Adin, Merah, nai /. ty ey CORO a ES: A BOTANICAL JOURNAL, EDITED BY ALEXANDER IRVINE, FELLOW OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. VOLUME THE SECOND. ‘Os eveyadivOn ta épya cov, Kipie !—mdvra ev copia émoinaas. WAAM. py’. 24. Benedicite universa germinantia in terra Domino ; laudate et superexaltate Ev in secula— Hymn, iii Pueror. v. 76, LONDON : WILLIAM PAMPLIN, 45, FRITH STREET, SOHO SQUARE. 1857-8. A en te etait cen eee a ee ea ' i , ow ak £ 19 Horr va Aetek aries bel vasban e . ' aa . | P i t , : i t x $ WL ISB, © ‘ x Ry n : ‘ ‘ : <= ° A t ip esey os : pe M » —s Ae ini “ . o — 5 Pe H “er, . r wee " . nin re al : , hy Ee A Me ey f PRINTED BY : ab. \ ~ j of . ‘EDWARD ‘TAXLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS, LONDON. PREFACE. Tue Table of Contents prefixed to this Volume shows an in- crease of subjects, and a greater variety of matter than that which preceded the first volume of the New Series. The List of Contributors is also augmented. From these facts it is con- fidently believed that the circulation of the ‘Phytologist’ is enlarged. The Annual Address to the Subscribers and Readers will con- tain what is usually communicated in a Preface. j a re : ar ae j > s- § 5 . & oe j UO! iO fon : \) sadd beverage v . : : 7. wi Tr] ' Z ‘ 5 SIP r} Le i i, ? ia : cy yep th 7 aa s Uy re, OW iw wy . ry . , foe p ie > t 7 ne it re UR) 4 ‘ . . 7 é . Z = agit ; * : CONTENTS. -—<+— Page Eunrcanulxpedition ..\/ -isiaie tiie? Gale so tot eetth: CAL eine: Aizoides, on the term. . . rings.” Dowden WGI Agrimonia (Aremonia) Agr imonioides ; by Johngsmulen Wai a 2a2 American Water-weed (Anacharis Alsinastrum) HOE. + ES trons Oe Anemone Pulsatilla; by A.G. More . . erste wenn Dil heed Anemone Pulsatilla and Astr Cie hy iypoglotis » ASSIA aise oD Annual Address ners i i Seer. eft. Dies eles05 Artists and Nature-painting NG i ROTETT., PA ae AMER ee: atest SIRD: Asplenium germanicum in SomersetshivSilvwtel Shida.) detubhal doambiyruieGs winonar belladonna (imsane-root).2. % ..! te oe OL Biblical Botany —.. [salt efi seal ania ee i99 Birds in connection with Plants, history Bi oc ptousab ad ieaies Mem OD Blechnum Spicant . . : Nita ota ale . 432 Books Received for Review ‘ 48, 256, 280, 328, 360, 384, 416, 448, 480, 512, 536, 568, 632 Botanical Notes, Notices and Queries . 28, 45, 71, 938, 117, 141, 165, 189, 220, 248, 276, 300, 325, 356, 380, 412, 444, 476, 510, 533, 566, 597, 631 Botanical Lecture . . . a ka . 820 Botanical Names, Derivation ee Fi VRAIN: MeV EL SERIE KER OOO Botanical Notes from Somersetshire; by the Rey. 'T. F. Ravenshaw . 132 ~ Botanical Sketches; by M. H. Wilkin SOMA. Seekrty Seal ovanical’Sketches:; ‘by J: (W. (Yarmouth), (eco sok. dat) te 21208 Botanical Sketches... Ah OR ta yoo: Botanical Sketches, Weymouth ; by Henry. Crores Wi Prete A he 2 SO Botanical Sketches, Kent; by Daniel Cooper f ded AEE. taeWlO Botanical Sketches, Wilts ; ; by Rev. M. M. Atwoodp: <7. mith 553 Botanical Sketches, Loch Kinord, Cromar, Aberdeenshire; by W. Sutherland . . : bie | eet so eae Botanical Sketches, New Brighton I Wel eal. tn. eae eel (644650 Botanical Sketches, Chat Moss Sy Cais seth: ak’, SReted BS OROOILZ Botanical Sketches, Freshwater . . at hy Se OT Rate ae beh: Botany, Scottish; by the Rev. H. Macmillan Ne DAP ob i2 254258 Botany, Ancient (with Ci mlate hare Soy Sy Beh es ie CO geese Belanyiotine Almond; iby John Simiaiys aco t4 iain hs) lone oT8 Boxley Hills, Kent, a day’s botanizing on ee deh webs Lol ERAS Braemar, Flora of, Notes on; by J. Barton . . . 281, 308, 341, 417 Braemar, Map of . ig. dettion asaakanly British Renna! on the ennation afte by ona Lloyd Ly etshl staalesaneO British iNosees: some rare; by W. "Mitten Tiga, «« clver werveyguk cegne Regeeatit British Plants ; by 8. B. : ate f igh. abe ape: Bryology of the Isle of Man ; by J. Hn Daviestidaeteto iad suiee vi CONTENTS. Page Bryology of Southport...) . 5) 2 Buckbean .. a ene Si Buckbean and Buckwheat ee ree AS Calamintha Nepeta, on wo Cardamine hirsuta, C. sylvatica . . . 436 Cleish Castle, Botanical Excursion to ; by) the Rev. H. Macmillan . 288 Clent Hills, Botany of .. . : ers es Se Cockle, a nut to crack : re ss 205. Common English Plants not i in the Channel Islands : . 633 Ooromurications received . 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, 192, 224, 256, 280, 332, 360, 384, 416, 448, 480, 512, 536, 568, 632 Common Plants ; by the Rev. H. Stowell. . oy peoheslip Correspondence, ‘Extracts from. MEER ie! Diatomacez, Structure, ete., of; by H. a Gheanch o) ch eho Spee Dingle and its Flora ; by the Rev. WHind ~. .. .. .. xenbis iaemnal Dovedale ; by the Rev. W. Hind .°.. ... ... gon dee—shetall Aneel eonornical Botany ; by G. Jordan ; a et a 2 128 Epilobium ligulatum, Baker ; by C. C. Babington } sie 366, 463 Faversham Plants; by the Rey H. A. Stow ell . .. 100,1533 180) 261 iHems mot eaten by msects . 2 Wi eeateet Aleut) stir ote . 467 Ferns, Vitality of . . ova seal? Ferns of Aberdeen and Kincardine’; by Ww. Sutherland ovis, Ras Ferns, why not eaten by insects. : La) pede Fertilization of Imperfect Flowers, on the » bre exec), waeit Tees HiféshireHerns by: Cowie: 27. 225.005 201. 2 2. leariein: Fifeshire Mosses ; by C. Howie. . PI (3) 03.5 22 Fifeshire Lycopodia and Equiseta; by C. Howie . .. .onclidl Uvanmege Fifeshire Plants, Atropa Belladonna. - 466 Flora Hertfordiensis, Supplement to ; by the Rev. R. die Webb ee 492 Flora Hertfordiensis, Additions to ; by ‘ERY Edwards) s| kK eo =~T =) K., 254, 280. Kew, 279, 505. Kirk, T., 67. L., 631. Lindsay, Dr. W. L., 264, 284, 299. Lloyd, John, 237, 276, 446, 539. Lucas, Rey. W. H., 198, 194. M. G. H., 414. M. H., 414, 511, 536. M. W., 280. Macmillan, Rev. H., 225, 258, 288. Marshall, W., 197, 250. Masters, M. T., 112, 165, 449, 479. Matthews, W., 510. Mill, J. S., 319. Mitten, William, 177. Moore, D., 37, 212. Moore, T., F.L.S., 48. More, A. G., F.L.S., 215. Notcutt, W. C. Non Cidipus. Patison, J. M., 439 LIST OF Braemar, Map of . Drosera intermedia CONTENTS. Payne, A. C., 48, 67. Q., 280. Querist, 118, 143. Quis Judicabit, 478. R. C. D., 249. R. K., 250. Ravenshaw, Rev. T. F., 132, 206. Russell, Anne, 279. S., 380. 8. B., 167, 221, 222, 251-253, 256, 280, 882, 447, 535, 567, 600. 8. W. Salmon, J. D., 191. Scoticus, 416. Sim, John, 272, 533, 578. Sowerby, J. E., 627. Spicilegus, 433. Stark, R. M., 218. Stock, D., 47. Stowell, Rev. H., 40, 100, 153, 117, 180. Strange, W. H. Sutherland, W., 333, 426. Vectis, 326, 447, 448. Verax, 373. W., 568. W. F., 302, 308, 597. W. P., 381, 600. W.S., 360, 415. Webb, Rev. R. H., 156, 492. Wilkin, W. H., 171. Williams, Rev. W. CO. Windsor, Dr., 257, 404, 423. Wollaston, G. B., 45, 46, 220. Wolsey, G., 220, 221. Wood, J. B., 688. Woods, Joseph, F.L.S., 166. Wright, E. P. Young, Dr. J. F., 370. Z., 379, 477. Zeta, 431. Zoilus, 150. ILLUSTRATIONS. Figures, Ancient, of Plants, from a MS. copy of Dioscorides Fructification of Imperfect Flowers See reset t 0 Mnium orthorhynchum Orthotrichee illustrated Scabiosa succisa, Monstrosity of . Teratology, Example of Vegetable Page 417 27 287 618 329 569 361 e445 HOLLY. Holy hath berys (berries) as red as any rose, They foster the hunters, kepe hem from the doo. Ivy hath berys as black as any slo, Ther com the oule and ete hym as she go. Holy hath byrdys (birds) a ful fayre flok, The nyghtyngale, the poppyngy, the gayntyl (gentle?) lavyrok. Good ivy, what byrdys ast (hast) thou ? None but the howlet, that “how, how !” Har. MS. PO r OT St 1857. Apprgss to the Readers of the Puyrouoeisy, and specially to the Contributors. Tue Editor is now divested of his plurality, and, being thus re- duced to a unit, he means in the present Address to commune with his supporters in the singular number. He hopes that this unity of editorship may be a token of the wnity existing among British Botanists, and of their wnity of purpose, desire, and la- bours in the cause, and for the progress of British Botany, of which the ‘ Phytologist’ is the exponent, the humble, but zealous advocate. He is not a little gratified that there is no occasion for his adverting to the proceedings of the past year, except in this one instance above mentioned, viz. the announcement of the change of the term Kditors into Editor. He is thankful that he has to write about the present and the future, au not about the past. The past year and the work done therein are both alike Se recall and control. The year 1856 is now to be reckoned as one of “the years beyond the flood.” The dogs of the bygone year are matters of history, and will be estimated by their effects or fruits. The contents of the previous numbers of this periodical are appealed to as a proof that the botanists of Britain, or their representatives, have done something for the cause of botanical science during the period since the New Series of the ‘ Phytolo- gist? was commenced. Any further statement or exposition of past labours modesty forbids. The Editor, while he thinks it unnecessary to write about former acts, which are before all his readers, begs leave very re- spectfully to communicate his views and wishes in relation to the Nee So .VOilZ. ok B 2 ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. [ January, future—the agenda, the things to be done. The present, which will soon be a part of the past, is included in the term future ; and the present communication or programme is a statement of what he, the Editor, wishes to do, or to get done, for British Botany during the present or current year, which is the opportunity for usefulness, the time for work and labour to be done by all who have work to do, and time and skill for doing it. But he, the Editor of this Journal, could not expect the Contributors to the “last volume to co-operate with him in his endeavours to promote the science in question, unless he showed that he is sensible of realized favours—memor beneficiorum. He begs to assure each and all who contributed to the last issued volume of the ‘ Phy- tologist’ that he is deeply indebted to them for their kind and effective and disinterested assistance. He cordially and sincerely offers this public acknowledgment, and regrets that he cannot afford more substantial proofs of his obligations and gratitude. He further hopes that those who have sent communications that have not yet appeared in print will have patience with him. Every article hitherto sent for imsertion in the ‘ Phytologist’ would have been published in its pages if space had admitted ; and it is to be hoped that every article in the Editor’s possession will ultimately be so printed. Chacun a son tour. In reference to the proceedings or progress of the current year, there are three topics on which the Editor desires briefly to com- municate with the readers of, but especially with the contributors to, the periodical for which he is responsible. In the first place, he is anxious to get as complete a list as pos- sible of common plants. The list published in May, 1856, must be considerably curtailed : it was originally drawn up rather too comprehensively, with the view of subsequently modifying it on further observations and by the help of communications. Several facts have been noted, and some communications have been re- ceived, which will help the Editor in determining what are com- mon and what are not common plants. There is one list of com- mon plants received from a contributor which he thinks it will be advisable to print in exvtenso; but he hopes and wishes that all contributors who have any information to communicate on the subject of common plants will confine themselves to either of the two lists, 7. e. the list of May, 1856, or the list subsequently to be published. This course is suggested by obvious reasons. 1857.] ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. 3 Mere names of plants are only interesting to a few botanists who take au interest in the range and relative plenty or scarce- ness of species. The results or deductions from such lists will ultimately be both instructive and interesting to all classes of readers ; but while the subject is under consideration and unde- termined, it is lke a piece of unfinished work, disagreeable to the beholder. Another point is also important im times of economy and re- trenchment, viz. the additional expense of printing lists of plants. This is not alugubrious entreaty for condolence or sympathy, nor an appeal ad crumenam, to the breeches-pocket of the subscribers. Yet it is a fact that the ‘ Phytologist’? does not pay the expense of paper and printing; but let not the subscribers and readers imagine for an instant that the proprietors wish or expect their supporters to make any extraordinary efforts for the financial interests of the periodical. They only hope that, under existing circumstances, they may not have to provide for an increased expenditure on the item of printing. The second thing the Editor desires to carry out is a sugges- tion offered by a contributor, and which cannot be brought to bear any fruit whatever unless by the co-operation of several good botanists. It was suggested or recommended as a desirable and practicable thing that all critical British plants should be sub- mitted to some good practical botanist, who would undertake to compare them and publish in the ‘ Phytologist’ the result of his comparisons. It will be readily admitted that the decisions of any judge, however competent, would be of small value and of less authority unless he had the means of forming a correct esti- mate of the characteristics of critical species. And in order that a sound opinion might be obtained, it was further hinted that botanists from divers quarters of the British Isles should be in- vited to send to the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist’ examples of all eritical plants growing naturally within the bounds, or within a reasonable distance of their respective abodes. By comparing an extensive series of critical species, grown probably under varying conditions, as much evidence might be procured as would be available in the determination of the distinctness or non-dis- tinctness of the so-called critical plants. It would be rashness to predict that the decision so obtained, under said circumstances, would give universal satisfaction, or would be implicitly submitted 4: ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. [ January, to as true and just. There are few who prefer others’ eyesight or observation to their own. But it is believed to be both a good , and a feasible suggestion, and the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist’ is willing to aid in carrying it out. He will undertake to compare, or cause to be compared, all such examples of critical plants (Gf submitted to him), or of such plants as are doubtful or ambigu- ous, or about which there is any prevalent discrepancy of opinion or judgment, and he will cause the results of the said comparison to be published