the same short distance from various types of upland forests and second with the regional values of the pollen rain in this area (McAndrews 1966). To that end all the data were recalculated on the basis of special pollen sums. The regional diagram of Stevens Pond shows basically the same assemblage zones as established by McAndrews but without the late-glacial Picea-Populus assemblage zone. The pollen in the following Pinus-Pteridium assemblage zone has been interpreted as derived from a pine forest. During the midpostglacial expansion of the prairie eastwards the regional vegetation must have been a Quercus savanna, locally with prairie. Corylus reaches relatively high percentages in this zone. Among the prairie elements especially the occurrence of Lilium philadelphicum may be noted. In the next zone the pollen diagram shows a rise of the curves of mesic elements. In spite of this the comparison with recent surface samples indicates a xerophytic Quercus forest rather than a mesophytic deciduous forest. In the following Pinus assemblage zone pine was present along the margin of Stevens Pond and is therefore overrepresented in the diagram. In the uppermost zone the pollen curves show the effect of logging of the forest about 1900. Pollen of cultivated and introduced plants appear in this zone. Many local pollen types were found, on account of local overrepresentation. This made it possible to compare the local Stevens Pond sequence with the composition of recent lowland vegetation types. The pollen sequence was similar to a large extent to the recent pattern of lake filling, starting with a eutrophic vegetation of Typha latifolia and Salix in the prairie period and leading to a Larix forest and then to a mesotrophic Picea mariana forest, the present edaphic climax on peaty soils. There is a delay, however, in the introduction of acidophilous species, the Larix forest being without Sphagnum and Ericaceae. This is explained by assuming an influence of the vegetation of the surrounding slopes upon the local vegetation. About 1900 the bog forest was destroyed by logging operations and replaced by the present Typha latifolia mat.

Description: Arbor 8 m alta, altitudine pectoris 20 cm diam.; ramuli teretes, glabri. Folia coriacea, glabra, plana, late elliptica vel late obovata, apice obtusa, rotundata vel subacuminata, basi attenuata et in petiolum decurrentia, 9-12 cm longa, 5-7½ cm lata, statu sicco supra viridia, leviter nitida, infra olivacea, opaca, marginibus subrevolutis, integris; costa et nervi primarii utraque facie prominentes, nervi primarii infimi tenues, inconspicui, spatio brevi margine paralleli, ii paris secundi costae paralleli et valde proximi supra basin folii, tum divergentes sub angulo 30°, plus minusve recti inter costam et marginem et 1-1½ cm a margine remoti, nervis primariis paris tertii coniuncta in parte tertia superiore laminae; nervi primarii tenuiores singuli vel plures primariis maioribus intercalati; venae secundariae leves, paucae, ad marginem et apicem laminae arcuatim coniunctae, rete supra occulto, infra minime claro; petiolus 1-2 cm longus, 2 mm crassus. Inflorescentiae axillares, 10-14 cm longae; rhachis glabra; flores geminati; pedicellus communis perbrevis, pedicellus communis cum individuali 4-4½ mm longus, glaber; bracteae minimae, triangulares mox deciduae; alabastra cylindrica, apice clavata, lutea, 8-9 mm longa; lobi perianthii glabri, crassi, apice leviter excavati, 8-9 mm longi, 1 mm lati, anthesi recurvati, pallide flavo virides; filamenta brevissima, lata, parte superiore loborum perianthii affixa; antherae 2.6 mm longae; ovarium brevissime et adpresse fusco-pilosum, 2 mm altum, sensim in stylum protractum; stylus apice leviter clavatus, stigmate terminali; glandulae disci quaternae liberae, crassae, subglobosae, 0.4 mm altae et latae. Fructus ignotus.

Description: Some of the basic concepts common to plant taxonomy, palaeobotany and palynology are discussed such as “taxon”, “taxonomic categories”, “genus and species concepts”, as well as “organ and form genera”. The development of the specifically palaeobotanical and palynological concepts of organ and form genera is briefly treated in the light of the shaping of palaeobotanical thought and methods since Adolphe Brongniart. The need for a single category of an artificial nature (i.e., form genus) is acknowledged; the need for a second category of such nature (i.e., organ genus) is questioned. The general guide lines for good palynological practice given by Faegri et al. (1950) are recommended for future use and are reprinted as an appendix to this paper.

Description: Lolium perenne L. staat in de flora’s opgegeven als zodevormend. In het algemeen is dit stellig juist. Wat echter aan floristen minder bekend zal zijn, naar aan grasland-specialisten eerder, is dat er rassen van L. perenne bestaan die korte, ondergrondse uitlopers vormen. Schrijver dezes was er tenminste nogal verwonderd over van Engels Raaigras, groeiende op de kade van het Noorderhoofd in het westelijk havengedeelte van Amsterdam de “grasbosjes” aan korte uitlopers ontsproten te zien. De vindplaats net resten van veekoeken maakte het waarschijnlijk, dat hier agrarische producten verladen werden en dat de L. perenne-planten van aangevoerd “graszaad” afkomstig zijn. Landtouwliteratuur verschafte spoedig de gewenste inlichtingen. In “Ons Grasland” door W.P. Cnossen (Uitgave P. Noordhoff, 1947) staan op p. 32 uitstekende foto’s van uitlopersvormend Engels Raaigras. Genoemd geschrift bevat op p. 7 een overzicht van verschillende grassen, die boven- en ondergrondse uitlopers kunnen vormen, waarin deze soort ook is opgenonen. Asmus Petersen, “Die Graser” (Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1953) geeft op p. 140 de uitspraak van de graslandexpert C.A. Weber, dat het uitlopersvormende Engels Raaigras voor weidegrasland hij uitstek geschikt is en de teelt ervan aanbeveling verdient. Hoewel niet floristisch, is het misschien aardig er gewag van te maken, dat Cnossen nog wel een bezwaar vermeldt tegen het uitlopersvormende Eng. Raaigras nl., dat de in de nazomer aan uitlopers ontstane spruiten slecht bewortelen en door het vee gemakkelijk worden losgetrokken (plukken); overal over het land liggen dan de grasrestjes verspreid. Er zijn zeker nog wel meer vermeldingen aangaande deze uitlopersvormende rassen van Engels Raaigras te vindon. Voorstaande opgaaf is maar een greep.

Description: Van Polygonum cuspidatum zijn mij de volgende vier standplaatsen op de Veluwezoom tiekend: 1. Bronbos van de Hemelse Berg te om bronnen en langs bronbeekjes, Alno-Ulmion-vegetatie, bodem jong, nitraat- en humusrijk slibhoudend zand, iets zuur, beschaduwd. 2. Oever van het beekje door het Zwijersdal te Oosterbeek, noordelijk van de oude kerk; Polygonum ouspidatum-facies, licht bodem jong, humusrijk zand, zuur. 3. Verdroogde beekbodem, zuidelijk van de weg Arnhem-Dieren, bij Daalhuizen, Velp; fragmentaire Alno-Ulmion-vegetatie met Polygonum cuspidatum-facies, licht bodem jong, humusrijk zand, zuur. 4. Oever van de Beekhuizerbeek ter hoogte van de grote vijver. Beekhuizen hij Velp; Alno-Ulmion-vegetatie, bodem jong, humusrijk zand, zuur. Voor alle vier standplaatsen geldt het volgende: Polygonum cuspidatum wordt tot 2½ meter hoog en bedekt grote, gesloten oppervlakten, waardoor de bestaande vegetaties zeer verarmd worden; alleen Ranunculus ficaria handhaaft zich goed en kan plaatselijk, zoals b.v. op de Hemelse Berg, de gehele bodem bedekken.

Description: In ons land is Galanthus nivalis L. „vrij algemeen, doch steeds verwilderd” (Bekn. Schoolflora, 8e druk). Het blijft daarbij in het midden gelaten van hoe lang geleden zulk een verwildering stamt. In sommige gevallen (De Kaagoevers; de omgeving van Leimuidon) is de situatie ter plaatse van die aard, dat men aan een zeer grijs verleden gaat denken. Het begrip verwildering zou dan nog slechts inhouden, dat de plant oorspronkelijk verwilderd is en in deze zin ware het ook van toepassing op sommige andere soorten, die men als regel niet verwilderd noemt. Werkelijke datering is bij ons weten echter nergens mogelijk en daarmee blijft het probleem onopgelost. Wij willen daarom iets meedelen over een vindplaats ten opzichte waarvan althans een vaag vermoeden van datering kan worden uitgesproken. In het dorp Warmond kan men naar het Westen afslaan langs de Kloosterlaan. Even vóór de plaats waar deze zich in een pad door de weilanden verliest, ligt aan de Zuidzijde van de weg een nagenoeg cirkelvormige akker, omringd door een ongewoon diepe sloot waaromheen een ringvormige met struikgewas bezette strook, die wederom door oen sloot omgeven is. Vlak hierbij stond in do late middeleeuwen het mannenklooster Marienhove. De vorm van do akker wekt overigens meer associaties met een burcht, dan met oen klooster on inderdaad werd het klooster (volgens de .gangbare beschrijvingen der Warmondse kastelen en kloosters) in 1413 gesticht „op een woeste of verlaate plaats, Oud-Tellingen genaamd.” Door sommigen wordt dit geïnterpreteerd als een aanwijzing, dat, nog vroeger, het kasteel of tenminste de „hofstede” Oud-Teilingen hier stond; anderen projecteren de ligging daarvan enige honderden meters zuidelijker.

Description: Op 14 Jan. 1952 vond de heer E.E. van der Voo op een oud bruggetje ten noorden van Woerden, gemeente Kamerik, oen groeiplaats van Asplenium trichomanes. Hiervan werd melding gemaakt in een rapport van do Afd. Natuurbescherming van het Staatsbosbeheer van de hand van de heer J. van der Veer (14 April 1955). Dit rapport kwam ter kennis van Ir. N. Roorda van Eysinga, Directeur van het Zuid-Hollandsch Landschap en deze verzocht de heer Kipp, Bosbouwkundig Ambtenaar van de Prov. Planologische Dienst on mij de groeiplaats te bezoeken en plannen voor te bereiden het gehele bruggetje zo nodig naar elders over te brengen, wanneer dit gevaar liep door de eigenaar afgebroken te zullen worden. Dit gevaar is niet denkbeeldig want de muren staan niet goed recht meer en alle dergelijke bruggetjes in de omgeving zijn in de loop der jaren reeds door meer solide bouwsels vervangen. Bij het bruggetje aangekomen zag ik op 18 Dec. 1956 direkt een 100 tal prachtige planten van de genoemde Asplenium trichomanes tegen het oostmuurtje.

Description: 1. Occurrence.--Lemnaceae may occur in stagnant or sluggish streaming waters, specially in ditches, pools, streamlets, inundated rice-fields, etc. They are also found in all other waters in which larger swamp plants offer anchorage to the tiny Lemnaceae. They can be expected between stands of sedges, grasses, cat’s-tail, etc. or between or under swimming water plants, for example Azolla, Eichhornia, waterlilies, etc. The smallest Lemnaceae, consisting merely of a rootless globule, Wolffia, which is always submerged, is easily escaping attention under other water plants. 2. Collecting.--Lemnaceae are mostly found in sufficient quantity and can easily be collected in a bottle or plastic bag. In case they are sparse and small (Wolffia) the use of a wire—netting (old coffee sieve) may be handy. They are kept wet in the bottle or plastic. If they should be kept for several days or longer they should be stored in an open container with a small amount of earth added; the container should be kept in the shade.

Description: Index to the Enumeration of the Orchidaceae of Sumatra, by J.J. Smith. At the Rijksherbarium there was a handwritten copy compiled by the late Dr. J.J. Smith of his important enumeration of Sumatran Orchids, published in Fedde, Repertorium 32 (1933) 130-386, which was obviously for reasons of economy not printed. The author left a note to the Librarian of the Rijksherbarium saying that it is indispensable for consulting this work, as many orchid names were here reduced to synonymy for the first time. This is now available for orchidologists and libraries in stencilled form in the same format as the Enumeration, with the Library of the Rijksherbarium, Schelpenkade 6, Leyden, Holland.

