Welsh Journals

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE SAGE, BRYAN L. (1956). Notes on some Coleoptera from Pem- brokeshire. The Entomologist's Record. 68, p. 312 Of seven species of beetles collected by Dr. Lewis Lloyd-Evans in 1956 on the Pembrokeshire mainland and Skomer Island, five do not appear to have been recorded from Pembrokeshire according to the bibliographic card-index of Welsh Entomology at the Na- tional Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Two of the species are rare ones, Strangalia quadrifasciata L. had been recorded previously only from the Welsh counties of Glamorganshire and Merionethshire, the other, Donacia impressa Pk, was taken on Skomer Island. P.M.M. BOOK REVIEWS GRASSES by C. E. Hubbard, with illustrations by Joan Sampson. Penguin Books, Ltd., London. 1954. 3s. 6d. Mr. Hubbard is well-known to botanists as the Kew expert on the grasses of the whole world. His extraordinary knowledge of grasses is obvious from this book, which can only be described as a masterpiece. The main part of it consists of full-page illustrations and very thorough and reliable descriptions, with notes on habitat and distribution, and the chromosome number(s), of almost all the grasses native or commonly naturalized in the British Isles-not only the familiar ones but the rarities and critical species such as Agropyron Donianum and Poa infirma as well. Bromus Thominii and B. Ferronii are described without illustrations under B. mollis, which seems reasonable for they are often difficult to distinguish from B. mollis the so-called Festuca vivipara is similarly described under F. ovina and Aira multiculmis is under A. caryophyllea. Most of the known British hybrids are described, and five of the most distinctive or common ones are illustrated. One should not fail to mention Miss Joan Sampson's beautiful drawings, which, as well as depicting floral parts very accurately from the botanical point of view, give a good idea of the general appearance of the plants in the field. Her use of dot shading is unusual in botanical illustration and is very satisfactory. Line shading can be rather confusing when one is dealing with hairiness and the ribbing of leaves, which are often important in the Grass Family. There are accounts of the uses of grasses (especially of interest to the farmer and gardener) and their structure and classification, lists of species to be found in the various habitats, a bibliography, a glossary, and indexes of Common and Scientific names, the latter including an exhaustive list of synonyms.