in the only or chief periodical devoted to the pro- gress of British Botany. The third thing has also been recommended and desired by several contributors and subscribers. It is that the ‘ Phytolo- gist? should gradually become a medium for circulating the de- siderate of its readers, or, in other words, should be used as a means for effecting a change of specimens of British plants. As it is desirable that the ‘ Phytologist’ should be made extensively useful, both for the sake of the readers and for the profit of the proprietors, the above suggestion has already, to some extent, been carried out. Where it is not convenient for the persons who wish to exchange to do so directly, such exchange may be effected through the publisher. When it can be effected directly, it will be less expensive. It is advisable that those who wish to exchange should state not only what plants they are in want of (desiderate), but also what specimens they have to supply in re- turn for such as they require. It is also desirable, when the ‘Phytologist’ is used as the vehicle of circulating their wants, that these should be limited to not above a dozen names of plants for any one insertion. The Editor desires this to be clearly understood, viz. that in thus publishing his intentions of aiding a// who wish to exchange specimens.of British plants, he has not the most remote inten- tion of interfering with the legitimate functions of the Botanical Society of London, neither of infringing upon its privileges, nor of superseding it as a medium of public usefulness. His aim is to be useful, though in a sma// way and at as small a cost as possible, to those who may honour the ‘ Phytologist’ by employing it as the medium for giving publicity to their wants. Some of the most influential friends of the ‘ Phytologist’ have repeatedly suggested that a general index to the entire series of the Journal, from its commencement in June, 1842, to July, 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 5 1854, inclusive, would be a very desirable addition to our botani- eal literature. The Editor has often felt the great inconvenience resulting from this deficiency, and he has now the satisfaction of announcing to British botanists that, with the sanction of the proprietor of the Old Series, this want is in a fair way of being speedily supplied. A general alphabetical index has been pre- pared, at a very considerable expense of time and labour, and it will appear’ in consecutive portions as an addendum to the New Series of the ‘ Phytologist,’ at a not considerable expenditure of money, which, it is to be hoped, the increased sale of the Journal will reimburse. A portion of this general index will probably appear in the next number. phe Some typographical changes have been made in the present volume—changes which will improve the appearance of the work, and have a tendency to facilitate reference, research, and com- parison. The Index, it is true, when the volume is completed, will render reference easy ; but it is sometimes necessary to refer to antecedent numbers before the completion of the period con- veniently included in one volume. It is also thought desirable to give greater prominence to the headings or titles of articles, and to introduce and maintain a certain uniformity_im the typo- graphical department of the work. Having now briefly stated his wishes and intentions in refer- ence to the forthcoming monthly numbers of the ‘ Phytologist,’ the Editor respectfully takes leave of his supporters, wishing them the customary felicitations of the season. Chelsea, January 1, 1857. Nors.—The purchasers of the ‘ Phytologist’ will perceive that the index and prefatory matter contained in this, the first number of the new volume, is exclusive of the usual quantity of matter always supplied ; and the proprietors beg to state further, that the Alphabetical Index to the whole work, to be published by instalments in successive numbers of the present series till completed, will constitute an extra supply of matter without any extra charge. The usual number of pages will be devoted to the current matter, and the General Index will be additional. Indem- unification for this outlay is expected from a larger circulation. 6 [ January, TOUR IN SCOTLAND. Botanical Tour in the Highlands of Perthshire: Killin, Finlarig, Auchmore, Kinnell, Ben Lawers, etc. The 14th of July was fine ; and in the morning we started to go up Glen Lochay in quest of the rare Cystopteris montana, a plant only recently known as a British species. Breadalbane is the only district in Scotland where it is known to occur, and its col- lection is still interesting. Its locality was previously ascertained as accurately as possible. One or several of the numerous ra- vines or correis that intersect the mountain at right angles to Glen Lochay, are said to produce this rare fern. These correis, or correys, are all watercourses, or the beds of torrents that some- times, in summer, contain but little water. The term, which is Gaelic, is evidently from the same root as the French courir, to run, which is from the Latin curro, I run. This word run is truly characteristic of the streams here, whe- ther they be great or small. In the south of England there are rivers with a current so slow that it is occasionally impossible to tell which way the water flows; for this fluid seldom runs in the south and east of our island. But in Scotland it is never difficult to ascertain the course of rivers, for they always flow, often run, and sometimes rush with headlong impetuosity. Cvzesar, in his Commentaries on the Wars in Gaul, informs his readers that the Arar is so sluggish in its motions that it is impossible to tell by the eye in what direction it flows (in utramque partem fluat). We were once in the same predicament about the course of the Medway, between Edenbridge and Ashurst, in Kent. A straw dropped into the stream from the bridge in a brief space decided the course of the stream, and ours also. These correys extend from Glen Lochay up the hill which sepa- ‘erates this Glen from Glen Dochart ; and by following them up to the ridge, and descending on the other side, Glen Dochart may be reached. This rare Fern has certainly been found in the correys that are at right angles to, and on the right bank of, the river Lochay; but it may be, and probably has been, found on the Ben Lawers side of this glen. It is found on Ben Lawers. The rain com- pelled us to retrace our steps, and hindered our seeing it in the correys of Glen Lochay. The same day one of us visited the old 1857. | ; TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 7 fir-wood of Finlarig; an equally fruitless visit, for our search for Linnea borealis was in vain. Though we were disappointed in the chief object of our long walk up the glen, a few novelties re- warded our perseverance. Meum athamanticum, “the Highlander’s Tobacco,” was one of our captures. The Highlanders, however, disowned “ the soft impeachment ;” they recognized the plant, but ignored the name. The search for Linnea in the woods of Finlarig resulted in our gathering of Oxyria reniformis and Saxifraga oppositifolia, just out of flower. There is a fine burn rushing through the wood, with many a rapid and cascade, and on its green banks the donnie flowers are plentiful. Whether Linnea borealis be of the number or not, it was then rather too early to see. But if any botanist goes to look for the plant in the upper part of this wood, we re- commend the right side of the burn, not above a stone’s throw below its entrance into the enclosure. If he has more definite instructions for the Linnea, and consequently no occasion to use these, he may still find in this spot something interesting to a botanist ; and if not, he will, in the ceaseless roar of the head- long, cashing brook, in the beauty of the scene, and im its peace- ful seclusion, find something exceedingly pleasing to a lover of nature. This lovely spot is but a very short distance from Killin: not above two miles. On this day (14th July) Campanula rotundifolia was observed in flower for the first time. It was then barely in flower about Killin on the 17th, but on the 19th, when we went to Kenmore, it was found in full flower. This little fact shows that the tem- perature about Killin is less favourable to early vegetation than that of the other end of the lake is. The appearance of the crops at the upper and at the lower end of Loch Tay, showed us that productions of more importance were affected by the same causes, whatever they may be, which influenced the flowering of the blue bell of Scotland. The 15th, St. Swithin’s, was, as usual, a rainy day. This su- perstition is not prevalent in Scotland. In that ancient king- dom the Saints are quite forgotten ; and the days on which they are commemorated in England, and in Christendom generally, are there neither religiously nor superstitiously regarded. In the highlands of Perthshire, neither St. Paul nor St. Swithim rule the clouds and winds, as they are vulgarly supposed to do here. 8 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ January, There, all the influences of the Saints are attributed to the moon. That this luminary plays an important part in the regulation of the temperature, the rain, the wind, and other atmospheric agen- cies, is as seriously believed in Scotland as the jus divinum of Presbytery is by a true-blue Presbyterian. The 16th was like its predecessor, but not quite so unfavour- able. We were able in the afternoon to visit the ruins of the ancient castle of the Campbells, and the mausoleum of the re- mote and more recent members of that ancient and noble family. _ We of course heard the account of its being burnt down; and the present erection, with provident foresight, has been built fire-proof. The remains of the illustrious dead are disposed in suitable catacombs, which are bricked up when the bodies are interred. We did not linger long among the narrow “ mansions of the dead ;”? and, as the subject is a sombre one, no more need be said about it. But Finlarig Castle and the Marquis’s Mau- soleum are the chief lions of Killin ; and here it would be con- sidered disrespectful, and a grievous offence, to leave them un- visited. The grave of Fingal and the burial-place of the Macnabs © are invested with a poetic and sacred interest, and strike sympa- thetic chords in the heart of a believer in Ossian and in a genuine descendant of the Macnabs. The Campbells and their retainers in like manner venerate the very burial-place of their chiefs. At Finlarig we collected Mehringia trinervia, Clair., Arenaria tri- nervis, Sm., a plant not of common occurrence in these parts. As our botanical discoveries at Killin were not very important, the following subjoined list is given as the result of better observa- tion than ours, or at least of more successful researches :—Draba rupestris, Stellaria cerastoides, Dryas octopetala, Epilobium alsi- nifolium, Sedum villosum, Saxifraga cernua, S. rivularis, Linnea borealis, Erigeron alpinum, Saussurea alpina, Azalea procumbens, Gentiana nivalis, Veronica alpina, V. fruticulosa, Listera cordata. Several of these we know grow near the summit of Ben Lawers; others probably may be collected on Craigchailleach, Craig-na- hain, and on other rocks on this chain nearer to Killin. These plants are deservedly of great interest, but they do not occupy so prominent a position in the landscape of the region where they grow as they do in the estimation of the botanist. In the evening we lectured to the pupils of the Parochial School, and the clergy- man honoured the occasion by courteously presiding. a 1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 9 On the 17th, a fine morning, we took leave of Killin, having been here just a week. It is true, we did not do much in the botanical way, but we learned much that was interesting about the physical, moral, and religious condition of the population. The walk along the left bank of Loch Tay from Killin is not very picturesque, at least for the first four or five miles: plantations circumscribe the prospect rather more than is agreeable. Near Killin a view of the lake is to be enjoyed only here and there, where there is a break in the woods which surround its sides. ‘Two or three miles from Lawers the road passes over an open coun- try, and the scenery improves. The people, in little companies, were going to church, and this very much increased the interest of the walk. In Scotland the Thursday before the administra- tion of the holy sacrament is a day of preparation. In the church of Lawers this ordinance was to be celebrated next Sunday. This is the sole grand festival of the Scottish church, and it is hallowed by two days’ preparation, Thursday and Saturday, on the former of which all work is suspended, as it is on the Lord’s-day, and on Saturday all attend Divine service in the middle of the day ; and, as the following Monday is a day of thanksgiving, many such solemnities would be exceedingly inconvenient. Yet when it is considered how eagerly old and young avail themselves of this solitary opportunity of testifying their obedience and their love to the sacred Author of this holy rite, it does appear to be a subject of regret that this can only be done once in the long period of twelve months. Here we enjoyed an extensive view of Loch Tay, which was on our right, and of the majestic Ben Lawers, which was on our left, with its massive roots extending across our road, and terminating in the shore of the lake. Ben Lawers Inn was reached about eleven o’clock, after a pleasant walk of about three hours. On the roadside we observed Habenaria viridis, Gentiana cam- pestris, and Sedum anglicum, with many other interesting species noticed before. Ben Lawers might have been ascended from Killin with some- what less walking than we incurred. There is a road to Glen Lyon branching off the Killin and Lawers road, about two or three miles from the former place. By walking along the Glen Lyon road till opposite the summit of Ben Lawers the mountain would have been reached in less time than we spent in walking N.S. VOL. II. c 10 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ January, to Lawers from Killin. The Glen Lyon road may be compared to the hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle, and we should have walked by this line instead of by the two sides of the same: it is a mathematical axiom that any two sides of a triangle are greater than the third side, and consequently the way from Killin by Lawers to the mountain is somewhat longer than that by the Glen Lyon road: quod erat demonstrandum. But as few roads are made as straight as mathematical lines (no Highland roads are so) it is not easy to calculate the distance that might be saved by adopting any assumed line of travel. Time is the sole prac- ticable measurement of distance where there are no