Description: Field work on the Ceylon Flora. Trimen’s ”Handbook” on the flora of Ceylon, published between 1893-1900, is one of the finest floras ever written of a tropical area. It is a five volume descriptive work that served very adequately for many years. It is now not only out-of-date, but completely unobtainable. The Smithsonian Institution, in cooperation with the University of Ceylon and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, is initiating a project to bring up to date and republish the Trimen ”Handbook” by providing an opportunity for field work in Ceylon.

Description: *Allen, B. Molesworth: Malayan Fruits. An introduction to the cultivated species (with Thai and Tamil names). 1967, 245 pp., 73 fig., 10 photo., 1 tab. 8°. Donald Moore Press Ltd. Singapore. M$ 7.50. A popular guide in a handy well illustrated and wellprinted cheap hook of the most common edible fruits. By the ”quick guide” on the table one can orient himself on the identity; also within the genera there is a key to the species or varieties. Each species is fully described and for the layman a glossary of botanic terms is added, for the housewife a list of recipes.

Description: Bentham, G. & J.D. Hooker, Genera plantarum. Cf. W.T. Stearn on its history and dates of publication in J. Soc. Bibl. Nat. Hist. 3 (1956) 127-132.

Description: 9th Pacific Science Congress, Bangkok. According to the Preliminary Announcement the Congress will take place Nov. 18- —Dec. 9, 1957. Organising chairman is M.C. Lak Kashemsanta, Dep. of Agriculture, Bangkok. Fifteen general subjects have been entered for contributing papers and discussion, viz: (a) Problems confronting tropical botanical institutions, (b) Vegetation types of the Pacific basin, (1) Tropical, (2) Temperate, (c) Ethnobotany of Thailand and contiguous countries, (d) Vernacular names of Pacific plants. (e) Phycology in the Pacific basin. (f) Algal ecology, with special reference to coral reefs and atolls. (g) Bibliographic problems in the natural sciences in the Pacific. (h) The teaching of botany and the training of botanists in the tropics. (i) Systematics, evolution and distribution of Pacific plants, (j) Botany of medical plants in the Pacific basin, (k) Forest botany in the Pacific basin. (l) Botany of agricultural plants and weeds. (m) Plant ecology in the Pacific. (n) Mycology and phytopathology in the Pacific. (o) Plant physiology in the Pacific. Besides, a special symposium on Climate, Vegetation, and Land Utilization in the Humid Tropics, sponsored by Unesco, will be convened by Dr F.R. Fosberg.

Description: The practice of citing collections made in institutional series by the letters of that series instead of by the collector’s name (e.g. FB 23435 instead of Aquilar & Valderrama FB 23435) led, with the publication of so many Identification Lists, to the dishing out of an alphabet soup that many a botanist or curator of collections may find hard to digest. In itself, the system of collecting in long institutional series is an excellent one, permitting great economy in space when collections are to be cited. The oldest series seems to be the KB-one, dating from about 1870, established by Scheffer, followed early in this century by the BS and FB series, established by Merrill. A good number-stamp may have contributed much to the success and consistency with which the series were maintained for a long time. In other institutes, there has been created what Dr. Ashton characterized as ”a masterpiece of confusion”, the unravelling of which, as can be seen from his paper on ”The numbering of Sarawak Forest Department collections” in this Bulleton on pp. 1432-1435 (1966), requires a good deal of research. The purpose of this paper is only to give a list of abbreviations in use between Thailand and the Solomons, for the guidance of those who compile, and those who use Identification lists. These Lists, products of the work for the Flora Malesiana, serve as documentation as well as being of use for the identification of Malesian duplicates not seen by a taxonomist himself. When compiling and using such a list, three questions are to be considered.

Description: On p. 475 it was erroneously mentioned that Miss S. Darnton accompanied Miss W.M.A. Brooke in Sarawak; she rightly collected in North Borneo.

Description: The next monographic study which will be undertaken for the series Pteridophyta of the Flora Malesiana will be devoted to the tree ferns of the Cyatheaceae. In connection with the large size of these plants and the desirability of having more and complete material at our disposal, the following notes are addressed to field collectors who may be in a position to obtain specimens. For securing essential parts tree ferns appear less unmanageable than they may look at first sight.

Description: Since the last Bulletin was published we have to regret the loss of one of the last of the Mohikans of the Treub period of ’s-Lands Plantentuin (Kebun Raya Indonesia) at Buitenzorg (Bogor), namely of Dr. Charles Bernard, born 1876 in Geneva, who died at Amsterdam, 29th July 1967, aged 90. He studied at Geneva, finished his education by getting his degree in 1894, after which he remained for six years assistant to Prof. Dr. R. Chodat under whom he prepared a doctor’s thesis in 1901 (published 1903) on the embryology of some parasitic plants which led him to consider Lathraea as a scrophulariaceous genus.

Description: Abeywickrema, B.A.: The genera of Ceylon Pteridophytes (Ceyl. J. Sc. A. Bot. 13, 1956, 1-30). Keys & descr. – & M.D. Dassanayake: Crenidomonas bilabiatum (Nees & Bl.) Copel., a fern new to Ceylon from Ritigala (Ceyl. J. Sc. A. Bot. 13, 1956, 41-42, t. 2).

Description: Dr P. Vermeulen, Amsterdam, who had obtained the 1955 grant of the Netherlands Buitenzorg Fund went via India, where he spent a month above Darjeeling, to Bogor; he also paid a visit to Queensland, his chief interest being the study of Orchidaceae. In returning he made a trip in Central Sumatra with Dr Meijer; he arrived in Holland end Dec. 1956. Mr L.L. Forman, Kew, who was granted a year leave for work at the herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, made various trips in Indonesia, collecting in W. Java, Bali, North-east Celebes, and joining Dr Kostermans on a forest survey in East Borneo.

Description: My visit to and trips in Taiwan, in 1966, brought me into close contact with the wonderfully rich and varied flora of this large island which is fairly easily accessible if one speaks Chinese or is accompanied by Chinese companions, as was my privilege. As is well known the woody flora of Taiwan is tolerably well known, by the excellent work of Kanehira (1936), followed by the modern works of Prof. Tang-shui Liu (2 vols, 1960-1962) and Prof. Li (1963).

Description: Einige zur Ascomycetenfamilie der Sporormiaceae gehörende, aus dem Erdboden isolierte Pilze werden als Arten der Gattungen Sporormia (Synonym: Sporormiopsis), Preussia (Synonym: Honoratia) und Westerdykella (Synonym: Pycnidiophora) besprochen und mit einander verglichen. Sporormia aemulans var. ostiolata wird neu beschrieben. Einige als Sporormia und Preussia beschriebene Arten werden mit Preussia fleischhakii vereinigt.

Description: Five species of Ganoderma Karsten are discussed, which are confined to the tropics and characterized by the presence of a light-colored context, but which are devoid of the laccate upper surface of the pileus typical of the species of the Ganoderma lucidum-group. Ganoderma neurosporum J. Furtado is proposed as a new species. Three of the five species—Ganoderma amazonense Weir, G. coffeatum (Berk.) J. Furtado, comb, nov., and G. neurosporum J. Furtado—are from the neotropics. Ganoderma lloydii Pat. & Flar. is known only from Africa, and G. asperulatum (Murrill) Bres. has been reported only from the Philippines and Borneo. Regardless of their geographical distribution, the five species under discussion are distinguished particularly by their basidiospore characteristics. In their morphological features they show several characteristics also found in some trocial species of Amauroderma Murrill.

Description: This paper complements the revision which before long will appear in the Flora Malesiana, where a key to all species will be given, and descriptions of the Malesian taxa over their whole area; the few non-Malesian taxa are here described. It accounts for the complete synonymy (147 binomials) and typification, with the literature relating to the regions adjacent to Malesia. An Identification List of all examined specimens was separately issued in the Flora Malesiana Lists, number 27 (1966) 430—442; the Herbaria which supplied the materials are: Arnold Arboretum (A), British Museum, Natural History (BM), Bogor (BO), Brisbane (BRI), Cambridge (CGE), Dehra Dun (DD), Gray Herbarium (GH), Kew (K), Leiden (L), Leningrad (LE), Michigan (MICH), Sydney (NSW), Paris (P), Manila (PNH), Singapore (SING), Utrecht (U), Berkeley (UC), and Washington (US). Thanks are due to the directors of all these institutions.

Description: A complete revision is given of the Indo-Malesian genus Cratoxylum. The subdivision of the genus into 3 sections, as given by Engler (1925) and Corner (1939), has been found correct. The characters by which these sections are discriminated concern the interpetiolar scars on the twig, the type of venation, the occurrence of petal-scales and their shape and size, the shape of the hypogynous scales alternating with the three staminal phalanges, and whether the seeds are surrounded by a wing or are winged on one side only. Each section contains two species. A concise review has been given about the history of the genus, an account of the uses made of it, and the ecology. It appears that almost all species can act as pioneers for which they are fully qualified by their euredaphic requirements and early and abundant seed production. Though some species, notably C. arborescens and C. glaucum, are evergreen, and C. formosum is deciduous, the others are not specifically one or the other way round; in C. maingayi Corner noted that sometimes particular branches shed their leaf. There is no major correlation between leaf-shedding species and seasonal climate regime. A brief summary is given on the morphology, in particular the structure of the inflorescence. Two points have not become entirely clarified, for example, whether all species are always heterodistylous: this should be studied further in the field. Another point is the want of more exact data on the degree in which the ovary is incompletely celled which seems to differ from one species to another, and to compare this with the ovary of the allied Madagascan genus Eliaea (vide infra). C. glaucum excepted all species show a distinct variability. In three species this is grading and no infraspecific taxa can be distinguished in a key on the basis of herbarium material. Within Malesia the variability is more or less of a geographical character and could be classified under clinal variation. This is also the case in C. sumatranum and C. formosum, within which I can distinguish, however, three and two infraspecific taxa respectively, which accordingly have been given racial rank, that is, as subspecies. Within each a still finer distinction might be feasible of subsubraces which mostly coincide with separate islands of Malesia. The closest related genus is the monospecific genus Eliaea Camb. from Madagascar with which it forms a tribe of the Guttiferae. With regard to the exact structure of the ovary claimed to be distinct from that of Cratoxylum a close comparative-morphological study should be made of the ontogeny of the ovary in Eliaea and all species of Cratoxylum. Except from taxa described by Loureiro, Jack, and Blanco, of whose names no types seem to exist, I have for the first time examined type material of all names and checked their detail floral characters which were often not mentioned in the original diagnoses. A listed account of all numbered material on which this study was based will be published in a separate ‘Identification List’.

Description: The populations of the seaward intertidal ends of the 1955 lava flows in Hawaii were studied during the first few years of their development. Different seral phenomena were recognized such as pioneer colonization, succession, disclimax, and subclimax. The term climax is used as a practical term to denote existence of an equilibrium between the populations and the environment. Appearance of the climax situation seems to be related to stability of the substratum for a period at least as long as six to ten years, but even populations on surfaces as old as 100 years are different from some that are on adjacent prehistoric surfaces.

Description: This study considers the 163 species accepted as belonging to the tribe Arundinelleae (Gramineae) and arranges them into a putative cladogram. A discussion of the rationale is presented, 38 characters are studied for advanced versus primitive states, advancement indices calculated, and trends of variation discussed. The six major groups of Phipps (1966b) are maintained. The phylogeny conforms excellently with the geographical aspects of the continental drift hypothesis though it requires a greater age for the Angiosperms than is generally held to be the case.

