(1) Plants and their Ways in South Africa (2) The Ferns of South Africa, containing Descriptions and Figures of the Ferns and Fern Allies of South Africa (3) With the Flowers and Trees in California

Abstract

(1) THE author of “Plants and their Ways in South Africa” has produced a useful text-book for the South African student of botany, a companion, that is to say, to class and practical work under supervision. A study of the seed and its germination leads on to the consideration of the growth of roots, stems and leaves, and of the duration of life of the plant. The form and structure of the parts, with a brief section on cells and tissues, is followed by a series of chapters on function. The chapter on the leaf is rather mechanical, and its subject-matter might with advantage have been more intimately associated with the portions dealing with plant-physiology. The study of the flower and fruit is associated with pollination and seed-distribution; and there is a short chapter on the remarkable Kukuma-kranka, a small bulbous plant belonging to the Amaryllidaceæ. The remainder of the book, comprising about one-half of the whole, is devoted to a sketch of the classification of plants, mainly the seed-bearing plants, with concise descriptions of those families and their representative general which occur in South Africa. A short concluding chapter deals with the botanical regions of South Africa. The book is profusely and well illustrated with blocks, both original and borrowed from various sources.

(1) Plants and their Ways in South Africa.

By Prof. B. Stoneman. New edition. Pp. xii + 387. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1915.) Price 5s.

(2) The Ferns of South Africa, containing Descriptions and Figures of the Ferns and Fern Allies of South Africa.

By T. R. Sim. Second edition. Pp. ix + 384. Plates. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1915.) Price 25s. net.

(3) With the Flowers and Trees in California.

By C. F. Saunders. Pp. xii + 286. (London: Grant Richards, Ltd., 1914.) Price 7s. 6d. net.