roads, or only defective or partial ones; and as we did not go the Glen Lyon, but the Lawers road, the saving which would have been the re- — sult of going straight from Killin to Ben Lawers cannot be truly stated. While at the former place we heard that it was no un- usual feat to walk from Killin to Ben Lawers and back again in a day: women did it. We did not hear if botanists did it. The distance is said to be eight or nine miles ; but as the Scotch, like the Irish, give good measure of distances, especially when the quality of the road is but indifferent, we. will estimate the dis- tance from Killin to the summit of Ben Lawers at ten miles. This distance and back we could easily have accomplished; but our object, of course, was somewhat more comprehensive than the reaching of the summit, and trying to see Edinburgh and Stirling, and the German Ocean and Aberdeen, and Ben Nevis and the Islands of the far West. About ten hours would have been requisite for botanical purposes, and in that space of time we should have walked about twenty miles more. This, with the journey back to Killin, would have required more muscular exertion than we could safely undertake, and more time than even a summer’s day could supply. The ascent from the inn at Lawers is not perhaps the nearest (shortest) course that could be selected from the road. There is a point a mile or so on the Killin side of Lawers, which appears to be nearer to the summit than the inn is; but here there is no resting-place for the traveller. The ascent might be easily made from the other, or Kenmore end of Loch Tay. In summer there is a coach by Aberfeldie, Kenmore, Killin, Tyndrum, Inveraven, etc., to the head of Loch Lomond. This coach passes Lawers in going to Killin, ete., about ten o’clock. The traveller might have his 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 1] breakfast comfortably at Kenmore, and come within three or ‘ four miles of the top of Ben Lawers by ten o’clock, leaving him a good long day for his botanical pursuits. Clever, clean-limbed youths from the adjoining cottages are said to reach the summit of the mountain in an hour; but suppose the ascent to occupy an hour and a half, there are still eight or nine hours for botanizing. The botanist will do well to secure his quarters for the night at Lawers Inn, from which, if his time and the weather permit, he may ascend the mountain ad libitum. If he has once fairly seen the mountain, its appendages and approaches, in a moderately clear day, he may ascend it alone without any apprehensions of either losing his way or coming on steep, rocky precipices, down which it might be impossible to descend. But for botanizing on Ben Lawers at the least expenditure of time, exertion, and money, we prefer a plan broached by one of our Scottish correspondents, and published in the 302nd page of the ‘ Phytologist’ for 1856. The outlines of the plan proposed, but not yet carried out, so far as we know, was to associate a certain number of active botanists, who were to be provided with a portable tent, supplying suffi- cient accommodation for passing the night on the mountain. When we returned homewards by Aberfeldie we called upon a botanical friend, who told us that he and some others passed a night on Ben Lawers, with no protection from the cold but what a projecting rock might have afforded. This is a sacrifice of com- fort which only a very ardent botanist can make. But with a small tent, which a stout youth could carry up to or near to the summit, and with a supply of provisions and a little fuel, the night, or even several nights, might be passed, even on this inhospitable- looking locality. Many sheltered nooks, or even cavities, are to be found, dry enough for spreading a heather-bed on, and the protection of a tent would suffice to preserve several persons from the effects of the cold, which at that altitude is very intense. In this latitude and in summer the nights are very short; properly speaking, there is no night there during several weeks, and the cold before sun-rising, though severe, is but of short duration. A still more comfortable method of ascent might be devised, though not so efficient for botanical purposes, as the nocturnal bivouwac on the mountain. A horse and cart, with a driver to take care of the quadruped during the ascent of those parts in- accessible to any kind of carriage, might be obtained at Killin for 12 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. - [ January, ten shillings. Provisions, with a kettle for boiling water (an Eng- lishman cannot travel without a teakettle, this is a necessary part of his equipage), some fuel, and other trimmings, might be all conveyed in the cart, which would also supply conveyance for the weaker members of the fraternity. If the party were to start about one o’clock on a fine summer morning, they would be m time to see the sun rise from the summit, and would have all the day before them for botanizing; but for the solitary botanist we do not know any more independent and pleasant way of realizing a day’s recreation on this, the prince of botanical localities, than that which has been pointed out above, viz. to get as near the mountain as possible by coach, ascend, botanize, and descend to Ben Lawers Inn, and to start, after a night’s rest, on a fresh ex- pedition, either up the hill again or along its ridge, in the direc- tion of Glen Lochay and Killin. SETTLE PLANTS. A List of Plants found near Settle. By Dr. Wrxpsor. (Continued from Vol. I. page 354.) Habenaria bifolia. Kelcowe. Fields about Giggleswick Tarn, ete. Habenaria viridis. Not uncommon about Settle, as about Gig- gleswick Tarn. Major Springs. Stackhouse Borrins. Above Cavehole Woods, ete. Orchis pyramidalis (flore albo). Gainsbrowe, near Eshton. Orchis ustulata. Found very plentifully one year in the waste ground below Birkbeck’s Weir. Orchis latifolia. Sides of rivulets near Giggleswick Tarn. Bogs at the foot of the Crags. Gymnadenia conopsea. Hillocks near Giggleswick Tarn. South end of Kelcowe. Maill Island, ete. Gymnadenia albida. About Giggleswick Tarn, especially on the hillocks on the north-east side. Ophrys apifera. I found it plentifully, July 5th, 1807, in a narrowish meadow, called Martin’s, adjoining Mr. Wilson’s Wood, Eshton Hall. (Thorpe-Arch Woods, Yorkshire, 1854, Mr. Bohler.) P Ophrys muscifera. Keleowe. Lord’s Wood. Stackhouse Bor- 1857.] _ SETTLE PLANTS. 13 rims. By the foot-road-side to Stackhouse, at the margin of the wood near Langcliffe Place. Field below Major Springs. Listera ovata. Not uncommon, as in Kelcowe. Mill Island. Major Springs, ete. Lastera cordata. Plentiful on the western ascent to Inglebo- rough. Neottia Nidus-avis. Under the shade of the hazels in High- ridge Wood, where in 1806 I found five specimens of it. In 1798 Mr. T. W. Simmonds found a large specimen of it in Keleowe. (In 1844, found in King’s Wood, near Roche Abbey, Yorkshire, by Mr. Bohler.) Epipactis latifolia. Wood near Langcliffe Place. High-ridge Wood. Woods about Arncliffe, ete. Epipactis ovalis (Babington) (or EL. latifolia, var. 8, of Smith). Loose stones below Giggleswick Scar, and in Cavehole Wood. Clefts of rocks above Gordale. About the year 1810 I collected, at the request of Sir J. E. Smith, recent specimens of this plant for the imspection of himself and Mr. Sowerby; the former thought it might be the parvifolia of Ehrhart, but Mr. Sowerby informed me that he could not decide upon its being a distinct species. Epipactis palustris. In the further part of the wood near Lang- cliffe Place. Cephalanthera ensifolia. Helk’s Wood, near Ingleton. Cypripedium Calceolus. Yn the narrow wood called East Field Wood, and the adjoining ones, near Arncliffe. About the year 1804 or 1805 a few specimens of this rare and beautiful plant were pointed out to me in this: locality, by a relative of my own, Miss Petty, of Arncliffe. Whether it still exists, as it formerly did, in Helk’s Wood, near In- gleton, I do not know. , Zanichellia palustris. Giggleswick Tarn, on the east side, near the boat-house. This guondam beautiful tarn, or lake, is now, unfortunately for the botanist, drained off for agricul- tural purposes. Notwithstanding this change, I have thought it best to record the names of several plants which formerly adorned its site and adjoining localities. Typha latifolia. Giggleswick Tarn. Sparganium ramosum. Ditches in several places near Settle, Giggleswick, and Rathmell. 14 SETTLE PLANTS. [ January, Sparganium simplex. In similar situations to the last, in several places. Sparganium natans (minimum of Bab.). Giggleswick Tarn. Lawkland Moss. Carex dioica. Boggy places at the lower end of Kelcowe. Bogs between the turnpike and Giggleswick Tarn. Carex pulicaris. Bogs near Giggleswick Tarn, and other places near Settle. Carex stellulata. Near Giggleswick Tarn. Carex curta. On the edge of Malham Tarn. Carex ovalis. On the edge of Giggleswick and Malham Tarns. On the roadside above Swobeck. Carex remota. Holling Hall Wood. Settle Grape. Carex intermedia. Edge of Malham Tarn. Further Wood, near Langcliffe Place. Carex vulpina. Ditch in Leeming Lands. Carex sylvatica. High-ridge Wood. Further end of Kelcowe, ete. Carex Pseudo-cyperus. Betwixt Penyghent House and Peny- ghent. Carex limosa. Kendall’s Gill. Boggy places near Ginsleamck Tarn, and in the wood near Langcliffe Place. Carex pallescens. Uawkland Hall Wood. Further High-ridge Wood. Settle (Peart’s) Crags. Carex flava. Not uncommon, as in Kelcowe, Kendal’s Gill, near Giggleswick Tarn, etc. Carex Gideri. Neighbourhood of Settle. Carex fulva. Boggy places in the Further Wood near Langcliffe Place. Carex distans. Settle Crags, along with Carex remota. Carex binervis. Near Giggleswick Tarn. Carex precox. Common near Settle. Carex pilulifera. Right-hand side of the road between Holling Hall and Huggon House. Pastures between Giggleswick Tarn and High-ridge Wood, and above Stackhouse Borrins, ete. Carex panicea. Kendall’s Gill. Edge of Giggleswick Tarn. Carex glauca (recurva of Smith). Not uncommon, as on pasture above Stackhouse Borrins, and amongst the stones north of Attermire Cave, etc. 1857.] iy SETTLE PLANTS. 15 Carex vulgaris (Bab.). Not uncommon, as on the south-west side of Giggleswick Tarn, ete. Carex stricta. With C. vulgaris (Bab.) near Giggleswick Tarn. Carex acuta. About Giggleswick Tarn. Carex paludosa. Near Settle. Carex riparia. Side of the ditches in Settle Ings. Carex vesicaria. Near Giggleswick Tarn. Carex ampullacea. Ditch in Attermire Field and near Giggles- wick Tarn. Carex hirta. Kendall’s Gill. Settle Ings. Myriophyllum spicatum. Rivulet near Beggar-wife’s Bridge, in Giggleswick. In a ditch opposite Birkbeck’s Weir, near the foot-road to Rathmell. Arum maculatum. Common about Settle. Poterium Sanguisorba. Kelcowe. Salix purpurea. Onthe banks of the Ribble below Settle Bridge. Salix purpurea (var. 8, Lambertiana). Near Settle. Salix Helix. Below Settle Bridge. Mill Island. Salix Forbyana? Near Settle. Salix triandra. By a ditch-side between the Ebbing and Flow- ing Well and Giggleswick Tarn. (Betwixt Melling and Greta Bridge, below the hill, Mr. John Howson.) Salix pentandra. On the banks of the Ribble below Settle, and in the watery lane betwixt Giggleswick and Beggar-wife’s Bridge. Salix nigricans. By the Ribble-side at Cammock, below Settle. Salix bicolor (Sm.) (laurina of Bab.). The Ribbie-side, near Langcliffe Place. Salix fragilis. On the roadside near Lawkland. Salix fragilis, var. y, Russelliana. (Between Melling and Greta Bridge, below the hill, Mr. J. Howson.) Salix tenuifolia (Sm., or S. laurina, var. B, tenuifolia, of Bab.) Mill Island. Wood near Langcliffe Place. Hesleden Gill, near Penyghent. Banks of the Lime above Kirkby Lonsdale Bridge. Salix repens (Sm.) or fusca, var. a, repens (Bab.). In the same field where Polygonum viviparum grows, between Feizor and and Wharfe. Salix aurita. Tn several places near Settle. Salix caprea. Near Settle. 16 SETTLE PLANTS. (January, Salix aquatica (Sm., or S. cinerea, var. 8, aquatica, of Bab.). On the banks of the Ribble. Between the turnpike-road and Giggleswick Tarn. ; Salix acuminata. Near Settle. Salix viminalis. Hedge in Leeming’s Lands. Salix alba. Giggleswick. Salizherbacea. (Ingleborough and Penyghent, Mr. John Howson.) Empetrum nigrum. Abundantly on Black Fourscore Acre, near Settle. ; Myrica Gale. Plentifully on Lawkland Moss. Humulus Iupulus. On the roadside between Giggleswick and Kelcowe. In a field between Upper Settle and Rundley Bridge. Tamus communis. North-west end of Kelcowe. Rhodiola rosea (Sedum Rhodiola). ¥Foal-foot, Ingleborough. West side of Penyghent. Juniperus communis. On Moughton, near Wharfe, plentifully. Taxus baccata. Giggleswick Scar. Cavehole Wood. Equisetum arvense. Mill Island, etc. Equisetum Telmateia (E. fluviatile, Sm.). Wood near Langclitfe Place. Banks of the Ribble near Cammock, ete. Equisetum limosum. Near Settle. Equisetum palustre. Near the old site of Giggleswick Tarn. Ophioglossum vulgatum. Near the higher end of the middle di- vision of High-ridge Wood. July, 1813. Botrychium Lunaria. Hills between the turnpike and the old site of Giggleswick Tarn. Field above Major Springs. High-ridge Wood. Lycopodium clavatum. Above Meer-beck. Penyghent. Ingle- borough. Lycopodium selaginoides. Abundantly in a bog on the east side of Malham Tarn. In a field on the left-hand side between Long Preston and Swindon, with Schenus nigricans, etc., June 28rd, 1818. Side of a rivulet springing from Giggles- wick Scar, beyond the first milestone. Lycopodium Selago. Plentifully on the ascent to Ingleborough. Penyghent. Fourscore Acre, above Settle. Lycopodium alpinum. Ascent to Ingleborough, plentifully. Allosorus crispus. On Ingleborough little hill, plentifully. Swo- beck, near Settle. Onawall in Mitchell Lane, above Settle. 1857.] SETTLE PLANTS. 