Description: New details could be derived from the study of fixed male and female flowers of Scyphostegia borneensis Stapf. Of prime importance among these is the exact structure of the female reproductive units. They correspond to what are generally recognized as ovules. These anatropous ovules have a constriction separating funicle and raphe, an aril (loid) of mixed character, a distal integumental extension, and a fivelobed exostome. Their placentation is basal. Together, they are enclosed by an urceolate wall consisting of three-trace units which are apically stigmatic. These sterile units form septs growing downwards between the tips of the ovules, giving rise to locules which are open below. The morphological interest of some of these details was discussed. The embryosack development could be followed. The fruit appeared to be a fleshy capsule. The striking similarity with certain formations in the Monimiaceae is not based on affinity. As to the above characters the alleged affinity with the Flacourtiaceae could not be checked because comparable characters in that family have never been studied. However, there is a correspondence with such details known in the Tamaricaceae. Moreover, in the Tamaricaceae the placentation is intermediate between basal and parietal. This was considered to favour the inclusion of the Scyphostegiaceae in the Parietales. Of all the Parietales families they must be nearest to the Flacourtiaceae, as judged from external characters.

Description: In a recent survey of algal taxonomy published for the use of Danish university students, the author (1962, 1966) has introduced some new taxa and names. A few of them express new systematic opinions, and will be separately accounted for. The majority have been made for formal reasons only, and are established here in accordance with the code of nomenclature.

Description: In a recent paper by Mrs. Gray [J. Arnold Arb. 43 (1962) 74] a new species of Podocarpus was proposed from Morotai, P. filicifolius. Inasmuch as the description of the leaves corresponds exactly with juvenile P. vitiensis (not previously reported from the Moluccas) and the description of the fruit corresponds exactly with P. blumei (whose range includes the Moluccas), it was of interest to confirm whether the fruit in question was attached to the foliage material described. An examination of the specimen ( Kostermans 1949), in Leyden revealed that the fruit was collected separately and that sterile specimens of P. blumei were also collected in the general vicinity ( Kostermans 1660, 50 m). Dr. van Steenis kindly wrote to Dr. Kostermans concerning the particulars of the collection of these specimens. Kostermans writes: ‘Kostermans 1215 of G. Pare-Pare, 1000 m (apparently the same as the unnumbered specimen in Leiden), I picked from a sterile treelet c. 3 m high. There is an unidentified specimen of it in Herb. Bog., which looks to me like P. vitiensis.’ ‘Kostermans 1660 is also sterile. I remember to have cut a large tree in Morotai which fell into a ravine after cutting and remained out of reach; that was a Podocarpus and presumably we have picked some fruits from the ground.’ ‘I quite well remember the collecting of P. vitiensis on top of G. Pare-Pare; almost all of it (?) was sterile, but still I found it necessary to collect samples. P. neriifolius was certainly on this ridge, but no P. blumei.

Description: In the course of a revision of the Malesian genera included by Radlkofer (Pfl. Reich Heft 98, 1932) in the Sapindaceae-Aphanieae and Lepisantheae, attention had to be paid to the genus Phoenicimon Ridl. Ridley described it in the Sapindaceae and expressed its supposed relationships more precisely by giving it the number 7A, between 7 Lepisanthes and 8 Otophora, and by adding the note ‘Apparently most nearly allied to Otophora .... ’ A study of both syntypes of Phoenicimon rubiginosus Ridl., the only species, and of some more specimens revealed its true identity as a species of Glycosmis in the Rutaceae. This identification was confirmed by Dr. C. G. G. J. van Steenis and by Dr. R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink.

Description: These fascicles, the first part of a moss flora of Fennoscandia, comprise five (acrocarpous) orders of the Eubryales. All species and a number of forms and varieties have been included. There are clear dichotomous keys to genera and species. Of each species the original literature, the most familiar synonyms, an excellent description with critical remarks on the differences between allied species and original drawings have been given. Ecology and general distribution have been indicated, with special reference to Scandinavia. In addition there is a glossary of technical terms, which is nearly identical to that in Dixon’s famous Student’s Handbook of British Mosses, though less extensive. Nevertheless it may be doubted whether this book actually fills a need in Scandinavian bryology. It is not suited for “workers in all fields of botany, forestry, limnology, etc.”, as the author suggests, since keys to the families are lacking. Besides, there is the excellent moss flora of Brotherus, Die Laubmoose Fennoscandias, not mentioned in this connection in the preface.

Description: Dr. McClure’s studies on the bamboos date from a period of service in China, at first as an Agricultural Explorer, since 1931 as a Professor of Botany at Lingnan University in Canton. On field trips in the Chinese interior and in Indo-China he collected numerous living bamboos, which were transplanted and studied in the to-day still intact Lingnan Bamboo Garden he had early established. After in 1941 the war had forced him to leave China, he studied living bamboos in the West Indies, Central and South America, and after the war in India, East Pakistan, Java, and Luzon. Being particularly interested not only in morphology, but also in taxonomy, he revised the bamboo collections of several herbaria in the United States and Europe. Proof of his comprehensive knowledge thus acquired is given in his book, which indeed brings the economically important and scientifically interesting, but for various reasons much neglected bamboos into fresh perspective. Students both in pure and applied botany will find here a wealth of information, based on the author’s personal experience as well as on his familiarity with the pertinent literature.

Description: A description is given of the arrangement cf the mafic and ultramafic rocks within the metamorphic complex in Galicia (NW Spain), followed by a brief petrographic description of some frequently found metamorphic types. Differences in metamorphic state and field relations lead to the conclusion, that mafic rocks have been emplaced in this complex in at least three distinct periods and that the two later phases are perhaps due to a process of remobilisation of mafic metamorphic rocks.

Description: Several recent papers have described ecological differences between sympatric species of Anolis in the Greater Antilles (RUIBAL 1961, COLLETTE 1961, RAND 1962, 1964, 1966). A three day visit to Curaçao in September, 1962, provided an opportunity to make field observations on a species of Anolis that occurs with no congeners. These observations suggest that it occupies a microhabitat somewhat broader than most of the Antillean species. This trip was undertaken with the financial support of National Science Foundation Grant No. 16066. Specimens collected were deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

Description: The Lesser Antilles consist of those West Indian islands which extend from the Anegada Passage in the north to Grenada in the south.¹) These islands are nomenclatorially divided into two major groups: 1) The Leeward Islands, including Sombrero, Anguilla, St. Martin, St.-Barthélemy [= St. Barts], Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Christopher [= St. Kitts], Nevis, Redonda, Montserrat, Barbuda, and Antigua, and 2) the Windward Islands, including Guadeloupe (with its satellites Marie-Galante, La Désirade, Les Saintes), Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, and Barbados. Geologically, the Lesser Antilles can be divided into two major groups: 1) those which are mountainous – the so-called inner-chain islands – which are younger and more recently volcanic (Saba to Grenada, and including the western or Basse-Terre portion of Guadeloupe, and Les Saintes), and 2) the older, gently rolling limestone islands – the so-called outer-chain islands (Sombrero to Marie-Galante, and including the Grande-Terre portion of Guadeloupe, La Desirade, and Barbados). The northern Leeward Islands may be additionally grouped according to the banks on which they lie: the Anguilla Bank (incl. Anguilla, St. Martin and St.-Barthélemy), the St. Christopher Bank (incl. St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis), and the Antigua Bank (incl. Antigua and Barbuda). The Lesser Antilles extend for about 750 kilometers in a northwest to southeast direction on a slightly bowed arc. The mountainous inner-chain islands are generally very mesic, with the windward (eastern) coast wet and the leeward (western) coast dry; the latter lies in the rain shadow of the central mountains. This brief ecological statement is greatly oversimplified, since on some islands there are dry sections on the windward side (the Presqu‘île de la Caravelle on Martinique is a notable example) and occasional sections of the leeward coast are better watered than is customary (the central western coast of Dominica and the western coast of Montserrat are examples). The central mountains vary in maximum elevation from 1975 feet (602 m) in St. Eustatius to 4813 feet (1456 m) in Guadeloupe; Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique, in that order, have the three highest peaks in the Lesser Antilles.

Description: After our studies about the marine mollusks of St. Martin, (COOMANS 1963a, 1963b), this publication will deal with the land and freshwater shells of the island. The non-marine mollusks of St. Martin were already fairly well known at the end of the last century (MAZÉ 1890, p. 22—34), who mentioned 36 species, mainly collected by H. E. VAN RIJGERSMA. VERNHOUT (1914) compiled from the literature the land and freshwater mollusks of the Netherlands Antilles, and he listed 37 species from St. Martin (not including 12 brackish water species). VERNHOUT’S list was entirely copied by SCHEPMAN (1915). Many specific names have changed since 1914, and more collecting was done on St. Martin during the last decades. This publication will cover all the species of non-marine mollusks known to us from the literature, from museum collections, and from our own collecting on St. Martin. One new subspecies of Adamsiella crenulata is described and figured here.

Description: The runoff in the Valle de Arán, which is a steep and high mountain basin in the Pyrenees, consists essentially of baseflow, and fast runoff is only a minor phenomenon. The baseflow is related to areas of scree and forest, and the percentage of the precipitation which contributes to the fast runoff, is related to the area of barren rocks. The orographic precipitation pattern has been statistically determined for eight valleys. It was found, that orographic precipitation increases linearly with altitude, while the maximum increase occurs perpendicular to the slopes of the steep mountain ranges. The expected errors, due to measurements of rainfall at 1.50 m above ground level, showed as a 10—15 percent error in the water balance. The Penman evaporation values were corrected for snow evaporation and they subsequently gave reliable results.

Description: In the present study the primary fluorescence phenomena of fossil pollen and spores are described. This new method in palynology is based on a large number of fluorescence microscopical observations and spectrophotometrical determinations of palynomorphs from deposits of various type and age. It resulted in three principles: the relationship between fluorescence colour to type or form of pollen and spores (Plate I and figs. 21—22), the change in their fluorescence colour from blue or green to red or brown with increasing geological age (Plate II, III and fig. 24) and a similar colour change with increasing rank of coal of the embedding deposits (fig. 33). These phenomena appear to be in accordance with other fossilization and coalification studies of fossil palynomorphs by various authors. For the preparation of pollen samples and the microscopical determination of fluorescence colours some special techniques have been adapted or developed. The discoveries of fluorescence palynology can be applied to various questions, as, for instance, the study of pollen morphology and corrosion susceptibility and the age determination of those deposits, for which conventional pollen analysis fails. Such datings of Cenozoic rocks can be carried out with an accuracy of more than 80 %. As an example a number of age determinations of contaminated sediments is given (Plate V). Besides, fluorescence palynology may be used to determine the rank of coal of palynomorphs in coalified rocks in that part of the coalification series, ranging up to a fixed carbon content of about 70 %. The explanation of the fluorescence phenomena described, meets still great difficulties, due to the inadequate knowledge of the chemical nature of the walls of fossil pollen and spores. Once again it is proved by this study that fossil palynomorphs are less resistant to fossilization and coalification than has been previously assumed.

Description: This excursion program anticipates the publication of a PhD. thesis (Vogel, in preparation) in this periodical and is intended as a guide to those points at Cabo Ortegal, that are readily accessible, well exposed and of general petrological interest. The described localities are indicated on a small map (fig. 1 ) and can also be found on the 1 : 25,000 topographical maps edited by the Cartografía Militar de España: sheet 1 (quadrants I, Cabo Ortegal; II, Ortigueira and III, Pontigás) and sheet 7 (quadrants I, Feria and IV, Cedeira) or on the 1 : 50,000 topographical maps edited by the Instituto Geográfico y Catastral, Madrid: sheets 1 (Ortigueira) and 7 (Cedeira). The author is grateful to Prof. Dr. E. den Tex for reading and correcting the text. EXCURSION I, duration 2 or 5 h.; to be made preferably on Sunday. Start before Bar Bahia, Cariño.

Description: 1. Se acuerda constituir el ”Grupo de Geólogos del N.W. de la Peninsula Ibérica” cuyo objetivo será facilitar e intensificar las investigaciones geológicas de la zona N.W. peninsular. 2. Los grupos fundadores son los siguientes: Dr. I. Parga-Pondal — Laboratorio Geológico de Lage. Prof. Dr. C. Teixeira — Museu e Laboratorio Geológico, Universidade de Lisboa. Prof. Dr. L. C. Garcia de Figuerola — Instituto Geológico de la Universidad de Oviedo. Prof. Dr. E. den Tex — Geologisch en Mineralogisch Instituut van de Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. Geol. Sr. R. Capdevila — Service de Geologie Générale, Université de Montpellier. Geol. Sr. Ph. Matte — Laboratoire de Geologie Structurale, Université de Montpellier. Geol. Sr. A. Ferragne — Laboratoire de Geologie, Université de Bordeaux. Geol. Sr. P. M. Anthonioz — Laboratoire de Geologie, Université de Poitiers. A los cuales podrán agregarse otros que se interesen por estos estudios.