17 Polypodium vulgare. Walls, etc., common. Polypodium Phegopteris. Wood on the lower side of the road opposite Cavehole Wood. In the Gill near Huntworth “House. Along with Polypodium Dryopteris opposite the slate-quarries in Helk’s Wood, near Ingleton. Polypodium Dryopteris. In the station mentioned above under P. Phegopteris ; also in a wood opposite Helk’s Wood. Polypodium calcareum. ‘Loose stones near Attermire Cave (with Lastrea rigida). East Field Wood, near Arncliffe. Gig- gleswick Scar. Scar above Malham Tarn. I have in my notes a mark of interrogation to this last habitat, but think it correct. Lastrea Oreopteris. Kendal’s Gill. Giggleswick. Cavehole Wood. Lastrea rigida. In company with the late T. W. Simmonds (and I am not certain whether it had not been previously known to him and Wm. Kenyon), I found this plant first in the year 1802, growing plentifully in the loose stones be- tween Attermire Cave and the place where Hpilobium angus- tifolium was found growing, in the clefts of rocks a little to the north of Attermire Cave. We were afterwards well ac- quainted with this Fern, but L. rigida not being then enu- merated amongst British plants, we misnamed it spinulosa. About the year 1810 I showed specimens of it to Mr. Sowerby, Sen., who said it was not spinulosa, of which he gave me a specimen, but did not then seem to recognize it as a new species. Perhaps it will therefore be admitted that we were the first discoverers, although not the first describers of this plant, which has been since found in other localities of the district. Lastrea spinulosa. Lower part of Cavehole Wood, below the road and Kendal’s.Gill, near Giggleswick. Lasirea Filiz-mas. Not uncommon about Settle. Lastrea dilatata. Crags near Settle. Kendal’s Gull, Giggles- wick. Wood below Cavehole Wood, etc. Polystichum Lonchitis. (Limestone rocks between Langcliffe and Malham Tarn, Mr. J. Howson, Jun.) Polystichun aculeatum. With Lastrea rigida north of Attermire Cave. Crevices of rocks above Gordale. In several places about the foot of Ingleborough. WS: VOL. 11. D 18 ON THE GORMIRE EPILOBIUM., [ January, Polystichum aculeatum, 8, lobatum. (Winskill Wood, Mr. John Tatham.) 1 have several specimens which I had previously collected near Settle, some approaching to, if not quite, Po- lystichum angulare. Cystopteris fragilis. Not uncommon on walls, ete. near Settle. Cystopteris fragilis, var. y, C. angustata (Sm.). (Catterick Force, Mr. J. Tatham.) Athyrium Filix-femina. Lodge Gill. Wood below Cavehole. Crags, etc. Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum. Kendal’s Gill, Giggleswick. Wall on the right-hand side of Ingleten Brow. Asplenium Trichomanes. On walls at Langceliffe, etc. Asplenium viride. On rocks called Beacon Scar or Wordell Knotts, nearly opposite Attermire Cave. Rocks on the roadside between Stackhouse and Feizor. Rocks between Darnbrook and Arncliffe. Also between Settle and Mal- ham, and in a hole by the lead-mines near Stockdale. Asplenium Ruta-muraria. Wall near Giggleswick School. Kel- cowe, etc. Scolopendrium vulgare. Kelcowe. Giggleswick Scar, ete. Ceterach officinarum. In 1801 (the first year of my botanical studies), I found this plant in tolerable plenty in the fissures of the impending rocks a little east of Malham Tarn. Blechnum boreale. Kendal’s Gill. Wall between Wordell and Roome. About Giggleswick, ete. Pteris aquilina. Woods, etc. Conimon. ON THE GORMIRE EPILOBIUM. By J. G. Baker. Below the edge of the moorlands, five miles to the east of Thirsk, five hundred feet below the precipitous scars of Whitstoncliffe, is a picturesque lakelet, about a mile in circumference, known by the name of Gormire, which has been formed in the hollow caused by a slip of the inferior oolite; to the botanist affording a con- venient repository from which to select a varied range of weeds: —paludal and lacustral from the depths; Potamogeta and Cha- racee from the margin; Heliosciadium inundatum and Pilularia, Mnium affine and Sphagnum contortum, Potentilla comarum and 1857.] ON THE GORMIRE EPILOBIUM. 19 Menyanthes trifoliata, and last, but not least, Lysimachia thyrsi- flora. The north-east corner is specially overgrown with vegeta- tion ; and hereabouts, thickly scattered amongst the spongy and treacherous morass, the plant which is the subject of the present notice may principally be seen. It was noticed by Mr. Borrer on his visit to the station about a dozen years ago, and is mentioned, under the name of virgatum, im the account of his tour in the second volume of the ‘ Phytologist’ (page 425). In the ‘Sup- plement to the Flora of Yorkshire,’ it is alluded to (page 68) under the head of palustre. Since 1850, I have distributed so many specimens to my private correspondents, and through the medium of the London Botanical Society, that it must have found a place in the herbaria of a large proportion of our col- lectors. In the fasciculus of critical plants which I issued a short time ago it is marked, “No. 9, Epilobium, allied to vir- gatum (chodorhizum), Fries.’ During the last few years our knowledge of the British representatives of the genus, and their diagnostics, has improved considerably ; but the following descrip- tion will suffice to show that, from all that are described in the fourth edition of the ‘ Manual,’ this clearly differs. Stem 14 to 2 feet high, much branched above, quadrangular in the lower part, procumbent and creeping widely at the base, send- ing out rootlets and stolons. Stolons numerous, elongated, leafy, at the flowering time slender, the lower ones afterwards thick- ened, and bearing a rosette of obovate leaves. Leaves lanceolato- ligulate, varying considerably in breadth, when narrow nearly or quite entire, when broader sparingly denticulated, narrowed more or less gradually below to a decurrent haft. Sepals lanceolate ; stigmas entire at first, finally sometimes quadrifid ; seeds about half a line long, oblong-fusiform, broader above. The shape of the leaves is quite peculiar. They are usually but little broader than those of palustre, and when wider are narrowed to the base more gradually than in either obscurum or tetragonum. Of the species to which it is most closely allied— from tetragonum, Lamyi, chodorhizum, and obscurum, it may be known by its nutant buds ; from the two former, by its elongated stolons and radicant habit of growth; from the two latter, by its narrower seeds. From palustre, which at a casual glance it most resembles, the decurrent leaves, angular stem, and tetragonum- like seeds, will sufficiently distinguish it. If it is a new species, 20 MOSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN. [ January, I would suggest that ligulatum would be a not inappropriate name. P.S.—To the courtesy of Mr. Hardy, of Hulme, I am indebted for specimens of precisely the same Epilobium that grows at Gor- mire, from uliginal situations on Hale Moss, near Altrmgham, in Cheshire ; and am informed by Mr. Buxton (the author of the Manchester Flora) that it has been known to him for many years, ; and recognized as a distinct species. At Hale it grows in some places in juxtaposition with the true palustre. MOSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN. Primitie of the Bryology of the Isle of Man. By Joun H. Davizs. In the month of July of the present year, I devoted a few days to the agreeable task of investigating the Bryological productions of the Isle of Man; and as I am not aware of anything that has been published on the subject, I thought it possible that the re- sult of my observations might not be entirely devoid of interest to the readers of the ‘ Phytologist.’ The island, as a glance at my list will show, is by no means contemptible as a Bryological locality; and should any one take the trouble to explore it more efficiently than my limited stay permitted me to do, he would be able, I doubt not, to make many valuable additions to the list of species. The lithological constitution of the island is almost solely of the character which my friend Mr. Baker calls eugeogenous ; and the absence of such Mosses as Tortula tortuosa, Neckera crispa, Ano- modon viticulosus, Kncalypta streptocarpa, and Trichostomum flexi- caule 1s very striking to one who, like myself, has been principally accustomed to dysgeogenous strata. Probably the Silurian lime- stone at Castletown may furnish them, but this I did not manage to visit. The paucity of wood and rock renders the hills not very prolific, but this deficiency is amply compensated in the glens. For the convenience of those of my readers who may be unac- quainted with the geography of the district, perhaps a short paragraph on the situations of the various places I may have occasion to mention in the list may not be thought superfluous. The island is about thirty miles long by fifteen in its broadest part. Castletown is situated on the south coast, Douglas about 1857.] MOSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN. 21 midway on the eastern side, and further north, at distances of from three to five miles from each other, are Onchan, Laxey, and Ramsey. On the western coast we have Peel, with the ruins of its famous castle, celebrated alike in history and fiction. Near Peel is Glen Moij, which can boast of a pretty little waterfall— an old haunt of the fairies; the rocks here would, I doubt not, repay a careful examination, but the waters of the stream are so muddied by the washing of the ore at the lead-mines above, that they will not prove very productive. The centre of the island is occupied by a series of hills that reach an elevation generally of about 1400 or 1500 feet; some of the peaks are considerably higher than this, and Snafell, the culmimating point, is 2007 feet above the sea-level. From the eastern side of Snafell, Glen Laxey opens out one of the most delightful spots in the island, and rich in muscological productions. The stream which winds through the glen moves the immense wheel at the Laxey lead- mines, which is said to be the largest in the world. 1. Andreea Roth, Web. and Mohr. Fruits on wet rocks at the head of Glen Laxey, also at the north-east side of Snafell. 2. Sphagnum cymbifolium, Ehrh. With ripe capsules in Glen Laxey, etc. 3. Sphagnum compactum, Brid. Sparingly near the summit of Snafell. ° . Sphagnum acutifolium, Khrh. . Sphagnum cuspidatum, Ehrh. . Sphagnum contortum, Schultz. . Sphagnum squarrosum, Persoon. . Phascum subulatum, Lin. On a shady bank in Glen Doo, near Douglas. 9. Weissia controversa, Hedw. On banks everywhere abundant. 10. Dicranum pellucidum, Hedw., and its var. fagimontanum, Wils. In the stream near Castletown, in Glen Laxey, ete. 11. Dicranum squarrosum, Schrad. Plentiful in Glen Laxey, but barren. 12. Dicranum heteromallum, Hedw. Frequent. 13. Dicranum varium, Hedw., and. two or three varieties. Fre- quent. 14, Dicranum scoparium, Hedw. Glen Laxey, ete. 15. Dicranum palustre, Brid. Glen Laxey, etc. 16. Dicranum majus, Turn. Glen Laxey, ete. All four species fruit in Gien Laxey, the three latter but sparingly. COs QD OFC . Racomitrium protensum, Al. Braun. . Racomitrium fasciculare, Brid. . Racomitrium heterostichum, Brid. . Racomitrium lanuginosum, Brid. . Racomitrium canescens, Brid. . Phycomitrium polyphyllum, B.and 8. Glen Laxey, plentiful. . Orthotrichum affine, Schrad. On trees at Ballarats, Castle- MOSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN. [ January, . Ceratodon purpureus, Brid. On walls, heaths, etc. in great profusion. . Campylopus flexuosus, Brid. Glen Laxey. . Campylopus longipilus, Brid. Head of Glen Laxey and Sna- fell. A variety without the diaphanous tips to the leaves (var. calvus, Wils. MS.) occurs in Glen Laxey. . Pottia truncata, B. and 8S. Glen Laxey. . Didymodon rubellus, B. and 8. On walls, ete. frequent. . Trichostomum rigidulum, Smith. In similar situations to the preceding. . Tortula unguiculata, Hedw. Walls and banks. . Tortula fallax, Hedw. Shady banks. . Tortula vinealis, Brid., var. 8, flaccida. On a bank near . Ballasalla, Castletown. . Tortula muralis, Hedw. Frequent. 27. . Tortula ruraks, Hedw. Frequent. . Hedwigia ciliata, Hedw. Intermixed with Racomitrium Tortula subulata, Brid. Frequent. lanuginosum on rocks in Glen Laxey. . Schistidium apocarpum, B. and 8., and its var. rivulare. Glen Laxey, etc. . Schistidium maritimum, B.and 8. Sea-cliffs, especially those of Onchan Bay (near Douglas). Not unfrequent. . Racomitrium aciculare, B. et S. On stones in the stream near Castletown, etc. Glen Laxey with fruit, that of Ra- comitrium fasct- culare just rising. ward, and Onchan near Douglas, but in very small quantities. . Orthotrichum diaphanum, Schrad. On an ash-tree in Glen Doo, near Douglas. . Orthotrichum pulchellum, Smith. Intermixed with the next species, in Glen Laxey. . Orihotrichum phyllanthum, B. and 8. Very common, more particularly in the vicinity of the coast. It does not exhibit any partiality in its choice of habitat; almost every tree is 1857. ] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 23 clothed with it in the neighbourhood of Ramsey, Douglas, and Peel, and I noticed it too on the rocks on which Peel Castle is built. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. INQUIRY RESPECTING SENECIO SaRACENICUS. By J. G. BAKER. “Tt is evident,” writes M. Godron (‘ Flore de France,’ vol. ii. p. 118), “that under the name of S. savacenicus Linneeus has confounded two dis- timet species. First, that which he has cultivated in the Upsal Botanic Garden and which is clearly distinguished by its ‘ great size and mostly creeping root.’ This grows in the plains, upon the banks of streams, and especially in osier-grounds, and is the S. salicetorum of the ‘Flore de Lorraine.’ Second, the other, to which applies not only the synonym of Fuchsius, but all the synonyms quoted by Linnzeus (excepting that of the Hortus Upsaliensis), and to which also belong, without exception, all the localities in which Linnzeus indicates his plant.” The last-mentioned of these is the S. Fuchsii of Gmelin and Koch, and may be known by its oblique root-stock and short stoloniform buds; the other is the plant which bears so much the appearance of an indigenous Briton, about Sea- bergh, Milton, and other places in West Yorkshire and Lancashire. But may we not be uniting more than one species under the name of 8S. sara- cenicus, in this country? A specimen, received some time ago through the medium of the London Botanical Society from one of the Edinburgh- shire stations, is plainly S. Doria of Linneeus, a native of the South of Europe, recognizable by its finely serrated fleshy leaves, semi-amplexicaul and subdecurrent on the middle of the stem, and hairy seeds. Perhaps some of the readers of the ‘ Phytologist’ may be able to furnish further information on this matter. Thirsk, 29, 2, 1856. MaritTiMe Sacin&#. By J. G. Baker. Sagina, Linn.—Sect x., sepals, petals, styles, and valves of capsules, 4. Stirps S. maritime.—Central stems forked and elongated, mostly gla- brous. Leaves and sepals blunt and awnless. 1. S. maritima, Don.—S._ stricta, Fries. Stems moderately branched, erect ; peduncles rigid, erect, ascending. Leaves blunter than in the others. Sepals less concave, outer pair nearly equalling the oval truncate subsessile capsule.—Jord. Pl. Crit., frag. 3, tab. 5, fig. 4. Sandy seashores; not uncommon. 2. §. densa, Jord.—Stems much branched, erect, forming dense tufts ; peduncles short, rigid, ascending. Leaves narrower than in the others. Outer sepals equalling the capsule, which is less oval than in the others, and stalked.—Jord. tab. cit. fig. B. Christchurch, Hants, and probably Wis- beach, Camb.—Bab. Man. 4. Coatham marshes, N. Yorks. !—J. G. Baker. 3. S. debilis, Jord.—Stems sparingly branched, suberect or procumbent ; peduncles long, drooping, filiform. Outer sepals equalling the stalked oval capsule.—Jord. tab. cit. fig. C. “Often called S. maritima in England.” —Babington. Our specimens are from Coatham, N. Yorks. 