Description: A short review of the literature on the stratigraphy of the Devonian and the Lower Carboniferous of the Cantabrian Mountains precedes the report of the author's stratigraphic and palaeontologic observations in León: the Río Esla area (Gedinnian to Viséan), the central Cantabrian area (Famennian to Viséan), and the Gildar-Montó area (Eifelian to Viséan); in Asturias: the coastal area (Frasnian to Viséan); in Palencia: the Arauz-Polentinos area (Gedinnian to Givetian), the Carda\u0148o-Triollo area (Eifelian to Viséan), and the San Martín-Valsurvio area (Givetian and Famennian to Viséan); and in Santander: the Liébana area (Eifelian to Viséan). Most of the conodont faunas, which were extracted from calcareous formations, could be arranged in the zonal succession established in Germany, and thus supplied new data about several formations in the Cantabrian Mountains. The presence of the transgressive Ermita Formation in Asturias and Palencia is demonstrated. The age of this unit ranges maximally from uppermost Famennian to lowermost Tournaisian. The Carda\u0148o Formation ranges from middle or upper Givetian to upper Frasnian. The Vidrieros Formation ranges from the upper part of the lower Famennian to the lowermost Tournaisian. A synthesis of the stratigraphic data delimits the Palentine facies area, which is clearly separated from the Asturo-Leonese facies area by positive areas. The following palaeogeographic units are distinguished: the Asturo-Leonese Basin, the Palentine Basin, and the Asturian Geanticline. The development of these units from the Middle Devonian to the Lower Carboniferous is demonstrated by eight facies-pattern maps. The sedimentation on the Asturian Geanticline was limited and probably incomplete. An epeirogenetic uplift of this geanticline took place in late Frasnian to early Famennian times. This uplift is correlated with the deposition of the quartzitic Murcia Formation in the sheltered Palentine Basin. The uplifted area was covered by the Ermita transgression in the late Famennian to early Tournaisian. After a break in the sedimentation, a local transgression resulted in the Vegamian Formation in the upper Tournaisian. In most of the area the Alba transgression began in the uppermost Tournaisian or lower Viséan. In the Palentine Basin the deposition of the Alba Formation started in the upper Viséan. The chapter on systematics deals mainly with the most important zonal guide forms of the conodonts. Three new elements are described: Icriodus eslaensis n.sp. from the middle to upper Givetian, Siphonodella? n.sp. a, probably from the upper Tournaisian, and n.gen. A n.sp. a, a simple compound conodont from the upper Gedinnian or lower Siegenian.

Description: The northern part of the contact aureole of the biotite-granite of Quérigut contains limestones and dolomites, which have been metamorphosed over a distance of about 100 to 150 metres. Further, a wide innermost border zone of the igneous body is characterized by the development of some hornblende and the occurrence of many dark inclusions, as well as aplitic and porphyritic dikes. A narrow outermost border zone of the granite is conspicuous by a much larger proportion of hornblende and accessories, the development of clinopyroxene in the immediate vicinity of the contact, and finally by a heterogeneous texture. Scarce localities where comparatively fresh granite is in direct contact with the dolomitic country rock, revealed the presence of a narrow zone of silicate skarn, developed exactly at the junction. Adjoining the skarn, the granite of the outermost border zone shows a very narrow and highly modified border facies over a distance of a few mm. to 5 cm., the so-called transition zone. Three types of this zone are distinguished: a prehnite-rich type, a clinozoisite- and zoisite-rich type and a grossularbearing one. Though the contact is very irregular, the zone of the silicate skarns follows all its curves and is remarkably constant in width (4—7 cm.). The adjoining country rock being almost pure dolomitic marble, the zone of the silicate skarns has apparently been formed by extensive metasomatism over a very limited distance. Within the skarn zone itself, a zonal structure is also apparent, with six different mineral assemblages, the spinel-xanthophyllite zone being the most conspicuous. Since the skarn consists mainly of a diopsidic clinopyroxene, it is broadly speaking a silicated dolomite. According to the mineralogical composition of the different zones, however, a certain amount of iron and aluminium has also been introduced by diffusion from the adjacent granitic magma, the proportion of both elements diminishing towards the marble. Among the various earlier and later minerals observed in the skarns, a thulite-like clinozoisite, amesite and diaspore may also be mentioned. Alternating layers of pure and impure limestones and dolomites, making up the bulk of the country rock, have been subjected to thermal metamorphism and partly also to pneumatolytic action. The pure limestones and dolomites were recrystallized to pure marbles. Impure limestones were transformed into calcite marbles with varying proportion of contact minerals, such as clinozoisite-epidote, prehnite, diopside, grossular, idocrase and wollastonite. Pure and impure quartzitic layers and lenses intercalated between the earlier limestones are now calc-silicate hornfelses, composed mainly of the minerals just mentioned. The impure dolomites were converted into dolomitic marbles with magnesium-rich minerals such as forsterite, phlogopite and spinel, while pneumatolytic action superimposed on the thermal metamorphism partly transformed the forsterite into clinohumite. Besides these four widespread minerals, chondrodite, humite and fluoborite have been found locally. Some of the spinels display two different colours within the same crystal. All steps in the progressive alteration of spinel into hydrotalcite are visible. Of the more than sixty minerals encountered in the rocks of the contact aureole and the border zone of the granite (listed on p. 255), six are probably new for France, viz. amesite, fluoborite, hydrotalcite, manasseite, xanthophyllite and a thulite-like clinozoisite. The alteration phenomena of some of the earlier minerals are of special interest and we may mention here that of spinel into diaspore, hydrotalcite and two types of amesite; of xanthophyllite into a. o. amesite, prehnite and clinozoisite; and finally of biotite into a. o. pumpellyite and garnet. Comparative studies of rocks from several other areas revealed similar alteration phenomena. The secondary garnet of a peculiar, flat, lenticular shape is probably of hydrothermal origin and appears to be a quite common mineral which has apparently hitherto been confused with other minerals such as zoisite. Finally, two new localities of clintonite have been found, one in Spain (Serranía de Ronda) and the other in the U.S.A. (Franklin).

Description: It is a well-known fact that vegetation can be classified on the basis of quite different criteria; e.g. by physiognomy, structure, dynamic processes, floristical composition, and even – a scientifically less satisfying way – by habitat. It is not the aim of this study to give a critical review of these starting-points. The author’s purpose is to consider the Braun-Blanquet system of vegetation classification, which is a system claiming to be based on floristical composition, and to analyse how far, in reality, structural criteria are involved in it. This article does not consider whether Braun-Blanquet syntaxonomy is the only valuable or even the best one. In fact it is, however, the most widely used and uniform system of vegetation classification, enabling us to compare plant communities over an area as large as (e.g.) Europe, and, therefore, also presenting a basis for such items as geographical comparison of habitats, vegetation mapping of large areas, or the analysis of geographical differences in the autecological behaviour of taxa. It may thus be useful to see whether the higher units of this inductive system correspond to the units of the more or less deductive formation systems of the world, based on physiognomy and structure.

Description: In the present paper, the third in this series, the chromosome numbers of 46 species of Angiospermae occurring in the Netherlands, are listed. A comparison of our results with data derived from literature revealed the fact that these species show cytological differentiation in their distribution area.

Description: On the frontier of the municipalities “Melick en Herkenbosch” and “Vlodrop” near the road from Herkenbosch to boundery-mark 376, in the site named “Koezoep”, in the province of Limburg, Netherlands, is a peat swamp, known as the “Turfkoele”. From the geological map (no. 58, fourth part sheet 4) it appears that the peat under the swamp has been formed on a deposit of river sand. This deposit has come from the Roer and lays on the middle terrace of this river and of the Meuse.

Description: Both paleomagnetism and palynology may furnish useful diagnostic facts for recognizing long-distance movements of the earth’s crust. With respect to the relative positions of North America and Eurasia, paleomagnetic and palynological data contribute evidence in support of the theory of continental drift. However, the conclusions based on paleomagnetic measurements sometimes disagree with palynological observations. Paleomagnetic data obtained in northeastern Italy, southern France and northern Spain differ considerably from those from Mesc-Europe. In recent geotectonical considerations this has been attributed to the so-called Tethys twist having effected a post-Carboniferous westward displacement of the structural units of Italy, southern France and Spain. Palynology, however, reveals a highly uniform geological history of both Meso-Europe and a part of Alpine Europe during Permian and Triassic times. Biostratigraphical correlations between the two realms are possible by studying the palynological assemblages obtained from Permian and Triassic evaporites or associated sediments. Contemporaneous, short periods of evaporite deposition in both Meso-Europe and the Mediterranean region are suggested by the striking uniformities in Lower Mesophytic vegetations as reflected by sporae dispersae. There is every indication that there was a comparable evolution in the physiographical and climatological conditions which opposes the hypothesis of a mobile Tethys belt during Permian and Triassic times.

Description: Three important plant communities were studied on the salt marsh “the Beschplaat” on the Westfriesian island of Terschelling: the Centaurieto-Saginetum moniliformis D., S. et W. 1940, the Sagineto maritimae-Cochlearietum danicae Tx. et G. 1957 and the Juncetum gerardii W. 1906 (Table 1). The boundary lines of these associations are determined by soil moisture, salinity and density of vegetation. Five bare field plots were prepared in the transition zone. The establishment of species was followed during one year. For most species the original pattern was rapidly restored with some exceptions e.g. Centaurium vulgare Rafn (Table 3). Lifecycle and distribution pattern of Centaurium vulgare were more exactly investigated on one field plot (Table 4). Competition, density of adult plants, density of seedlings and soil moisture appeared to de dependent on each other in this sequence.

Description: This paper, the fourth in this series, presents some new data on chromosome numbers of the Loganiaceae. 6 species will be treated, of which five had not been investigated cytologically before.

Description: An investigation was made of wood samples from some browncoal quarries in the southwestern part of the Rhenish browncoal district. The results that were obtained are compared with those of palynological studies on material from the same quarries. Possibilities of correlating the data from the two kinds of studies are discussed.

Description: A description is given of the history of the development of palynology in The Netherlands. This development is traced from the appearance in 1777-1779 of the book Katechismus der Natuur by J. F. Martinet, through the increased interest, begun in the 1920’s with the appearance of a thesis by Miss B. Polak on the investigation of peat bogs in the western Netherlands, to the culmination with the establishment of palynological divisions in several universities and other institutions in The Netherlands.

Description: The Loganiaceae is a heterogeneous, eurypalynous family with colpate, colporate or porate pollen grains (Erdtman 1952). Some years ago Dr. Leeuwenberg, specialist in the taxonomy of African Loganiaceae, asked the senior author to undertake an investigation of the pollen grains of that family. Unfortunately that was impossible at the time because of other commitments. Later, however, a possibility presented itself for carrying out the investigation in connection with a sojourn at the Palynological Laboratory at Solna. I am much indebted to Professor Erdtman for the invitation to work at this Laboratory, for his approval of the subject, and for many discussions on pollen morphology. I am also much indebted to Dr.Leeuwenberg, Wageningen, and Dr. Leenhouts, Leiden for interesting, carefully determined plant material and for kind advice in taxonomic problems. I also want to express my thanks to all those in the Solna Laboratory, who kindly helped me in various ways during my visit. My work was supported by a grant from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to the Palynological Laboratory.