24 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [January. ASPLENIUM ANCEPS. The following is from the proceedings of the Dublin Natural History Society (March 14th, 1856) :— The Chairman then called on Mr. Andrews for his paper on Madeiran forms of Ferns at Killarney.— Mr. Andrews said that in his review of the botany or zoology of a coun- try or district he had always been desirous of tracing affinities and geo- eraphical distribution, and the identity of animals or plants in different countries. He had already brought before the Society the occurrence in Kerry of some of the plants of Cornwall, and numerous instances of those of Portugal. He now wished to draw the attention of the Society to a beautiful and luxuriant form of Asplenium, bearmg a strong resemblance to A. Trichomanes. We had obtained several of these beautiful plants growing in a very sheltered and secluded spot near Killarney, surrounded by high rocks. Its peculiar habits of growth, the great length of the raches or stipes, and the luxuriant and rich green of the fronds, struck hin as differing very remarkably from the more common forms of 4. 777- chomanes. On referring to Hooker and Greville’s beautiful work, ‘ Icones Filicum,’ t. 195, he found it to be identical with the Asplenium fallax of the Rev. T. Lowe, named so by him on account of its affinities with 2. Trichomanes. It was however previously found by Mr. Masson, and placed in the Banksian Herbarium, under the name Asplenium anceps, Solander. The Rev. T. Lowe, who has given many interesting details concerning the plants of Madeira and Porto Santo, found this plant at an elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet, and at Ribieiro d’Anatado at an elevation of 4000 feet. It was also found at a low elevation with Asplenium acutum. In Madeira it usurps the place of 4. Trichomanes. Mr. Andrews considered the Kerry plants to be identical with those of 4. anceps of Madeira, and to bear the same relation to 4. Trichomanes as A. acutum of Madeira does to the ordi- nary form of 4. Adiantum-nigrum. Professor Haughton recognized this form of Fern as one which had been shown to him by a policeman at Killarney, and which at the time struck him as differing in many respects from the ordinary form of Aspl. Tri- chomanes. Miss Gifford, Minehead, Somerset, requests that her name may be in- serted in the list of botanists desirous of exchanging specimens of British plants. e Communications have been received from D. Stock; J. G. Baker; J. P.; T. Kirk; W. H. Stranges "Geom: Wollaston; Rev. W. Hind; J. Windsor, F.L.S.; Rev. Thos. Hugo, F.L.S.; Hewett C. Watson, F.L.S.; E. Percival Wright; Isabella Gif- ford; David Moore, A.L.S.; J. E. Sowerby; H. W.; Dr. Oswald Heer. All Communications, Books for Review, etc., for the PHytToLoGist; should be addressed to the Editor, care of the Publisher, 45, Frith Street, Soho, London, where Advertisements are received until the 22nd of the month. [ February, 1857.] 25 THREE DAYS AT KILLARNEY. By the Rev. W. M. Hinp. As it is not my purpose to describe the scenery around the far- famed Lakes of Killarney, but simply to mention some of the rarer plants gathered during a very short stay in that interesting neighbourhood, I hope to confine my remarks within a small compass. Suffice it to say that I found myself comfortably lodged at Cotter’s Lake Hotel late in the evening of June 24th, 1856. On the following morning I set off for the Torc Waterfall, and searched in vain for Trichomanes radicans, though I examined both sides of the cascade to a considerable height. My discove- ries here were principally Savifraga umbrosa, Lin., S. geum, Lin., S. stellaris, Lin., and Athyrium molle, Roth. Returning by Mu- cruss Abbey, which came in for its due share of my attention and admiration, I proceeded to Dinas Island, between the Upper and Middle Lakes. The low meadow-grounds in Mucruss demesne were beautifully dotted with the brilliant spikes of Orchis lati- folia, Lin. The larger forms had the leaves very handsomely marked or spotted; the smaller were spotless, and of the form 0. incarnata, Lin. On Dinas Island, and in fact almost everywhere throughout the Lake District, Osmunda regalis, Lin., appeared in great profusion. Here also I met with Salix repens, Sm., and S. prostrata, Sm., Myrica Gale, Lin. (everywhere plentiful), Litto- rella lacustris, Lin., and of course Killarney’s pride, the Arbutus Unedo, Lin. By boat I next proceeded to the Lower Lake, landing first at Lady Kenmare’s cottage, and next at O’Sullivan’s Cascade, where I gathered Huphorbia hiberna, Lin., and Hymeno- phyllum Tunbridgense, Sm. ; the latter was very fine and in great quantity. Lastrea Fenisecii, Wats., was also abundant, but not sufficiently advanced to form desirable specimens for the herba- rium. Innisfallen I found richer in ecclesiastical remains than in plants, and therefore devoted the time spent on that island to the examination of its churches, and was well repaid; still I could not help seeing Rubia peregrina, Lin., Rosa spinosissina, etc. Ross Island finds its principal attractions in its fine old castle and the views from its summit. Antirrhinum majus, Lin., with other plants, ornament the castle walls. June 26th.—Crossing the Lower Lake, and landing near the N. 8. VOL, I. E 26 THREE DAYS AT KILLARNEY. (February, north-west extremity, I made my way across the picturesque Gap of Dunloe. Before leaving the shores of the Lake I was de- lighted by the appearance of the beautiful Pinguicula grandiflora, Lam., of which I gathered about a dozen specimens, but found to my no small mortification in the evening that the splendid blos- soms had nearly all fallen. This plant I afterwards found tole- rably plentiful in the Gap of Dunloe, where also I gathered: Viola palustris, Lin., V. stagnina, Kit., and Pedicularis sylwatica, Lin. (floribus albis). Crossing a shoulder of the Purple Moun- tain, where, with the exception of Schenus nigricans, Lin., and a few plants of no greater rarity, there was not much to arrest the attention, I had the good fortune to meet with, if not a new species of Drosera, at least a very marked variety of D. longifolia. The plant was growing in a muddy ditch close to the highway . and in considerable quantity, and all the specimens having the peculiarity of being caulescent. As I did not remark this unu- sual feature at the time, I only gathered three or four plants ; but I am fully convinced that all the plants growing in the locality indicated had the same characteristic feature. The annexed woodcut will sufficiently show the peculiarity: the leaves of the plant wanted the bright straw-colour usual in our native Drosere, and were of a very faint yellowish-green. None of the plants had flower-scapes, unless what I suppose to be an unexpanded leaf prove to be-a one-flowered scape.* * Since writing the above I have learned, through the kindness of the Editor, that the caulescent form of Drosera has been found by other collectors, and among these by Mr. Pamplin in the New Forest. It has however been ignored by all modern writers on British plants since the time of Smith, although it was observed and described by Dr. Hull in the first edition of his ‘British Flora, 1799. It is unnoticed in the third edition of Withering’s Botanical Arrangement of 1796, and in Symonds’s Synopsis of 1798. Drosera longifolia (D. intermedia, Hayne). “Scapes from the root (curved at the base, passing off horizontally and becoming suddenly erect) ; leaves ovali-oblong. Capsule oblong. “Var. 2. Scape branched. “Var. 3. Caulescent. H. ox. xv. 4. row 1, fig. last but one, only the scape is too straight.” (The above hieroglyphical characters or signs are meant to represent ‘Morison’s Historia Plantarum.’) “ Ods. This is in every respect like var. 1, except that there is a stem, which in some instances is full two inches in length, with numerous leaves. I have always found it growing among Sphagnum palustre in moist bogs on heaths, and at first thought that the plant pushed up toa greater height on account of the moss growing quickly around it, and that this appearance of stem was rather to be considered as an elongation of the root; but I have doubted 1857.] THREE DAYS AT KILLARNEY. 27 I may here mention that I have a specimen of Dro- sera anglica, gathered near Urrisbeg, Connemara, in July, 1856, which is very slightly caulescent. The case of a solitary individual, found growing amongst many thousands of the normal form, and slightly varying from that form, is very different from the case where all the individuals in a locality are very con- siderably and apparently permanently removed from the ordinary state. Whe- ther the plant is a distinct ‘species, or only a variety, must depend on the cha- racters exhibited by the flowers and seed. It is highly probable that plants furnished with these or- gans may be found in the locality named by any one who will take the trouble to search for them; and I trust that some person fully qualified to settle this point may be so fortu- nate as to find flowering and fruited specimens of the Drosera in question, and communicate the result to the public. I think that I can point out very exactly the spot in which my plants were of this since I have found a stem leafy, and that the other two species of Drosera, though growing exactly in the same situation, and within a few inches of the longi- folia, do not assume this caulescent form”? (Dr. Hull’s ‘ British Flora,’ first edition, pp- 67, 68). Tf the form should prove to be one of more frequent occurrence than I at first supposed, it will likely reward the search of many collectors; and I also suggest the propriety of collectors examining the specimens which they may have already in their herbarium, in case the form may have been passed over inadvertently. It was not until my specimens were fully dry and ready for labelling that I detected the peculiarity of their form. 28 THREE DAYS AT KILLARNEY. | February, found. At Lord Brandon’s cottage I and the party who accom- panied me were freed from the swarm of peasant girls who had followed us from the Gap of Dunloe, anxious to receive English sixpences in exchange for small draughts of poteen and goat’s milk. They were without exception well-looking, civil, and mo- dest, but vastly importunate. From Lord Brandon’s cottage I returned by boat down the Upper, Middle, and Lower Lakes, a route which left me free to enjoy the beauties of the surround- ing scenery. The only plant sufficiently near to engage my attention was a Potamogeton, likely P. lanceolatus, Sm. June 27th.—This day I was chiefly occupied in observing the flowers and shrubs growing near the margin of the Lower Lake. Dianthus plumarius, ., was growing in considerable quantity on a rocky promontory in front of the Lake Hotel. This one feels — instinctively inclined to put down as an introduction; yet why should not the same feeling exist with respect to Silene inflata, which grows side by side with it? Huonymus europeus I ob- served growing on rocks in the lake. Rosa villosa, Antirrhinum majus, Galium Witheringu, Myosotis versicolor, and others still more common, I collected on the shores; Helosciadium imunda- tum and other aquatics in ditches running inté the lake. I saw also in the hands of a gentleman who had ascended Mangerton mountain, some flowers of the Pinguicula grandiflora, and which he called Violets. As I made but few notes of the plants observed during my short stay at Killarney, and for the most part only collected such plants as I had not before, or those of which I wished to have duplicates, I can furnish only a very meagre account of the botanical products of the district through which I passed. Savxifraga elegans, hirsuta, and Andrewsti I was not so fortunate as to notice; and others of less name, but still uncom- mon, did not come under my observation. Indeed, I believe three weeks, instead of three days, should have been occupied in searching out this district, and, from what I have seen of the neighbourhood, believe that I should have reaped a large harvest in return. Bayswater, December \7ith, 1856. 1857.] 29 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. Botanical Tour in the Highlands of Perthshire: Ben Lawers. From Ben Lawers Inn the easiest route up the mountain is, first, the high-road near the turnpike (toll-bar), and there turn to the left up the peat-road which leads in a direction parallel with the Den of Lawers up the hill. There is a path somewhat shorter than along the high-road, viz. across some fields, passmg by two or three straggling cottages on the Killin side of the Den. The Den may be entered near the wood about a mile from Lawers Inn. But walking by the side of the brawling torrent is often difficult, and sometimes dangerous, for the rocks often impinge upon the space between the steep brae and the stream, leaving in some parts but scanty footing for the adventurous pedestrians, in others entirely blocking up the way, and rendering a retrograde movement necessary for those who think “ discretion the better part of valour.’ We dipped into the Den, and traversed a part of it, but finding it both a tedious and toilsome medium of ad- vance we quitted it, and clambering up the steep wooded side, took to the moory, heathy ground on the left, a dreary and de- solate scene, but a very suitable approach to the mighty Ben Lawers, an appropriate foreground to the scenery before us, a magnificent propyleum into one of the most august of Nature’s temples. After scouring through this long heath, and leaping over many a peat hag, and trusting to many treacherous bogs, which some- times gave way and spattered us with black, cold, miry sludge, we got a glimpse of the dark waters of Loch-na-Gat, which we soon found to consist of two lakes, the outer one smaller than the inner, and both connected by a short, narrow strait. Round about the head of this lake or lakes stand the majestic heads and peaks, the massive buttresses of Ben Lawers. There flows into the upper end of Loch-na-Gat a rather large stream, which has its source in the north-east side of Ben Lawers: this we crossed, and, leaving the loch behind us, struck straight onwards to Stoich-an-Lochan, an eminence nearer to the Lake than the real Ben Lawers, and bearing the reputation of one of “the richest botanical fields in Breadalbane.” In passing over the wide peaty heath we had already collected several rarities, not rare here, but rare to dwellers in the fertile 30 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ February, South, some of them quite new to us freshmen who botanized here for the first time. The more interesting of these were Rubus Chamemorus, not in fruit nor in flower, but just in the transition state, with its calyxes quite empty, the petals, like the last rose of summer, “all faded and gone.” A rarer and more interesting species was noticed, not in great quantities nor of a large size, viz. Cornus suecica, a plant which reminded us of the hills of Forbes, near the old castle of Kildrummy in Aberdeenshire, where, in 1820, we first observed this charming little object. There the plants were more plentiful and of a larger size than those we picked from the extensive table-lands which skirt the summits of Ben Lawers. Another acquisition was Gnaphalium supinum, é which grew profusely on bare, turfy, or earthy spots, or on dry places, as stated by the late Wm. Gardiner. Sawifraga stellaris ¥ did not make its appearance till we had reached at least the alti- tude of the lake. Solitary individuals of this species were occa- sionally found near the bases of the mountains, probably washed down by the strong currents which rush violently along the hol- lows or drains in the upper parts, where it grows; but its home is far above that of the pretty yellow Saxifrage, the S. aizoides, which grows at the very bases of the hills and mountains. The latter ornaments the glens. Wherever there is a plashy, springy place, a drain, a ditch, or a mountain rill, there is this pretty plant, its green, shining, fleshy leaves contrasting beautifully with its deep yellow flowers. , Eriophorum vaginatum, E. angustifolium, with its variety E. gracile, Juncus castaneus, and some other Junci, not yet deter- mined, were collected. Vaccinium uliginosum, which we expected to find in these wet moory spots, did not occur; it should have been in fruit when we were there, about the middle of July. On approaching the steep rocks a little above the base of Stoich-an-Lochan, the lofty emmence nearest to Loch-na-Gat, we were conscious of being in a spot where the vegetation was not only different from what we had hitherto seen, but was, as abundant as it was rare and beautiful. Cerastium alpinum, in two very dissimilar and apparently distinct forms, covered the green grassy sward with which the stones and rocks, the dédris of the mountain, are surrounded or partly covered. One of these forms is bushy in its habit, of a hoary aspect, densely invested with a shaggy or woolly covering, rather dwarfish in stature, and 1857. ] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 31 bearing on the erect stalks one or two large white flowers. The other forms, except in the magnitude of the flowers, differed but little from C. triviale, which also abounds there. The capsules were not far enough advanced to enable us to detect any distinc- tive character in this organ. The leaves had the same shape and the stems the same erect, slender, and unbranched habit which often characterizes C. triviale. The flowers alone obviously dis- tinguished it from that species. About the stones and hollows in the little craggy places which environ the base of this immense almost perpendicular rock, pose iage Lonchitis’ Polypodium Dri yopteris; and Cystopteris fragilis “abounded. The latter fern appeared in almost every possible variety of form and size, from an inch to above a foot high, from a large, dilated, luxuriant frond to a stunted size, somewhat resembling Woodsia hyperborea in substance and outline. Of P. Lonchitis there were no very luxuriant specimens at this early period; the longest of them were only about a foot long. Though we have often seen larger fronds, we have never seen them in greater profusion than they are here. Higher up in the ledges and in the crevices of the lofty rocks, several old acquaintances were recognized. One of the most con- spicuous for its foliage, and an gives a character to this savage landscape, is Sedum. Rhodiola, ‘only some of it in flower, seated often on inaccessible cliffs, and enjoying the dripping moisture which abounds on these crags. The last time we saw this plant, growling wild, was on the Foalfoot of Ingleborough. There the plant had long passed its prime (we saw it in September) ; here it appeared in all the loveliness of its early bloom. But the most sunny flowers of these cliffy rocks were those of the Trolhus europeus, a plant which had shed its flowers in most localities of a moderate altitude, and was now in fruit. Here however its yellow blossoms, of extraordinary size and brilliancy of colour, remained to remind us of the great elevation to which we had reached, and the much lower temperature of the atmo- sphere by which we were surrounded. Humbler situations at the foot of these crags reminded us of the same facts. Here the Wood none, the Wood Sorrel, and the Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium Op. ) were still, at this late period, in full flower, though in a more southern latitude and at a lower elevation the two former had been long decayed. Several plants of a very 32 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ February, common character were growing cheek-by-jowl with the lofty and rare occupants of these awful precipices, just as is sometimes noticed in every-day life, or on certam occasions, Mr. Snob pre- sumes to ‘rub shoulders’ with Mr. Swell, and even assumes to be on familiar terms with him. We observed the Tussilago of our clay fields sheltering with her ample leaves the large, pure white blossoms of Our Lady’s Cushion (Saxifraga hypnoides), and the common Wild Angelica (A. sylvestris) shooting up its tall stem, and overhanging the beautiful velvety masses of Silene acaulis’ The great Cow Par- snip or Hog-weed, the rank and common plant of our meadows and hedges, was associated on these rocks with the elegant silvery foliage of the Alpine Lady’s Mantle. We were very much gra- tified by finding upon these rocky heights 4doxa moschatellina, a plant which had hitherto in our reminiscences been associated with the beautiful rural scenes of England. Here it was flourish- ing in as great perfection as we had ever seen it in the months of March and April under hedges and copses in Surrey and Hssex. But the most charming occupants of these awfully wild cliffs are Veronica saxaiilis aud Myosotis suaveolens* (M. alpestris). The intense and lovely colour of these floral beauties cannot be described. We had seen them in cultivation; but “ quantz mutatze ab istis !’”’—“ how degenerated !”” Some enthusiasts say that it “is well worth a long day’s journey to get but a look at the large, brilliant blue,” but very delicate flowers, of the Alpine Veronica. This season it was pretty plentiful. It does not dry satisfactorily, and consequently makes but a poor object in the herbarium. The Myosotis is quite as pleasant to look at. It has also a larger mass of flowers, and is generally more plentiful. Its home is on the mould that scantily covers the tops of the rocks. The Veronica creeps along on the slanting sides or on the débris which everywhere abounds. The Alpine Mouse-ear (Myosotis) dries very well, and would make no contemptible figure in a lady’s album. The tufts of Silene acaulis, with its green cushions of matted leaves spread over the face of the rock, and its brilliant pink blos- soms, form about as charming an object as can well be imagined. Saxifraga oppositifoka hangs in larger festoon-like patches on and over the rocks, but at our visit the flowers were nearly all gone, and the fruit had succeeded. In this state they have lost 1857. | ? TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 33 all their charms. Saxifraga sitilarie’ of various sizes, from an inch to six inches high, still abounded at this altitude, and the rarer S. nivalis was soon collected. This species has white flowers, but the petals are smaller than in S. stellaris, and they are of a slightly different shape. They want the yellow spots at the base, and the plant has larger and more rounded radical leaves. The stem is leafless in S. nivalis; in S. stellaris this organ is leafy. Draba incana also abounded on these rocks, and so did Arabis hirsutaY We believe Draba muralis grows on the same place. We thought we had captured a specimen of Arabis petrea, but on inspection it turned out to be Cardamine hirsuta, without hairs and of very slender habit. C. hirsuta of the common form and C. pratensis were also observed, but the latter not so high up the mountain as the former. One of the showiest species of this Alpine flora was Cochlearia grenlandica. This plant usually affected damp, sheltered places, where it was almost covered by the upper and impending crags. It was often seen in open exposed parts, but not in such luxuriance and beauty as when nestled in these cozy crannies and corners among the surround- ing rocks. Sagina saxatilis, Wimm., Spergula saginoides, Sm., a plant which does not differ much from S. procumbens, was not uncommon on the rocky fragments that abound everywhere under and between the impending precipices. Thalictrum alpi- num, not more than two or three inches high, was plentiful every- where on the rocks and on their débris. By this time the evening was beginning to draw near; the shadows, when the sun favoured us with a gleam, began to lengthen. This and our own feelings admonished us that it was time to seek a place of repose. We had, in the morning, when we arrived at Lawers, engaged our beds at our inn, and now we made up our minds fo take our ease at it for the night. We de- scended to the base of the mountain, or rather to the borders of the lake, and went along its margin and along the course of the stream which issues from it until we reached the village of Lawers. ‘The descent even from the upper end of the lake was not accomplished im less than an hour. It may have cost us more time than this. But we got down well, and were thankful. In the dusk of the evening Cherophyllum temulentum and Carum Carui were collected in the churchyard of Lawers. ‘The same evening one of us went to the station of Vicia sylvatica, N.S. VOL. I. E 34: TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ February, which abounds in the lower part of the Den of Lawers, not far from the mill. Specimens were brought for the herbarium rather as a memorial of our visit to Lawers than because the species was not already adequately represented in our collection. Ay- menophyllum Wilsont has been gathered below the falls near the station of the beautiful Wood Vetch. This we did not see. — The night was drizzly, and the next morning chilly and uncom- fortable ; but about seven o’clock the fog cleared away from the summit of the mountain, and we determined then to pay it an- other visit. From what we saw on the afternoon and evening of the 17th we rightly concluded that we had broken the neck of our undertaking, or, in other words, we had seen nearly all the plants that we were likely to see in Scotland this turn; yet the desire of picking up only the gleanings from so exuberant a field ~ induced us to breast the hill and brave the inclemencies of the atmosphere a second time. On the morning of the 18th of July, about eight o’clock, we started again from Lawers Inn, and, profiting by yesterday’s expe- rience, followed the stream, or walked on the peat-road as far as it went; then followed the stream and the shores of the lake, till we reached the upper end of Loch-na-Gat. We gradually worked our way upwards under the lee-side of the rocks which sheltered. us from the driving rain and the high wind, which blew keen and cold from the north-west. Geum rivale, Geranium pratense, and G. sylvaticum reach a high elevation on these rocks, along with several species neither prized for beauty nor rarity. Among ae latter ignobles, Leon- todon Taraxacum was very conspicuous. hae Mieracia noticed by us were neither numerous nor recherchés. “ H. holosericeum of Backhouse’s monograph was secured, and on an inaccessible cliff what was probably H. cerinthotdes was seen; but neither the spe- cimen which we did secure nor the one seen which we could not reach was in flower, and hence it would require the aid of one better skilled in the diagnostics of the genus than we are to come to a satisfactory decision about them. Rubus saxatilis’ was gathered, or rather the root-leaves of the plant; for those we saw had no stems. We were rather sur- prised at this, for the plant, both in flower and in fruit, abounds about Gordale and Malham, Yorkshire, among the stony dédris of the limestone rocks. Y Alsine Cherieri, Fenzl, Cherleria sedoides, 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 35 Lin., and Sidbaldia ae mena Reit Sibbaldi) abounded, —the former in rather extensive patches on the hanging rocks, the latter was widely scattered, over the bare, stony parts of the mountain. Epilobium alpinunt was but sparingly collected on the borders of these alpine rills, and none of the specimens were more than a very few inches high. Solidago Virgaurea, with lanceolate leaves, abounded ; so oul the large-flowered pr ostrate variety of Veronica serpy ifotia! Baiagenam viviparum, Oxyria reniformi, and several species of Juncacee, Cyperacee, and Graminee were noticed. We have not yet had time to identify them all, but Juncus castaneus, Luzula spicata; Carex atratd, and Sesleria_ caruleas were among the number. Very high up the “mountain a ‘solitary specimen of Habenaria bifolia occurred. We did not observe any other Orchid at this elevation. Beyond the ridge, and down a rather steep descent, there is a bog abounding in Cotton-grasses and Sedges. Here plenty of Salix herbaceay which we did not observe before, was collected. This minute Willow is not more herba- ceous than S. repens or any of the minute forms of the genus that abound on our own open heaths. There is scarcely any ligneous plant that could ripen wood on any of the summits of the Ben Lawers ridge. All the Willows would become herbaceous at this height, or, what is the same thing, their stems would perish annually, which is the character of a herbaceous plant. By this time the day was more than half gone, and the highest head of Ben Lawers was still more than half covered with its misty cap. The wind and the rain were gradually increasing as we ascended, and there was no prospect of any abatement of their violence. The state of the weather and other considerations in- duced us to relinquish the pleasure of threading the rocky pas- sages on and near the summit of the mountain, which pleasure we reserved for another time. We can adopt Wordsworth’s beautiful language, full as it is of exquisite poetic feeling and truthful ex- pression, merely changing Yarrow into Ben Lawers :— “Tf care with freezing years shall come, And wandering seem but folly, Should we be loath to stir from home, And yet be melancholy, Should life be dull and spirits low, *T'will soothe us in our sorrow, That earth has something yet to show— The bonny holms of Yarrow.” 36 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ February, For the bonny holms of Yarrow let “the views from proud Ben Lawers” be substituted. But we believe naturalists are not often troubled with the megrims or vapours. They need not go to Ben Lawers nor to any other remote locality to dissipate their melan- choly. Wimbledon Common, Roehampton, and Putney Heaths, even the Isle of Dogs, Woolwich and Plumstead Marshes, have charms for the fraternity. Botanists have excitements of a simple nature, capable of curing any attack of dulness or “ spirits low.” Tt was certainly to be regretted that time did not permit us to remain longer, for the next day was clear and fine too, from end to end; but as arrangements had been made for our re- turning, return we did, every now and then looking back and regretting that the weather was not so propitious during our stay . as it was on our departure. We had however the pleasure of learning, on authority which we have no permission to state, but in which we have the fullest confidence, that this very season ¥ Alsine rubella, Saxifraga cernua, Gentiana nivalis; and Dryas octopetala had all been collected on Ben Lawers, and in flower. From the same authority a more important item of intelligence is derived, viz. that Veronica fruticulosa had been rediscovered on Ben Lawers. This fact, which we hope duly to announce, will render the fol- lowing extract from the first volume of the ‘ English Flora,’ p. 18, deeply interesting to British botanists :—“V. fruticulosa, Lin., ete. On the mountains of Scotland and in wet places. Gathered on Ben Cruachan, in Argyleshire, by the Rev. Dr. Walker, from whose original plant, cultivated in his garden, I have specimens. Mr. R. Brown, whose accuracy is also beyond all doubt or ‘supposition,’ told me he found this plant on Ben Lawers. I trust no further confirmation is necessary to esta- blish it a native.” Most of us are aware of the generally prevalent presumption that Hierochloe borealis had never really been found wild in Scot- land; yet this plant was, only about a couple of years ago, redis- covered at a great distance from its first announced Scottish loca- lity. The particulars of this more recent rediscovery of a Scottish native is expected with some impatience. 1857] 37 IRISH MOSSES. Observations on the Mosses of Ireland, with a Supplementary List of Species not contained in the ‘Flora Hibernica, together with their Habitats. By D. Moors, Esq., M.R.1.A., etc. etc. Those who have paid much attention to the geographical dis- tribution of plants in this country must have observed that the species and individuals, both Phenogamic and Cryptogamic, or, in other words, vascular and cellular plants, decrease in number progressively from the east side of the island to the west. For instance, a greater number of species are generally found in the counties of Antrim, on the north-east, and Dublin, on the east side, than there are in Sligo, on the north-west, and Galway, on the west side. The cause of this discrepancy is hardly reconci- lable to differences in their geological formations, which no doubt affect the growth of plants very materially; neither are the causes assignable to elevation and undulation of the surface, both beig pretty much the same in the counties I have instanced ; I would rather therefore consider them to be more of a meteoro- logical nature ; the west coast being so sensibly affected by the Gulf stream—an equable and moderately high temperature, ac- companied with a more than ordinary degree of moisture, are nearly constant throughout the season—circumstances which do not prevail to the same degree in other parts of the island. Accordingly, among the plants in these localities large quantities of a few rare species grow, which are not found elsewhere in the United Kingdom: as examples, I may instance the two Heaths, Erica mediterranea, var. hibernica, and EL. Mackuiana, along with several Saxifrages; and, as Cryptogamic species, the well- known Killarney Fern Trichomanes radicans, and Jungermannia Woodsiz. Some species of Mosses are very local, and confined to certain districts, while others are only known to grow on particular kinds of rocks. Among the latter is one of our rarest and minutest species, namely Weissia pusilla, which has only, I believe, been observed to grow on limestone. It occurs in considerable abun- dance in several places near Belfast, but I never saw it elsewhere in Ireland. Again, with respect to those that are local, I never found the pretty little Moss Glyphomitrion Daviesii, excepting 38 IRISH MOSSES. | February, on the basaltic rocks in the neighbourhood of the Giant’s Cause- way, where it is plentiful. Hypnum moniliforme seems to inhabit only one district in Connemara, where it grows on almost every large rock, though never yet found in fruit there. Distichum inclinatum and Diphyscium foliosum appear to be confined to the west and north-west counties. Species which are not in ‘ Flora Hiber- nica, but are noticed in * Bryologia Britannica’ as Irish. OrpER—BRYACHA Section I.—AcROCARPI. Dicranodontiun longirostre, Br. and Sch. Habitat, Cromagloun Wood, near Killarney. Found by Dr. Tay- lor, 1841. Campylopus densus, Sch. Habitat, near Bantry. Found by Miss Hutchins, 1808. Howth, Mr. Orr, 1856. Campylopus setifolius, Wilson. Habi- tat, near Dunkerron. Dr. Taylor. Campylopus longipilus, Br. Habitat, Howth, Lough Bray, ete. Didymodon recurvifolius, Taylor. Ha- bitat, near Kenmare. Found by Dr. Taylor, 1842. Didymodon luwridus, Hornschuch. Ha- bitat, near Cork. W. Wilson, Esq., 1829. Tortula ambigua, Br. and Sch. Habi- tat, on the tops of mud walls near Dublin; very common during March and April. D. M. Tortula oblongifolia, Hook. and Wilson. Habitat, near Dublin. Mr. Drum- mond, 1829. This was the only ha- bitat known for this rare species in the British Islands up to the present year, 1856, when it was rediscovered by Mr. David Orr, near Bray, where I have since seen it growing in consi- derable quantities. Encalypta ciliata, Hedwig. Habitat, Benbradagh Mountain, near Dungi- ven, Co. Derry, where I found it plen- tifully in 1835. Species which are not noticed in * Bryo- logia Britannica, nor in ‘ Flora Hi- bernica, as Irish. OrpER—BRYACE. Section I.— AcRocaARPI. Habitat, Howth, very sparingly, growing on a wall-top with Pottia crinita. Mr. D. Orr. I have since seen it there. Dicranum fuscescens, Turner. Habitat, near Luggelaw, Co. Wicklow. Col- lected in 1852 by Mr. Orr and myself. Dicranum majus, Turner. Habitat, Lough Bray and Killarney. *Pottia crinita, Wilson. Habitat, Howth, in one spot only, whence Mr. Orr brought it to me last March, and where I collected it since. Rhabdoweissia denticulata, Br. and Sch. Habitat, Slemish Mountain, Co. Derry. This species is probably in- cluded in Dr. Taylor’s list, under the uame of Weissia striata, along with Rhabdoweissia fugax, Br. and Sch. *Trichostomum flexicaule, Br. and Sch. Habitat, Portmarnock Sands, where it grows plentifully, but always barren. Tortula aloides, Br. and Sch. Habi- tat, clay fields, near Dublin, frequent. This moss, and also Tortula ambiqua, Br. and Sch., are no doubt mixed up with Tortula rigida, Schultz, by Dr. Taylor in ‘Fl. Hib.,’ though very distinct species from it. Tortula latifolia, Br. and Sch. Habi- tat, on trees, about Glasnevin. First observed by Mr. D. Orr, 1856. *Tortula levipila, Brid. Habitat, on trees, near Dublin. Phascum bryoides, Dickson. 1857. | TRISH Hedwigidiwn imberbe, By. and Sch. Ha- bitat, near Glengariff. Miss Hut- chins. Grimmia leucophea, Greville. Habitat, on basaltic rocks on the Antrim coast, where it has been collected by myself, and also by Mr. Orr. Grimmia patens, Br. and Sch. Habi- tat, Slemish Mountain, near Bally- mena, Co. Derry, where I collected it in 1836, and sent specimens to the late Dr. Taylor. Orthotrichum pumilum, Dickson. Ha- bitat, near Kilcock, on trees. Mr. R. Brown, 1852. Orthotrichum Ludwigit, Sch. Habitat, Tveland. ‘ Bryol. Brit.’ Orthotrichum Drwummondii, Hook. and Grey. Habitat, Tore Mountain, Kil- larney. ‘ Bryol. Brit.’ Orthotrichum tenellum, Bruch. Habi- tat, near Bantry. Miss Hutchins, 1815. Ina wood about a mile west of Galway, where I collected it spa- ringly, 1854. Bryum pallescens, Sch. Habitat, near Clonmel. Mr. Sidebothom. Bryum Tozerii, Greville. Habitat, near Cork, by the side of the river Lee, where I collected it in 1842, and where it has since been found by Mr. Isaac Carroll, of Cork. Bartramidula Wilsoni, Br. and Sch. Habitat, Connor Hill, near Dingle. W. Wilson, Hsq., 1829. Bartramia rigida, Bals. et Notaris. Habitat, near Killarney. Dr. Taylor. Fissidens exilis, Hedwig. Habitat, Bo- tanie Garden, Glasnevin. Fissidens osmundioides, Hedwig. Habi- tat, Benbulben, Co. Sligo, very large and fine, 1854. Fissidens asplenioides, var. B, Swartz. Habitat, near Glengariff. W. Wilson, Esq. Fissidens tamarindifolius, Turner. Ha- bitat, Cullenswood, near Dublin. Dr. Whitley Stokes. MOSSES. 39 Tortula papillosa, Wilson. Habitat, on trees, near Dublin. First observed by Mr. D. Orr, 1856. Racomitrium pratense, Braun. Habi- tat, Lough Bray, Co. Wicklow, where I observed it in 1845. Orthotrichum rupestre, Sch. Habitat, on rocks near the Giant’s Causeway, where I first found it in 1837, and sent it to the late Dr. Taylor. * Orthotrichum Bruchii, Br. Habitat, on rocks near Clonmel. 1856. Orthotrichum phyllanthum, Br. and Sch. Habitat, on trees near Johnstown, Co. Wexford. Mr. Lawson, of Edin- burgh, who is now engaged on a work on Mosses, wrote to me that he had received this Moss from the above habitat in 1856. *Zygodon Mougeoti, Br. and Sch. Ha- bitat, in the crevices of moist rocks, many parts of Ireland; very fine at Galtymore, 1855. * Leptobrywm pyriforme, ‘Bryol. Europ,’ Habitat, on a moist bank by the side of the river Bann, about two miles above Drogheda, 1850. This Moss abounds on the surfaces of pots in our greenhouses, though so rare in a truly wild state. * Brywn pseudotriquetrum, Schw. Hab., Co. Antrim, in bogs, Mr. D. Orr, 1836. * Bryum uliginosum, By. and Sch. Ha- bitat, wet banks, Glendaugh, Co. Dub- lin. Mr. D. Orr, 1852. Brywn sanguineum, Bridel. Habitat, moist banks, Kelly’s Glen and Glen- daugh. 1846. Brywm atropurpureum, Weber and Mohr. Habitat, on walls and heathy places near Dublin. The two last species are included in Turner’s ‘ Musci Hibernici,’ under the names of Brywm bicolor and Brywn lacustre, according to Mr. Wilson, in *‘ Bryologia Britannica.’ Bryum torquescens, Br. and Sch. Habi- tat, Killarney, and near Dublin. 1856. 40 COMMON Section I].—PLEUROCARPI. Anectangiun Hornschuchianum, Hoppe. Habitat, Killarney, where it was first discovered by the late Dr. Taylor, and now observed to be rather com- mon there. Hypnum Teesdalii, Smith. Habitat, near Bantry. Miss Hutchins. Hypnun pumilum, Wilson. Habitat, on trees, Botanic Garden, Glasnevin. Hypnim striatulum, Spruce. Habitat, Killarney. W. Wilson, 1829; and Mr. D. Orr, 1855. Hypnum polygamum, ‘Bryol. Europ. ~ Habitat, Portmarnock Sands, where I observed it in 1844, Hypnum elegans, Hooker. Habitat, near Bantry, Miss Hutchins. Hypnun ochracewn, Turner. Habitat, near Bantry, Miss Hutchins. Bally- cheulish, D. Turner, Esq., 1807; and plentiful in Kelly’s Glen, Co. Dublin. By myself, 1839. Neckera pennata, Hall. Habitat, on trees, Collon Glen, near Belfast. Mr. DOr PLANTS. [ February, Section II.—PLEUROCARPI. Leskea Spruceit, Bruch. Habitat, Port- marnock Sands, on wet spots, 1855. Leskea rufescens, Hall. Habitat, on limestone rocks, Benbulben. First dis- covered by Professor Dickie, of Bel- fast, and since gathered by myself in same locality plentifully. Leskea subrufa, Wilson. Habitat, on limestone rocks, Benbulben, where I found it sparingly in fruit, in July, 1844. Mr. Orr finds it at Killarney. Hypnun illecebrum, Lin. Habitat, on Howth. Mr. D. Orr. *Hypnum rivulare, Bruch. Habitat, Kelly’s Glen, Co. Dublin, 1850. *Hypnum chrysophyllum, Bridel. Ha- bitat, Portmarnock, and near Galway, 1843. Hypnum lycopodioides, Necker. Habi- - tat, Howth, and other places near Dublin. Hypnun crista-castrensis, Lin. Habitat, Collon Glen, near Belfast. Mr. D. Orr, 1847. Noret.—After the foregoing was written, Mr. Isaac Carroll, of Cork, called my attention to a Supplementary List of Irish Mosses, published by him in the Feb- ruary number of the ‘ Phytologist’ for 1856; I have therefore marked the species which are in his List, and not in ‘ Bryologia Britannica,’ with an asterisk.—D. M. ADDENDA. Orthotrichum phyllanthum grows in great abundance on trees, in Sir Charles Coote’s demesne at Ballyfin, Queen’s County, where I collected it in June, 1856. Orthotrichum crispulum, Hornsch. Habitat, on trees at Ballyfin, along with the former, June, 1856. —-Lxtract from Journal of Royal Dublin Society. COMMON PLANTS. By the Rev. Huen A. Stowe... Most of the plants which have a very wide range throughout Great Britain may, in a certain sense, be called ‘common.’ A very cursory inspection, however, of a list comprising all 1857. | COMMON PLANTS. 4] those plants which have been ascertained to grow in fifteen or more of the eighteen provinces into which Great Britain has been divided for botanico-statistical purposes in the ‘Cyb. Brit.,’ will at once convince any one that such a standard of commonness is a very unsatisfactory one. He will find species varying im- mensely in actual abundance classed indiscriminately together, undoubted rarities side by side with daisies, buttercups, and nettles. For the purpose, then, of ascertaining more satisfactorily what species would probably be voted ‘common’ by a majority of in- dividual botanists, classifying according to their own experience, let us suppose our island divided into districts of such size as may be readily traversed and explored by a local botanist,—say eight miles square,—we shall not then, I think, find much diffi- culty in separating all our Flora into four great classes. Class A will comprise those plants which probably occur m at least 99 per cent. of such districts. These may be called Universal Species. Class B will consist of plants likely to be found in at least 75 per cent. of such districts. 'These may be called Com- mon Species. Class C will embrace plants which may be ex- pected to occur in 50 per cent. or somewhat more of such dis- tricts. These we may term Frequent Species. To Class D the remainder of our Flora will belong, consisting of all such plant: as may be supposed to grow in a decided minority, greater or less, of such districts, and which therefore are justly entitled to the appellation of the Uncommon Species. Now it seems to me that the plants which may be comprised in Classes A and B are the only ones which can with justice and propriety be called Common Plants ; and in this opinion I think that I shall be supported by a decided majority of my brother- botanists. The occupants of Class C are but at best entitled to the denomination of Neutrals. But it may fairly be asked,—This is all very well, but és this system of classification so easy as you fancy? That, I grant, re- mains to be proved. Let us however put it to the test, and see how far the following attempt will prove satisfactory. Class A.