Description: In deze oecologische studie wordt een beschrijving en analyse gegeven van het milieu van de plantensoort Centaurium vulgare Rafn (Duizendguldenkruid). Voorzover mogelijk wordt aangetoond hoe de verspreiding en de wijze van voorkomen van deze plantensoort bepaald worden door de milieufactoren. Het onderzoek is gebaseerd op gegevens verzameld in het veld, vooral in de duinen en op de kwelders van het eiland Terschelling. Centraal in het onderzoek stond het object Centaurium vulgare, waarvan verschillende facetten besproken worden zoals de nomenclatuur, de morphologie, de levensloop, de variabiliteit en het areaal. De volgende belangrijke punten uit deze bespreking kunnen genoemd worden: De levenscyclus van Centaurium vulgare duurt twee jaren. Naast de rechtopstaande typische planten komen in Nederland twee andere vormen voor, die opnieuw beschreven worden als: var. iberoides (Jonker) Freijsen stat.nov. en var. latifolium (Marsson) Freijsen nov.comb. De eerste variëteit wordt gekenmerkt door een liggende-opstijgende habitus, de tweede door bredere (roze-)bladeren. Enige verschilpunten in de oecologie van de onderscheiden vormen van Centaurium vulgare worden behandeld. Het areaal van Centaurium vulgare valt uiteen in twee gedeelten. Allereerst komt de soort voor langs de kusten van NW. Europa en verder verspreid in continentaal Europa. Het plantengezelschap van Centaurium vulgare staat bekend als de ass. Centaurieto-Saginetum moniliformis D., S. et W. 1940. Het bleek nodig te zijn deze associatie een nieuwe samenstelling te geven. In principe is het gezelschap steeds opgebouwd uit drie groepen van plantensoorten nl. enkele karakteristieke constante soorten die optimaal ontwikkeld zijn binnen vegetaties van het gezelschap bijv. Centaurium vulgare, een groep van droogteminnende soorten die gewoonlijk hoger en droger voorkomen en tenslotte een groep van vochtminnende (soms ook zoutminnende) planten waarvoor het tegendeel geldt. Anders gezegd, vegetaties van Centaurium vulgare komen steeds voor in het overgangsgebied van droge duintop naar natte duinvallei of in soortgelijke situaties. Een van de gevolgen hiervan is, dat de associatie moeilijk te classificeren is in de bestaande hogere eenheden van het systeem van plantengezelschappen. Afgezien van het gezelschap in zijn typische constellatie wordt een „zoute” subassociatie: subass. van Sagina maritima Freijsen subass.nov. op kwelders aangetroffen. Tenslotte, een onderscheiding van droge en natte varianten binnen het plantengezelschap is mogelijk. Over de eerste levensphasen van de plant werden waarnemingen en tellingen uitgevoerd op veldjes van beperkte omvang. Ofschoon het zaad van Centaurium vulgare reeds in september rijp is en verspreid wordt, vindt de kieming eerst in de daarop volgende lente plaats. Ontkieming van het zaad treedt pas op wanneer de temperatuur bepaalde niveaus bereikt heeft, zoals die in mei buiten voorkomen. Belangrijk bij de kieming zijn de vochtomstandigheden van het milieu. Het vochtgehalte van de bodem bepaalt, waar ontkieming mogelijk is, hoeveel zaden per eenheid van oppervlak zullen ontkiemen en hoelang ontkieming mogelijk is. Het grondwater speelt een overheersende rol in het milieu van Centaurium vulgare. De plant komt slechts voor op plaatsen met een hoge grondwaterstand: maximale zomerdiepte 100 cm en maximale diepte tijdens ontkieming 55 cm. Dit laatste hangt samen met de capillaire opstijging van het grondwater in duinbodems, die hoger bleek te zijn dan meestal verondersteld wordt in de literatuur (max. 55 cm). Slechts daar vindt ontkieming plaats, waar de oppervlakte tijdens de kieming bevochtigd wordt door opstijgend capillair water. Tengevolge van de invloed van de diepte van het grondwater en van het bodemvocht enerzijds op de dichtheid van de ontkiemende zaden anderzijds kan men uiteindelijk in populaties van volwassen planten van Centaurium vulgare op duinhellingen steeds een zonale opbouw onderscheiden. Bovenaan een subzone van wijduiteenstaande grote planten, in het midden een dichte begroeiing van kleinere planten en onderaan een subzone van kleine verspreide exemplaren. Een verder gevolg van de rol van het grondwater is, dat jaarlijkse schommelingen in de grondwaterstand tot uiting komen in schommelingen in de hoogte van de bovengrens van de zone van Centaurium vulgare en in wisselingen in de samenstelling van de vegetaties. Voor een nader inzicht in de vochtomstandigheden werd gedurende een geheel seizoen op een aantal uiteenlopende standplaatsen van Centaurium vulgare in de allerbovenste bodemlaag van 0-1 cm en in de daarop aansluitende laag van 1-20 cm het watergehalte bepaald. In het typische bodemmilieu van Centaurium vulgare kan direct na de kiemtijd, nl. in de tweede helft van mei sterke oppervlakkige uitdroging plaats vinden. Elke onderscheiden standplaats van Centaurium vulgare bezit een eigen vochtniveau en wordt gekenmerkt door specifieke wisselingen van het vochtgehalte van de bodem. Op lagere niveaus in het duinlandschap is een overmaat aan water beperkend voor het voorkomen van Centaurium vulgare. In het bodemvocht uit het milieu van Centaurium vulgare is steeds een (geringe) hoeveelheid zout (NaCl) aanwezig, waardoor men per definitie dit bodemwater als brak en Centaurium vulgare als zoutplant moet beschouwen. Deze voorkeur van Centaurium vulgare voor zoute bodems blijkt ook uit het areaal dat immers bestaat uit een verspreidingsgebied langs de zeekusten en uit zoutgebieden in het binnenland. Een aantal andere bodemfactoren in het milieu van Centaurium vulgare zijn geanalyseerd. Ofschoon de plant als een pionier van jonge zandige duinbodems beschouwd wordt, treedt zij eerst op, nadat de bodemoppervlakte enigszins is vastgelegd door wieren. Deze bodems bevatten altijd enige vrije koolzure kalk en zijn daardoor neutraal tot alkalisch. Zij zijn daarnaast bijzonder arm aan voedingselementen.

Description: The genus Symphytum contains about 25 species (Bucknall, 1913). In the Netherlands it is represented by one indigenous species, S. officinale L.; two others, S. asperum Lepech. and S. bulbosum Schimp., have been introduced but have not become established. S. officinale is a variable species. Keener (1863) described a segregate, S. uliginosum, which was reduced to subspecific rank by Nyman (1878): S. officinale L. ssp. uliginosum (Kern.) Nym. The differences between subspecies officinale and uliginosum are: in ssp. officinale the stems and leaves are more or less densely hispid, in ssp. uliginosum they are provided with small white deciduous prickles with tubercular base. Furthermore in the first-mentioned ssp. the upper stem-leaves are entirely decurrent but in the last named they are not or partially decurrent. There is also a difference in the colour of the flowers: white, yellowish, or dark purple in ssp. officinale, and red-purple or violet in ssp. uliginosum.

Description: Single vegetation plots in forests and bogs in the deciduous and coniferoushardwood formation in northwestern Minnesota were studied according to the field methods of the Zürich-Montpellier system. Plots and species were arranged so that the greatest coincidence of occurrences was obtained. Species that show approximately similar amplitudes were united in sociological groups. Plant communities typified by these groups were placed in a hierarchy. The plant communities appear to intergrade but are not completely continuous. Definite concentrations of occurrences remain present in the ordination. Fourteen main types of vegetation are recognized. Their relations to the environment are discussed, and their relations to vegetation in other regions are indicated. Thirteen main types of vegetation (alliances) are recognized in the Itasca State Park region. Lowland vegetation has been divided into five alliances. In three of them the pathway of lake filling, starting in a eutrophic sedge mat and proceeding towards a mesotropic Picea mariana bog forest, is depicted. The two remaining lowland types represent eutrophic swamp forest of Fraxinus nigra and Ulmus americana on shallow peat or young alluvial soils. Upland forests have been divided into three “rich” deciduous types and five “poor” coniferous types. The rich types are represented by Tilia americana forests, Acer saccharum forests, Quercus rubra forests, and Populus tremuloides-Quercus sp. forests, all showing representatives of the rich flora of the mesic Tilia-Acer forest. The coniferous forest types are represented by Populus tremuloides-Quercus sp. forests and closely related Pinus resinosa-Pinus banksiana forests, Pinus banksiana forests on sandy outwash soils, and Abies balsamea forests in a young stage of development. Of these types the Pinus banksiana forest is floristically the best defined.

Description: Herba parva delicata subcaespitosa repens, caule pergracili sat conferte piloso, pilis erectis; foliis alternis vel supremis oppositis elliptico-obovatis, apice rotundatis, basi acutis vel subobtusis, supra crispo-pubescentibus subtus glabris vel dissite pubescentibus ciliolatis palmatim 3-5-nerviis; petiolo pergracili; spicis terminalibus axillaribusve gracillimis; drupa obliquo-ovoidea, apice obliqua, stigmate subapicali. A very small, delicate, subcespitose, herbaceous plant, the stems scarcely 1 mm. in diameter when dry, pilose with spreading hairs, commonly densely so in young growth, branching, the sterile branches comparatively short and stolon-like, the fruiting branches ascending 3-5 cm. Leaves alternate, or the uppermost appearing opposite, the blades elliptic-obovate, the apex rounded, the base acute or obtusish, up to 7 mm. wide and 10 mm. long, but mostly about 3-4 X 5-7 mm., the upper surface crisp-pilose, the lower surface glabrous, or occasional leaves pilose, the margin ciliate, palmately 3- or 5-nerved, the nerves with very slender cross-connecting-anastomosing nervules as viewed by transmitted light, drying membranous and translucent, the blades with a pair of longitudinal brown stripes above and pale green beneath when growing; petiole filiform, mostly 3-5 mm. long, sparsely pilose glabrescent, flattened above and laterally ridged by the decurrent blade margins. Spikes terminal or axillary, very slender, closely flowered, up to 1.5 (or more?) cm. long, the peduncle 5-8 mm. long, thinly pilose glabrescent, the bracts round-peltate, the margin uneven or irregular. Fruit obliquely ovoid with oblique apex and subapical stigma.

Description: In 1956 vonden wij op Let vuilverwerkingsterrein der gemeente Leeuwarden onder Wartena (zie Corr. bl. no. 1, p. 5) opnieuw een vrij groot aantal adventieven. Hieronder volgt een lijst van de planten, die werden aangetroffen. Niet weer opgenomen zijn de soorten, die reeds in 1955 werden gevonden.

Description: Trifolium ornithopodioides L. Bij het doorzien van het Nederlandse materiaal van Medicago falcata L. bleek ons, dat zich in het herbarium van de K.N.B.V. onder deze naam een exemplaar bevond van Trifolium ornithopodioides L., gevonden op Terschelling, bij Midsland, verzameld door J. B. Tijm, en door hem opgezonden aan Heukels, Helaas ontbreekt de datum, maar vermoedelijk is de plant in een der eerste decenniën van deze eeuw verzameld. Het zou zeker de moeite waard zijn bij Midsland zorgvuldig te zoeken of deze interessante soort er nu nog voorkomt. Petroselinum segetum L. Deze soort was tot voor kort alleen bekend van de in 1937 ontdekte vindplaats tij Kadzand in Westelijk Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. De heer P. Vandevyvere te Brugge had het geluk haar in het voorjaar van 1956 op de dijk van de Zwarte Polder, gemeente Nieuwvliet, te vinden. Op zijn aanwijzingen bezocht de heer A. de Visser in 1957 eveneens deze plek en verzamelde fraai materiaal, dat zich thans in het Rijksherharium bevindt.

Description: In 1951 was er voor het eerst sprake van een Caricetum vulpinae in een publicatie van Tüxen en Preising (Erfahrungsgrundlagen für die pflanzensoziologische Kartierung des wostdeutschen Grünlandes, Angew. Pflanzensoz. 4, p.5-28). Van de gemeenschap werd slechts medegedeeld: 1. hij behoort tot het Magnocaricion-verbond, 2. de kensoorten zijn Carex vulpina en Oenanthe fistulosa, 3. differentiërende soorten t.o.v. de andere Magnocaricion-associaties zijn Agrostis canina var. genuina, Alopecurus geniculatus en Ranunculus repens. In 1954 verscheen van Tüxen: Pflanzengesellschaften und Grundwasser-Ganglinien (Angew. Pflanzensoz. 8, p. 64-98). Hierin komt een opname van de gemeenschap voor. Deze vertoont een soortencombinatie, die enerzijds inderdaad aan het Magnocaricion doet denken, anderzijds verwantschap heeft met die van de Rumex crispus-Alopecurus geniculatus-ass. (syn.: Ranunculus repens-Alopecurus geniculatus-ass.). Het is een gemeenschap, die kennelijk door maaien in stand gehouden wordt. Volgens de schrijver behoort de opname tot de subass. van Phalaris arundinacea en de variant van Alopecurus pratensis. Over andere subassociaties, varianten en hun verschillen worden we in het onzekere gelaten. Wel blijkt, dat de associatie typisch is voor de stroomdalen van de grote rivieren in N.-Duitsland. De grondwaterstand wisselt sterk, op de plaats van de opname van -134 tot +l3l cm. Ogenschijnlijk, volgens Tüxen, heeft de associatie de minst natte standplaatsen van alle Magnocaricion-associaties.

Description: De in Nederland als enig bekende groeiplaats van Filipendula vulgaris Moench (F. hexapetala Gilib.) nabij het Sanatorium “Zonlichtheide” te Gennep, is enkele jaren geleden ten offer gevallen aan de zandwinning, die daar in de Maasuiterwaard heeft plaatsgevonden. Onze vreugde was dan ook groot toen wij bij een, overigens vergeefse, speurtocht naar Serratula tinctoria achter het bos van “Zonlichtheide” een flink aantal van deze reeds uit onze flora geschrapte soort mochten terugvinden.

Description: In het Correspondentieblad no. 2 wordt door Prof. De Jongh melding gemaakt van een waarschijnlijk zeer oude vindplaats van Galanthus nivalis L. bij Warmond. De schrijver besluit zijn artikel met de opmerking, dat wellicht ook elders in ons land groeiplaatsen van Galanthus in betrekking getracht kunnen worden met vroegere bewoning, die op een goed te dateren tijdstip een einde nam, terwijl de latere geschiedenis van het terrein eveneens bekend is. Een diergelijk geval doet zich – hoewel uit een minder ver, maar daardoor ook minder grijs verleden daterend – waarschijnlijk voor in de Kijfhoek, een vrij grote duinvallei in het wingebied van de Duinwaterleiding van ’s-Gravenhage, enige honderden meters ten n.o. van de meer bekende vallei Meyendel gelegen. Tegenwoordig is het grootste deel van de Kijfhoek bedekt door berkenbos en weinig wijst erop, dat in deze vallei in de vorige eeuw arbeiderswoningen gestaan hebben. Een archiefonderzoek wees echter uit, dat tijdens de ontginning van de vallei Meyendel ook in de Kijfhoek twee huisjes gebouwd werden, het eerste in 1832, het tweede enkele jaren later. Aan de hand van een oude kadastrale kaart kon de plaats van de beide woningen in het terrein opgespoord worden. Potscherven en stukjes baksteen, een oud houtwalletje, een nog terug te vinden omgrenzing van een vroegere tuin herinneren aan de bebouwing van weleer. Bovendien werden enige exemplaren van Galanthus nivalis aangetroffen, juist naast de plek, waar de meest zuidelijke van de beide woningen gestaan moet hebben.

Description: De tongvaron, Phyllitis scolopondrium (L.) Newn. heeft voor de oorlog jaren lang in behoorlijk aantal gegroeid aan een slootkant langs een weg van Serooskerke naar Vrouwenpolder op Walcheren. Na de inundatie met zeewater tengevolge van de oorlogshandelingen in 1944 was de plant verdwenen. Voorzover ik weet, kwam de tongvaren toen in Zeeland niet meer voor. In 1953 vond ik een plant op een muur van een schuur in de buitenwijken van Zierikzee, die echter in door de strenge vorst gedood werd. Eind maart van dit Jaar bezocht ik een bloemenkwekerij aan de Seisweg te Middelburg en in een stookkas ontdekte ik onder een z.g. tablet een tiental planten van Phyllitis scolopendrium. Dat was nu wel aardig, doch gekweekte planten hebben weinig waarde voor een florist bij de bestudering van de wilde plantengroei in zijn gebied. Mijn belangstelling groeide echter, toen de kweker verklaarde de planten niet te hebben gekweekt, ze niet eerder te hebben opgemerkt en zelfs de naam niet te kennen. Dan zouden deze planten dus spontaan uit sporen zijn ontstaan en derhalve toch ongeveer als wild kunnen worden aangemerkt, zij het ook, dat zij daarvoor op een wel wat vreemde plaats groeiden. Het geval leek mij voldoende interessant om in het Correspondentieblad te worden vermeld.

Description: Of adventieve planten minder, evenveel of zelfs wellicht meer belangstelling verdienen dan indigene is een onderwerp waarover even lang en doelloos gesproken kan worden als over de vraag of het technisch toegankelijk worden van kern-energie de mensheid overwegend gevaar don wel nut zal opleveren. Indien echter een adventieve plant stand hordt en, tijdelijk of zelfs blijvend, deel gaat uitmaken van de flora van een bepaalde streek, dan pleegt de belangstelling onverdeeld te zijn. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn wel door ieder van ons te geven. Op het oude Pothoofd te Deventer stonden (en staan wellicht nog?) exemplaren van een kennelijk winterhard geworden Sisymbrium wolgense Bieb., terwijl op, enige kilometers afstand dezelfde soort adventief pleegt voor te komen in de omgeving van de huidige meelfabriek. Toen in 1933 Parentucellia viscosa L., voor het eerst na ruim een halve eeuw en dan nog wel op een drietal plaatsen, in ons land werd teruggezien, was het wel overeenkomstig de verwachting, dat zij te Amsterdam en Oploo weer snel zou verdwijnen, doch niet, dat zij in de Wieringermeer in grote hoeveelheid zou standhouden. Elk onzer zal vermoedelijk, uit eigen ervaring puttende, even treffende gevallen kunnen aanhalen. Recent is het volgende:

Description: Gaan we thans over tot de akkeronkruiden en ruderale planten, voorkomende op plaatsen, waar het plantendek veelvuldig wordt gestoord en waar adventieven moer gelegenheid krijgen zich te vestigen. Hierbij zijn er een aantal meer algemene, die hij ons in het D.D. niet of niet geregeld aanwezig zijn, b.v. Cardaminopsis arenosa (L.) Hayek, Berteroa incana (L.) DC. (in de laatste 60 jaar vooral langs de spoorwegen, in 1956 zag ik de soort veel bij Leer en Weener), Lepidium draba L. (sedert 1872 algemeen), Sazifraga granulata L. (wordt algemener; vroeger bij Groningen en Haren, maar in de laatste tijd niet meer gevonden), Rudbeckia laciniata L., Artemisia campestris L. (breidt zich sedert 1900 uit), Stachys arvensis L. (plaatselijk algemeen), Lilium bulbiferum L. (in korenakkers nog niet verdwenen), Helictotrichon pubescens (Huds.) Pilger (op vele plaatsen). Ledum groenlandicum Oed., uit Amerika, heeft tot 1930 een 4 ha grote groeiplaats in het Boertanger veen gehad. Cotula coronopifolia L. (op vele plaatsen in de oevervegetatie, waarschijnlijk uit Zd. Afrika), Mimulus guttatus DC. (op vele plaatsen, Weener, Bunde). Daarentegen zijn er ook, die bij ons in het D.D. wel voorkomen en niet of weinig in 0. Friesland, b.v. Spilobium hirsutum L., Bidens frondosus L. en B. connatus Mühlenb. (worden althans niet vermeld), Convolvulus arvensis L. (op zeer weinig plaatsen), Datura stramonium L., Veronica persica Poir. (nog zeer verspreid), V. peregrina L. (alleen sedert 1935 bij Weener), Een bespreking van meer vluchtige adventieven is niet wel doenlijk in kort bestek. De vraag dient gesteld te worden, in hoeverre de belangrijke rivieren Eems, Hunte en Weser invoerwegen zijn, waarlangs bijzondere planton zich hebben gevestigd. Dit is in elk geval in veel mindere mate het geval dan bij de Rijn en de Elbe, vermoedelijk omdat do drie genoemde rivieren niet zover uit het achterland komen, niet zoveel materiaal afzetten en niet zoveel oppervlakte periodiek van plantengroei ontbloten. Het oerstroomdal van de Eems heeft een moerasveonachtig karakter, maar een plant als Dianthus deltoides L. moet daarin toch wel als een fluviatiel beschouwd worden. Door de scheepvaart uit het Roergebied en door de noord-zuidspoorweg schijnt in de laatste Jaren de aanvoer van adventieven toegenomen te vooral bij Leer en ook bij Emden zijn in do laatste tijd talrijke adventieven aangetroffen. Eemsadventieven, die min of meer blijvende groeiplaatsen hebben, zijns Chenopodium-soorten, Amaranthus-soorten, Ranunculus bulbosus L., Euphorbia seguieriana Neek., Aster salignus Willd., Inula britannica L. (tot ver in het Hafdistrict, ook bij Roodeschool in N. Groningen gevonden), Pulicaria dysenterica (L.) Bernh., P. vulgaris Gaertn., Picris hieracioides L., Cirsium oleraceum (L.) Scop., Scabiosa columbaria L., Galeopsis ladanum L. ssp. angustifolia (Enrh.) Gaud., Salvia verticillata L., Lathyrus tuberosus L., Veronica spicata L. Enige bijzondere Weser-adventieven zijns Rumex aquaticus L. (ook Hunte), Euphorbia palustris L., Senecio vernalis W. et K., Angelica archangelica L., Scutellaria hastifolia L., Mentha pulegium L., Koeleria pyramidata (Lamk.) Domin. Aan de monding van de Weser is Fritillaria meleagris L. verspreid, een plant, die ook bij de stad Groningen en in N. Groningen bij Den Andel (in het Hafdistrict) optreedt. Bij Bremen worden talrijke adventieven gevonden (zie VON WEIHE 1951).

Description: Goodyera repens (L.) R.Br. op Ameland. Naar aanleiding van de mededeling van dr. S.J. van Ooststroom, Dennenorchis op de Waddeneilanden (D.L.N. p.12) het volgende. Toen ik in 1952 van M.T. Jansen hoorde van zijn vondst van Goodyera op Ameland, herinnerde ik mij een paar exemplaren van deze soort, die ik vond in het herbarium van het Friesch Natuurhistorisch Museum te Leeuwarden. Deze planten waren op Ameland verzameld als Epipactis palustris. Ik vermeldde toen op het etiket do juiste naam met de opmerking: deugt do vindplaats wel? Dit laatste in verband mot het feit, dat mij gebleken was, dat de etiketten van dit herbarium voor een groot deel volkomen onbetrouwbaar zijn. On deze reden besteedde ik dan ook geen nadere aandacht aan deze planten.

Description: Op 6 Juni van dit jaar bezochten wij, in gezelschap van H.J.W. Schimmel en H. Over en op aanwijzing van J. Entrop te Leerdam, de verlaten zand- en kleigroeve, die tussen Asperen en Acquoi is gelegen, vlak tegen de noordelijke dijk van de Linge. Entrop had ons het ondiep en onregelmatig afgegraven terrein beschreven als een wildernis van riet en wilgen met o.m. een massale groei van Epipactis Palustris. Gezien de elders in dergelijke terreinen opgedane ervaring was er een redelijke kans, dat er ook Equisetum variegatum zou voorkomen. Deze verwachting werd zelfs overtroffen. De paardestaart die wij er vonden en op het eerste gezicht voor deze soort versleten bleek hij een nadere beschouwing alleen maar Equisetum trachyodon A.Br. te kunnen zijn!

Description: In het dal van de Heelsumse heek komen in het water en op de oever van de bij de Wodanseiken ontspringende hoofdbeek onder invloed van de bijzondere eigenschappen van het bronwater (constante temperatuur en hoog zuurstofgehalte) een aantal floristische zeldzaamheden voor, welke waard zijn vermeld te worden. Op de ondiepe plaatsen van do beek en op de oevers groeien b.v. het in deze streken vrij zeldzame mos Brachythecium rivulare, het fraaie rode epifytje Mitrula paludosa en de zeer forse en ruige Galium palustre ssp. elongatum f. maximum, welke tot een meter hoog kan worden (volgens Hegi een zuid-oostelijk ras van Galium palustre; waarschijnlijk een vorm met een vierdubbel aantal chromosomen: 2n=96).

Description: Verschenen is afl. 4 van de Flora Neerlandica, bevattende de Cyperaceae (excl. Carex), door Th. J. Reichgelt. Deze aflevering is verkrijgbaar bij de Bibliothecaris van het Rijksherbariun, Nonnensteeg 1, Leiden. Prijs voor leden van de Kon. Ned. Botanische Vereniging f.3,60, voor niet-leden Verkrijgbaar aan het zelfde adres zijn verders Afl. 1. Pteridophyta en Gynnospermae, voor leden f,3,75, voor niet-leden f.6,5O. Afl. 2. Gramineae, voor leden voor niet-leden f.26.-. Afl. 3. Cyperaceae (Carex), voor leden f.9.-, voor niet-leden f.15.-.

Description: In Corr.bl. no.1, p.11 (december 1956) vroegen wij on opgaven van vindplaatsen; liefst met zo nauwkeurig mogelijke gegevens betreffende de standplaats van enige soorten, die hier te lande min of meer ingeburgerd zijn, en wel van Impatiens glandulifera Royle, Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. en Rudbeckia laciniata L. Over de eerste twee soorten ontvingen wij vrij veel gegevens, over de laatste slechts een enkele. Wij willen nu aan de hand van de ontvangen opgaven, gecombineerd met de ons reeds uit herbarium en literatuur bekende gegevens samenvatten? wat ons nu over de bovengenoemde soorten bekend is. Allen, die ons opgaven zonden, danken wij hierbij voor hun moeite; wij zijn echter overtuigd, dat er een vollediger beeld ontstaan zou zijn, als nog meer abonné’s de moeite genomen zouden hebben, ons van hun bevindingen op de hoogte te stellen.

Description: Bryophyta. It was communicated by Prof. R. van der Wijk, Groningen, that the preparation of a first part of this series is in an advanced state. Pteridophyta. Mr Alston finished the revision of Isoetaceae and is engaged on the revision of Schizaeaceae. Prof. Holttum has practically finished his revision of Gleicheniaceae. These revisions together are expected to comprise the first part of this series. Mr A.G.L. Adelbert is at the Rijksherbarium working on a thesis for Prof. Lam on the genus Lycopodium.

Description: Recently a cover and an Index have been distributed belonging to numbers 9-12, so that these can be bound into a second volume. The Foundation suffered a great loss by the passing away of the trustee, Dr E.D. Merrill, Febr. 25, 1956, Dr Merrill took a great interest in promoting the work and we will dearly miss his advice, his help, and the privilege of having access to the colossal store of his knowledge of the Malaysian flora. As a trustee of the Foundation he has been replaced by Mr E.J.H. Corner, F.R.S., Cambridge.

Description: In 1909 Mimosa invisa was found first in Malesia by Dr. G. Roepke, then attached to the Central Experiment Station at Salatiga, Central Java, who spotted this American weed introduced on Mt Lawu. He used it for groundcover in some estates and since that time it became very popular and common, up to c. 600 m over Java. It shows a vigorous growth forming dense thickets at the expense of other plants which are suffocated and suppressed. In areas subject to a strong dry season it is limited to moist depressions and streambanks, under everwet climatic conditions it is found in abundance in the same moist places but also in dryland localities (1). It is also very common in Sumatra and it was especiallyutilized in the tobacco fields in Deli as a groundcover (and green manure) at the suggestion of the late Dr. de Bussy because of two reasons: Its vigorous mono-dominant growth and the fact that it is resistant against bacterial slime disease with which so many Indonesian soils are infected made it a most desirable acquisition, because during the fallow period of the Deli tobacco fields it prohibited the multiplication of Bacterium solanacearum on various other Solanums and other plants susceptible to this.

Description: A note on lampro- and skeletocystidia and the introduction of the new term ‘gloeoplerous hyphae’ for the hyphal system that often produces the gloeocystidia in the hymenium is followed by a historical survey of the generic names proposed for resupinate and effused polypores (the so-called porias) and by an enumeration of these names and their type species together with a key to these species as far as they occur in Europe. Emended descriptions are given for Chaetoporellus Bond. & S., Chaetoporus P. Karst., and Schizopora Velen., while the name Perenniporia Murrill is re-introduced for the group of Poria medulla-panis sensu Pers., the species now often taken as type of the name Poria Pers. per S. F. Gray. It is proposed that this last-mentioned name be retained for the as yet unclassified porias. Amyloporia Bond. & S. is discussed. Some remarks are made on a redefined genus Oxyporus; it is treated as distinct from Rigidoporus. The bulk of the paper is made up of discussions on individual species, in alphabetical order. A recapitulation briefly reviews many conclusions about specific names. Poria romellii Donk and Sistotrema eluctor Donk are new species introduced to replace Poria byssina Romell and Poria onusta (P. Karst.) Sacc. of modern authors. New combinations are made with Chaetoporus (1), Cristella (1), Schizopora (1), Perenniporia (2) and Rigidoporus (1).

Description: In zahlreichen Arbeiten dienten Algen als Objekte für das Studium von Regenerationsvorgängen und Erscheinungen der Polarität. Dagegen ist — von Chara abgesehen — über das normale Wachstum, den zeitlichen Ablauf von Teilung und Streckung der Zellen und die Entstehungsgeschichte des typischen Thallus nur wenig bekannt. Für solche Untersuchungen bietet sich die Kultur von Algen im Laboratorium an. Formen von einfachem Aufbau sind hervorragend geeignet, um Wachstumsvorgänge in ihrer Abhängigkeit von den sie beeinflussenden Faktoren zu erforschen. Das interkalare Wachstum wurde an der monosiphonen, mehrkernigen Urospora wormskioldii studiert (Kornmann 1966). Die Entstehung eines verzweigten monosiphonen Thallus aus einer vielkernigen Apikalzelle konnte an dem Beispiel von Acrosiphonia verfolgt werden (1965). Spongomorpha aeruginosa ist äusserlich gleichartig aufgebaut, hat aber einkernige Zellen und stellt damit das einfachste Muster eines solchen Thallus dar.

Description: Tapeinidium is the second largest of the Lindsaeoid fern genera. In the present study 17 species are distinguished. Until Tapeinidium was recognized as a genus its species were included in Microlepia, where it was originally described as an infrageneric division, or in Davallia. Fée (1852), then Diels (1902), treated it as a genus, but under the incorrectly interpreted name Wibelia Bernhardi, which is actually a synonym of Davallia (see Copeland, 1947). The species described so far have mainly been distinguished by their leaf architecture, especially the degree of dissection; see, e.g., van Alderwerelt van Rosenburgh (1909). In my opinion this is at best one of several useful characters. At least equally important is the structure of the petiole and the other axes of the lamina, a character diat proved to be very valuable for diagnostic purposes in the neotropical Lindsaea species (Kramer, 1957a) but is much less serviceable in the paleotropical ones. In some cases the rhizome scales are also distinctive. These characters have been grossly neglected in the past, and the species distinguished by most authors are generally far too widely circumscribed. Diels (l.c.), for example, listed three species at a time when more than twice as many were known. Accordingly there proved to be a surprisingly large number of undescribed species, viz. 8 out of the 17 recognized here, some of them represented by numerous specimens in many herbaria and collected long ago but never recognized, e.g., T. novoguineense and T. melanesicum. This contrasts sharply with the situation in Lindsaea in the same region where the number of new species is comparatively very small and relatively many more species have to be placed in synonymy.

Description: Sous le nom de Neevea repens, Batters (1900) décrivit une petite Algue rouge microscopique et endozoïque récoltée par J. T. Neeve à Deal (Kent). Cette Algue vivait dans un Bryozoaire ( (Flustra foliacea) formant, associée à 1’ Erythropeltis discigera Schmitz var. flustrae Batt., de petites taches roses à peine perceptibles. Batters considéra cette algue comme le représentant d’un genre nouveau qu’il rapprocha d’une part des Goniotrichum et d’autre part des Erythropeltis. S’il ressemble au premier par sa reproduction, qui se manifeste par la libération de cellules isolées hors de l’enveloppe gélatineuse du thalle, il en diffère par sa morphologie et sa situation endozoïque. La disposition des cellules en disque très irrégulier éloigne également le genre Neevea des Erythropeltis.

Description: The present paper comprises supplementary notes on Ganua, based on material which has come to our knowledge after the last contribution on the genus had been published. In the following text the previous papers have been referred to as follows: Van den Assem 1953 = Rev. Sap. IV. Ganua in Blumea 7 (2), 1953, 364—400. Van den Assem & Kostermans 1954 = Rev. Sap. IVa. Ganua (Add. Notes) in Blumea 7 (3), 1954, 481—483.

Description: Xantolis Raf., Sylv. Tell., 1838, 36 — Planchonella Pierre, p.p., Not. bot. Sapot., 1890, 34; Dubard, Ann. Mus. col. Mars. 20, 1912, 41; Lam, Ann. Jard. bot. Bzg, sér. 3, 7, 1925, 193; Lam, l.c., sér. 3, 8, 1927, 467 — Sideroxylon L., p.p., Engler, Nat. Pfl. Fam. 4, 1, 1897, 143 and Nachtrag, 1897, 27 — Hormogyne DC, p.p., Prodr. 8, 1844, 176 — Pouteria Aublet sensu Baehni, p.p., Candollea 9, 1942. Trees or shrubs, often spiny. Leaves alternate, estipulate, sometimes with the flowers conferted at the tips of brachyblasts, entire, with a marginal nerve, tertiary nervation transverse or reticulate, sparse, slender. Flowers ♂♀, 5-merous, solitary or clustered, axillary or sometimes along an axillary shoot, bracts small. Calyx with a short tube and mostly lanceolate lobes, marcescent. Corolla lobes longer than the tube. Stamens generally inserted at the base of the lobes, each with two small tufts of ferruginous hairs on either side of the base of the glabrous filaments, rarely only one hair, anthers sagittate, with prolonged connective, dehiscing extrorsely or slightly lateral. Staminodes petaloid, often long aristate, fimbriate-ciliate along the margin, except in X. racemosa (Dub.) van Royen and X. siamensis (Fletcher) van Royen in which the margin is either dentate or entire. Ovary 5-, rarely 4-celled, densely hirsute, disk absent; style long exsert, ovules inserted halfway up or at the base of the cells, funiculus often long. Fruits drupaceous, 1- or 2-seeded, seeds ellipsoid, laterally compressed, testa crustaceous, scar ovate or linear, as long as seed to 2/3 its length, or small and circular, basal, embryo with copious albumen and foliaceous cotyledons, radicle exserted.

Description: In the Flora Malesiana area recent authors have distinguished the following genera in the Lindsaea group of ferns: Isoloma J. Smith, Lindsaea Dryander (often misspelled “Lindsaya”; see Copeland 1947, p. 53, and Kramer 1957a, p. 156), Odontosoria Fee, Protolindsaya Copeland, Schizoloma Gaudichaud (or Schizolegnia Alston), Sphenomeris Maxon, Tapeinidium (Presl) C. Christensen, and Xyropteris Kramer. In my account of the American species (Kramer 1957a) I included the Asiatic genus Schizolepton Fee in the Lindsaea group, on Copeland’s authority, without sufficiently looking into the matter. Holttum (1958) has shown since that its affinities are with Syngramma and has subsequently (1960) combined it with Taenitis, although Pichi-Sermolli (1966) denies any close affinity of the two last-named genera. As stated before (Kramer 1957a, 1967) I am convinced that Schizoloma cannot be maintained as a distinct genus and prefer to treat it as a section of Lindsaea. With regard to Isoloma I have reached the same conclusion, as explained below. Odontosoria sensu stricto does not occur in Asia. Xyropteris is still monotypical, as originally described (Kramer 1957b), and Tapeinidium, including Protolindsaya, as correctly stated by Christensen (1934), forms the subject of a separate paper (Kramer 1968). The notes in the present paper can thus be restricted to Lindsaea and Sphenomeris.

Description: Although the Indonesian Archipelago is phycologically rather well-known, information about the freshwater algae in New Guinea is very scanty. There are only a few papers, e.g. by Bernard (1910) and Cholnoky (1963), but these give only a glimpse of the phycocoenoses of the New Guinea lakes, especially those of the high mountains. Many of these lakes have been mentioned in travel books, and some seem to be promising localities for freshwater algae. The biogeographical relations between Malesian and Australian regions have been much discussed. A number of biogeographers have attempted to unravel the complex of transition in this part of the world. Phytogeographers often accept the Torres Strait as a boundary between the Malesian and the Australian floras. This is only true in a general statistical way; the flora of the dry savannahs of the southern lowland shows a great similarity to that of northern Australia, while the high-mountain flora shows distinct affinities with both the northern temperate Asiatic flora and the temperate South Pacific flora. Zoogeographers, however, include New Guinea mostly in the Australian region because of the existence of a land-bridge between Australia and New Guinea during past geological epochs (see fig. 11—5, in Knight, 1965). In this connection the character and relations of the freshwater algal flora of New Guinea is of some interest. It has been shown by Scott & Prescott (1958) that the freshwater algal flora of northern Australia is closely related to that of the Indo-Malayan region.

Description: Joséphine Th. Koster entered her service at the Rijksherbarium as an assistant, April 1930, in the midst of the economic crisis. She was engaged as an, unsalaried collaborator, the then current type of position the Netherlands’ State could offer its scientific offspring. When Prof. Dr. H. J. Lam, freshly appointed Director in August 1933, ordered her to start work each morning as early as the salaried staff-members, she resigned from her unremunerative post by 31 Dec. 1933. She then continued, as a guest of the Rijksherbarium, her investigations on the Compositae of the Dutch East Indies, and in 1935 she took her doctor’s degree on the thesis ‘The Compositae of the Malay Archipelago’ at Leyden University. Her promotor was Prof. Lam. In the end the unfavourable labour-market of that time appeared to have favourable consequences for algology; for Miss Koster, she once confessed to me, had a great ambition to teach biology in secondary schools!

Description: In the eyes of most aquarists plants have merely a decorative function in the aquarium. Several aquarists, however, have made the plants the subject of their special interest, and it is for these people that Professor De Wit actually wrote his book. In order to make it easier for them he has not followed the usual systematic arrangement of the species but has arranged the species according to their habit. The following growthforms are dealt with successively: 1. Plants freely floating on the surface; 2. Submerged but freely floating plants; 3. Rooting plants with rosettes of filiform, linear, or ribbon-shaped leaves; 4. Plants with leaf-rosettes on the bottom; 5. Rooting plants with floating leaves; 6. Plants with creeping stems and erect leaves; and 7. Plants with erect leaf-bearing stems. There are, however, many species that can be classified in more than one of these vague categories, e.g. Elisma natans, Potamogeton octandrus, many species of Sagittaria and Echinodorus, and all Ceratophyllum species. Two species, Wolffiella floridana and Riccia fluitans, are erroneously classified as plants floating on the surface; they are submerged pleustophytes.

Description: The term ‘brackish water’ is used in several senses and, therefore, I want at first to explain what I consider to be brackish water and what not. Redeke (1933) defined brackish water as a mixture of fresh water and sea water sensu stricto. This definition excludes the continental salt waters which have a different origin. There exist, however, salt waters which have lost long ago their contact with the sea and have now a chemical composition completely aberrant from sea water, due to the joint effect of continual inflow of new electrolytes with river water, evaporation, and precipitation. As examples the Caspian and the Aral Sea may be mentioned. Other investigators prefer to include on grounds of hydrological and hydrochemical similarities also the continental salt waters which at no time in their history have been in contact with the sea, e.g. the Great Salt Lake in Utah, U.S.A. They regard as brackish all salt waters which have a lower salinity than the sea. According to Schmitz (1959) the differences between the continental and marine salt waters are only of a relative value as both categories have the following four hydrological characters in common: 1. The total salinity is generally between that of fresh and sea water. 2. The waters show often salinity stratification. 3. Horizontal differences in salinity occur e.g. where a river discharges in a salt lake. 4. Large seasonal fluctuations in salinity occur.

Description: In the present study only those species of the genus Pouteria have been incorporated which are found in the area covered by the Flora Malesiana, as well as those of Australia and western Polynesia. The results of this study could not have been obtained without the kind help of the Directors of the herbaria of Berkeley, Brisbane, Bogor, Florence, Jamaica Plain, Kew, Lae, Leiden, London, Manila, Melbourne, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Zürich to whom we express our most sincere thanks.

Description: Herba terrestris infirma ca. 7—13 cm alta, iolio profunde cordato margine subtilissime crenulato, bracteis late ovatis acutis ovario sub-aequilongis, sepalo dorsali attenuatim lineari, sepalis lateralibus petalisque filiformibus, labello latissime rhombico glabro, in fauce callo compresso-linguiformi acuto praedito, ad columnam appendice ventrali acuto-mucronato aliformi. Distinctus ab omnibus speciebus notis Acianthi callo compresso-linguiformi et columna alata. Typus: R. Schodde and L. Craven 3889, South rim of Lake Loloru crater, Bougainville Island, 23-8-1964; holotypus: CANB.

Description: This is the second and concluding part of a report on the birds of the Netherlands Antilles, the first part dealt with the birds of St. Martin, Saba, and St. Eustatius (Studies fauna Curaçao Car. Is. 6, no. 25, 1955, p. 1-82). The present part will give a full account of the birds of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. Accompanied by my wife I stayed in these islands from September 22, 1951 until April 19, 1952, only interrupted by a week’s visit to Venezuela and the period between February 1 and March 14, 1952, when we were working in St. Martin, Saba, and St. Eustatius. Our collection of birds from Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire comprizes 986 specimens, representing 103 species, all of which have been deposited in the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam. Although part of the collection has been prepared in the field by my wife and me, a not unimportant number of collected birds was kept in the freezing rooms of the Abattoir of the Veterinary Service in Curaçao (Parera) and Aruba (Oranjestad), from where it was shipped to Holland under deep-freezing temperatures and subsequently prepared by the taxidermists of the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam. For most valuable help in this matter of preserving our specimens, which considerably facilitated our work in the field, we are greatly indebted to Mr. J. W. M. Diemont, Director, Mr. B. A. Bitter, and other employees of the Veterinary Service of the Netherlands Antilles.

Description: The zoological collections made by the 1948—1949 Surinam Expedition contain about 200 mammals, brought together by the zoologists Dr. D. C. GEIJSKES and Mr. P. H. CREUTZBERG. Though the collection consists mainly of species which had already been reported from Dutch Guiana, it is of considerable value, in the first place on account of the detailed data concerning the localities, biotopes, and biology, and secondly because not only the skins and skulls of the collected specimens have been preserved but as a rule also their complete skeletons. The present paper ¹) deals with the Primates; the other groups of mammals will be treated in subsequent publications. Thanks are due to Dr. D. C. GEIJSKES, who is responsible for the notes on the biology of the species. The skeletons of the material dealt with here have recently been studied in the Leiden Museum by Mr. G. E. ERIKSON of Harvard Medical School, Boston, who intends to publish the results of his investigation in the near future.

Description: The mineralizations of Fe, Cu, Li, Sn, W in W. Galicia are discussed. Sulphidic mineralization of Fe and Cu is exemplified by a description of the mine of Fornás (SE. of Santiago de Compostela). Field and laboratory data (including geothermometry of the phases of the Fe-Zn-S system) suggest that the deposit has been subjected to regional metamorphism of amphibolite facies grade. Li-bearing pegmatites (with spodumene, petalite, montebrasite, beryl, cassiterite, columbite and alteration products) are locally rather common in the area. It is argued that they have intruded as masses of silicate melt along faults. Cassiterite and wolframite are found in quartz veins with pockets of alcaline feldspar, suggesting a genetic relationship with the pegmatitic rocks. The mineralized dykes and veins are related to the hercynian two-mica granites. In Portugal similar mineralizations are considered to be connected with post-tectonic biotite granites. Alternative explanations of this apparent discrepancy are given. A primera vista la mineralización en Galicia no parece muy complicada. Se presentan dos tipos principales relacionados especialmente con dos unidades petrológicas: 1) los yacimientos de sulfuros de hierro y cobre asociados con el complejo máfico (el lopolito) y, 2) la mineralización de litio, estaño y wolframio asociada con los granitos.

Description: The broad outlines of the taxonomy and distribution of the Antillean ameivas have been sketched by BARBOUR & NOBLE (1915). Two principal ancestral stocks were recognized: (1) One gave rise to the Ameiva ameiva group whose center of origin and dispersal was northeastern South America, and which extended westward into Central America and also up the Lesser Antilles to Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.¹ (2) The other gave rise to the Ameiva undulata group which originated in and dispersed from Central America, moving into northwestern South America and into the Greater Antilles as far eastward as Hispaniola. In addition to these two main stocks, they postulated still a third origin for a small group of species in the Bahamas – Puerto Rico – St. Croix area (A. maynardi, A. wetmorei and A. polops), but which they allied more closely to the A. undulata than to the A. ameiva group. A final, somewhat problematic group consists of the South American Ameiva bifrontata and its subspecies. They postulated that it either arose from the Ameiva ameiva group or from still a fourth stock. Accordingly to BARBOUR & NOBLE’S view, then, the Antilles comprise two main groups which have invaded the area from opposite directions and which overlap on Hispaniola (or from Hispaniola to St. Croix if Ameiva wetmorei and A. polops are considered allied to the A. undulata group – see below).

Description: This study is based principally on chiggers collected by Dr. P. WAGENAAR HUMMELINCK (Zoologisch Laboratorium, Utrecht) and associates. Supplemental material from Dr. THOMAS H. G. AITKEN (Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory, Port-of-Spain) has provided several new records, and Mr. A. VENTURA (University College of the West Indies, Kingston), has supplied additional records of Eutrombicula batatas in Jamaica. – The bat hosts collected by HUMMELINCK have been identified by Dr. A. M. HUSSON (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden). In all, our knowledge of trombiculid mites in the Caribbean has been substantially increased. Forty-five species are now known from the West Indies and chiggers are recorded for the first time from Saint-Barthélemy, Dominica, Patos Island (Venezuela), Margarita, Curaçao and Aruba.

Description: The peridots in the gem collection of our Museum were acquired a long time ago (part of them were from the collection of King William I of the Netherlands). We should be sceptical about data on the origin of this material. Firstly we do not generally know whether the stones were bought or received as a gift; we learned by experience that a person giving material (often a layman) will not be too precise when stating the locality especially as he will not see its importance. Moreover in the last century scientists could not realize yet how valuable an accurate description of the locality would be nowadays. For they did not think of the possibility that samples of one mineral from various localities might have different properties (of course they did not yet know the importance of an investigation as to the nature of inclusions). Besides in cataloguing small objects (such as gemstones) systems were used which did not rule out mistakes, so that a recent investigation of old material may present difficulties as to the definite locality.

Description: In this article the results of a pollen analytical investigation of a section in the tropical lowland of Colombia are discussed. The section has been taken from a lake in the lower course of the River Magdalena (fig. 1). This lake, called ”Cienaga de Morrocayal”, is situated about 20 metres above sea-level; the section represents the greater part of the Subatlantic, and in the course of this period there was a succession of humid and drier periods. These fluctuations seem to represent a cyclic phenomenon. Two C14 analyses of charcoal-samples from the peatlayers, found in this section, showed that these layers were formed at about 1470 A.D. and about 1230 A.D.