— Universal Species (145). Ranunculus aquatilis. Ranunculus Flammula. Ranunculus repens. Ranunculus Ficaria. Ranunculus acris. Caltha palustris. N. 8. VOL. If. G 42 Fumaria officinalis. Capsella Bursa-pastoris. Cardamine pratensis. Cardamine hirsuta. Nasturtium officinale. Sisymbrium officinale. Sinapis arvensis. Viola canina. Lychnis diurna. Lychnis Flos-cuculi ? Sagina procumbens. Stellaria media. Stellaria Holostea ? Stellaria graminea. Cerastium triviale. Cerastium glomeratum. Geranium Robertianum. Oxalis Acetosella. Ulex europzus. Trifolium repens. Trifolium pratense. Trifolium procumbens. Lotus corniculatus. Vicia sativa ? Vicia sepium. Lathyrus pratensis. Prunus spinosa. Spirea Ulmaria. Geum urbanum. Potentilla anserina. Potentilla Tormentilla. Fragaria vesca. Rosa canina. Crateegus Oxyacantha. Epilobium montanum. Epilobium parviflorum. Callitriche verna. Hedera Helix. Heraclium Sphondylium. Anthriscus sylvestris. Daucus Carota. Lonicera Periclymenum. Galium palustre. Galium saxatile. Galium Aparine. Apargia autumnalis. Sonchus oleraceus. COMMON PLANTS. Crepis virens P Hieracium Pilosella. Lapsana communis. Taraxacum officinale. Arctium Lappa. Carduus palustris. Carduus lanceolatus. Carduus arvensis. Centaurea nigra. Filago germanica ? Senecio vulgaris. Senecio Jacobzea. Bellis perennis. Chrysanthemum leucanth. Pyrethrum inodorum., Achillea Millefolium. Calluna vulgaris. Fraxinus excelsior. Veronica arvensis. Veronica serpyllifolia. Veronica Beccabunga ? Veronica officinalis ? Veronica Chameedrys ? Veronica hedereefolia. Veronica agrestis. Euphyrasia officinalis. Rhinanthus Crista-Galli. Thymus Serpyllum. Ajuga reptans. Lamium purpureum. Stachys sylvatica ? Prunella vulgaris. Myosotis arvensis. Myosotis ceespitosa. Primula vulgaris. Plantago major. Plantago lanceolata. Chenopodium album. Atriplex hastata. Atriplex angustifolia. Polygonum Persicaria. Polygonum Hydropiper ? Polygonum aviculare. Polygonum Conyolvulus. Rumex crispus. Rumex obtusifolius. [ February, Rumex Acetosa. Rumex Acetosella. Euphorbia Helioscopia. Urtica urens. Urtica dioica. Corylus Avellana. Betula alba. Populus nigra. Orchis maculata. Tris Pseudacorus ? Hyacinthus non-seriptus. Potamogeton natans. Lemna minor. Juncus effusus. Juncus conglomeratus. Juncus acutiflorus. Luzula campestris. Scirpus ceespitosus. Phalaris arundinacea. Anthoxanthum odoratum. Phleum pratense. Alopecurus pratensis. Agrostis vulgaris. Agrostis alba. Phragmites vulgaris. Aira czespitosa. Aira flexuosa. Holcus lanatus. Holcus mollis. Glyceria fluitans. Poa annua. Poa pratensis. Poa trivialis. Cynosurus cristatus. Dactylis glomerata. Festuca ovina. Festuca pratensis. Bromus mollis. Triticum repens. Lolium perenne ? Polypodium vulgare. Lastrea Filix-mas. Pteris aquilina. Equisetum arvense. Equisetum palustre. Equisetum limosum ? 1857.] COMMON PLANTS. 43 Class B.—Common Species (174). P Anemone nemorosa. ? Ranunculus hederaceus. Ranunculus bulbosus. Ranunculus sceleratus. ? Papaver dubium. Papaver Rheeas. ? Draba verna. Arabis Thaliana. Barbarea vulgaris. Alliaria officinalis. Raphanus Raphanistrum. ? Viola tricolor. Polygala vulgaris. Lychnis vespertina. Lychnis Githago. ? Spergula arvensis. ? Arenaria serpyllifolia. AXthusa Cynapiun. ? Bunium flexuosum. Angelica sylvestris. Seandix Pecten. Cheerophyll. temulentum. ? Sambucus nigra. Galium verum. Sherardia arvensis. Fedia olitoria, Scabiosa succisa. Knautia arvensis ? Hypocheris radicata. P Sonchus arvensis. ? Sonchus asper. Hieracium murorum. Hieracium vulgatum. Centaurea Cyanus. ? Cerastium semidecandrum. ? Artemisia vulgaris. ? Linum eatharticum. Malva sylvestris. ? Geranium molle. Geranium dissectum. Hypericum perforatum. Gnaphalium uliginosum. Filago minima. Tussilago Farfara. ? Solidago Virgaurea. Senecio sylvaticus. Hypericum quadrangulum. Senecio aquaticus. Hypericum pulchrum. Spartium scoparium. ? Ononis arvensis. Medicago lupulina. Trifolium medium. Trifolium filiforme. Trifolium arvense P Vicia Cracca. ? Vicia hirsuta. Agrimonia Eupatoria. Potentilla reptans. Potentilla Fragariastrum. ? Pyrus Aucuparia. Epilobium palustre. Epilobium tetragonum. Circeea lutetiana. Myriophyllum spicatum. Scleranthus annuus. ? Sedum acre. Chrysosplenium oppositi. Hydrocotyle vulgaris. ? Conium maculatum. Chrysanthemum segetum. Achillea Ptarmica ? ? Campanula rotundifolia. Erica cinerea. Erica Tetralix. ? Tex Aquifolium. ? Erythrza Centaurium. Conyolvulus arvensis P Conyolvulus sepium ? Solanum Dulcamara. Veronica Anagallis. Bartsia Odontites. Melampyrum pratense. Pedicularis sylvatica. Scrophularia nodosa. Linaria vulgaris. ? Mentha aquatica. ? Mentha arvensis. ? Teucrium Scorodonia. Lamium album. Lamium amplexicaule. Lamium incisum. Galeopsis Tetrahit. Stachys palustris. ? Nepeta Glechoma. Myosotis palustris. Myosotis versicolor. Myosotis collina. Lycopsis arvensis. ? Anagallis arvensis. Atriplex patula. Atriplex Babingtonii. Polygonum amphibium ? Rumex conglomeratus. ? Euphorbia Peplus. ? Mercurialis perennis. Parietaria officinalis. ? Ulmus montana. ? Quercus Robur. Alnus glutinosa. ? Populus tremula. ? Salix cinerea. Salix viminalis. Salix aurita. Salix alba. Salix Caprea. Juniperus communis. Listera ovata. Orchis mascula. Orchis latifolia ? Alisma Plantago. P Triglochin palustre. Potamogeton crispus. Potamogeton perfoliatus. Potamogeton lucens ? Arum maculatum, Sparganium ramosum. Juncus bufonius P Juncus squarrosus. Juncus lamprocarpus. Juncus supinus. Luzula pilosa. ? Luzula multiflora. Scirpus palustris. Scirpus lacustris. ? Eriophorum angustifol. Carex pulicaris. Carex stellulata. 44, Carex vulpina ? Carex paniculata. Carex pallescens. Carex glauca. P Carex panicea. ? Carex vulgaris. Carex flava. Carex precox. Carex binervis ? Carex pilulifera. ? Carex paludosa. ? Alopecurus geniculatus. COMMON PLANTS. Agrostis canina. ? Aira caryophyllea. P Arrhenath. avenaceum. Triodia decumbens. Catabrosa aquatica. Glyceria rigida P Poa nemoralis P ? Briza media. ? Festuca duriuscula. Bromus asper. Bromus sterilis. Avena pratensis. [ February, Triticum caninum. Nardus stricta. Aspidium aculeatum P Aspidium lobatum ? Lastrea Oreopteris ? Lastrea dilatata ? Athyrium Filix-feemina ? Asplenium Trichomanes. Asplenium Ruta-muraria. Asplenium Ad.-nigrum. Scolopendrium vulgare. Blechnum boreale. Class C.—Frequent Species (172). Thalictrum minus ? Ranunculus auricomus. Ranunculus circinatus ? Ranunculus hirsutus ? Nympheea alba. Nuphar lutea. Papaver Argemone. ? Fumaria capreolata. Coronopus Ruellii. Lepidium Smithii ? Lepidium campestre. Arabis hirsuta. Nasturtium terrestre. Sisymbrium Sophia? ? Brassica Napus. Brassica Rapa. Sinapis nigra. Reseda Luteola. ? Helianthemum vulgare. Viola odorata. j ? Drosera rotundifolia. ? Silene inflata. Sagina apetala. Sagina nodosa. P Spergularia rubra. Arenaria trinervis. Stellaria uligmosa. Radiola Millegrana. Malva moschata. Hypericum humifusum. Hypericum hirsutum. ? Hrodium cicutarium. Geranium lucidum ? Genista anglica. Anthyllis Vulneraria. Trifolium minus. Lotus major. Ornithopus perpusillus. Orobus tuberosus. Prunus avium. Geum rivale? Comarum palustre P Rubus Ideeus. ? Alchemilla arvensis. Poterium Sanguisorba. Pyrus Malus. Epilobium hirsutum. Myriophyllum alternifl. Callitriche platycarpa. Lythrum Salicaria. Peplis Portula. Montia fontana. Sempervivum tectorum. Saxifraga tridactylites. Adoxa moschatellina. - P Sanicula europzea. Helosciadium nodiflorum. Helosciadium inundatum. Sium angustifolium. Aigopodium Podagraria, ? Pimpinella Saxifraga. (inanthe fistulosa. ? Gnanthe crocata. Torilis Anthriscus. Torilis infesta. Anthriscus vulgaris. Viburnum Opulus. Galium cruciatum ? Galium uliginosum. Galium Mollugo? ? Asperula odorata. Valeriana officinalis. Dipsacus sylvestris. Tragopogon pratensis. Apargia hispida. Hieracium boreale. Hieracium umbellatum. Arctium Bardana. Carduus acanthoides. Carlina vulgaris. Centaurea Scabiosa. Bidens cernua. Eupatorium cannabinum. Tanacetum vulgare. Gnaphalium sylvaticum. Petasites vulgaris. Pulicaria dysenterica. Pyrethrum Parthenium. Anthemis Cotula. Jasione montana. ? Vaccinium Myrtillus. Menyanthes trifoliata. Hyoscyamus niger. Verbascum Thapsus. Veronica scutellata. Veronica montana P Veronica polita. Pedicularis palustris. Digitalis purpurea. Lycopus europzus. Mentha sativa. Origanum vulgare. 1857. ] Calamintha Clinopodium ? Galeopsis Ladanum. Stachys Betonica. Stachys arvensis. Scutellaria galericulata. Lithospermum arvense. Symphytum officinale. Echium vulgare. Pinguicula vulgaris. Utricularia vulgaris. Primula veris. ? Lysimachia nemorun. P Anagallis tenella. Plantago media. Plantago Coronopus. Chenopodium Bonus-Hen. Atriplex deltoidea. ? Polygonum lapathifol. Rumex sanguimeus. Rumex Hydrolapathum. Salix fragilis. Salix purpurea. Salix Smithiana. ? Salix fusca. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. Myrica Gale. Taxus baccata. Gymnadenia Conopsea. Habenaria bifolia. Orchis Morio P Allium ursinum. Alisma ranunculoides ? Potamogeton pectinatus. Potamogeton pusillus ? Potamogeton rufescens. Potamogeton densus. Lemna trisulca. Sparganium simplex. Typha latifolia. Juncus glaucus. Juncus obtusiflorus ? Juncus compressus P Luzula sylvatica. Narthecium ossifragum. Schoenus nigricans ? Scirpus setaceus. Scirpus acicularis. Scirpus fluitans. 45 Eriophorum yaginatum. ? Carex ovalis. Carex curta. ? Carex remota. Carex muricata. Carex acuta. ? Carex fulva. Carex distans. ? Carex sylvatica. Carex hirta. P Carex ampullacea. Carex riparia. Milium effusum. ? Aira preecox. Avena pubescens. Melica uniflora. Molinia ceerulea. Poa compressa. Festuca bromoides. Festuca loliacea. Bromus commutatus. Brachypodium sylvaticum. Lycopodium clavatum. Class D.—Uncommon Species (about 1000). Note.— ? prefixed to a species, intimates a doubt whether it ought not to belong to the previous Class. be referred to the following Class. The same mark affixed, a query whether it is not rather to BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. DEVELOPMENT OF HEAT IN THE SPADIX OF ARUM MACULATUM. A phenomenon in the properties of the plant was observed by my little son and myself, in the month of May last, which may not be uninteresting to some of your readers, and was quite unknown to me until I tried the following experiment :—As my son, a boy of eight years old, was the dis- coverer, I shall give its history in his own words. He picked the plant in full bloom, in a boggy part of Pett’s Wood in this parish, and ran up to me saying, “Oh, Pappy, this thing in the middle is quite hot,” and I, supposing it to be caused by the concentrated rays of the sun from the concavity of the spathe, thought no more about it for some time; but finding that the warmth continued the whole of that and part of the next day, I tested it by applying both the spadix and the spathe to the bulb of a good thermometer, and found that the clubby portion of the spadix 46 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [February, was 71° Fahrenheit, whilst the spathe only 573°, making a difference of 133° of temperature. I then inverted the experiment, with partially the same result, the plant having lost part of its vitality. Plants picked at other times from the same locality exhibited the same properties. Chiselhurst, December 6, 1856. G. B. WoLLASTON. On RemovING ORCHISES. “H.B.” in ‘Phytologist,’ No. 20, New Series, page 520, says, “I am per- suaded the best time to remove Orchises . . . is after they have done flowering, and when the roots are preparing, or rather are ready prepared, for the next year.” As I have had considerable experience in the cultivation of Or- chises for many years, perhaps I may be allowed to express an opinion, that when the roots are prepared for next year is not the best time for their removal, as is obvious for the following reasons :—The tips or spon- cioles of the roots are exceedingly fragile, and even with the greatest care are either cut through by the trowel in the act of removal, or broken off after they have been dug up, by their own weight, against the sides of the vasculum, etc. The roots (and not the bulbs or tubers) are the portions of the plant by which its inflorescence is developed or supported, as may be easily proved by taking two roots of the same Orchis just showing their flowering spikes. Remove the tubers alone from one, and the roots or even the tips of the roots from the other; the former will flourish as if nothing had been done, and the other will dwindle away. Therefore I infer that the best time to remove Orchises is when they are in full bloom, or, in other words, before they have made any roots for the next year. The various genera will require slight modifications of this rule, which experience alone can teach. _ G. B. WoLtaston. SAXIFRAGA TRIDACTYLITES, ETC. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. H. A. STOWELL. ‘The following observation may be of some interest to you. In p. 397 you believe that Sazifraga tridactylites is confined to walls and roofs in England: again, p. 398, it is classed amongst plants never seen except on artificial erections, ete. If you will come here next March, I will show it to you, all well, growing in profusion on a ‘sunny declivity,’—a gravel bank at least three-quarters of a mile from any artificial erection, except a few posts, rails, and gates, in company with Draba verna and Myosotis - collina. “Verbena also grows by pathsides in the woods between Badging Downs and Belmont, move than half a mile from any house (see p. 416). “We have had some interesting information in the pages of the ‘ Phy- tologist’ on the peculiarities of the Glastonbury Thorn; but I think no one has alluded to a similar idiosyncrasy on the part of the Oak. And yet I suppose every one has heard of the famous Cadenham Oak of the . New Forest, which puts on a bright green robe each year in honour of the great Christmas festival, and lays it aside again with the new year till Holy Thursday comes round. This freak on the part of a true British Oak is surely more unaccountable than that Joseph of Arimathea’s Thorn should still, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, forget its altered cir- 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. A7 fo and retain the old instincts and habits of its dear sunny father- and. “Surely the name ‘Live-long,’ applied to Sedum Telephium (p. 4517), rather denotes its own wonderful vitality than any supposed efficacy as a human life-perserver. I find that no ordinary pressure will destroy this vitality. Last year I selected one of several specimens, which had put forth vigorous though of course blanched shoots during a fortnight’s close imprisonment between tightly strapped boards, and planted it, when, to my amazement, it at once took root, and still flourishes in its native haunts. May it ‘ Live long’! “Cuscuta Trifolii and Veronica Buwbaumii are spreading fast in our clover and turnip fields. Draba inflata (Hooker) was plentiful this spring on a gravel bank by the roadside through Bysing wood. “T suppose that Vicia sepium was omitted by oversight from the List of ‘Common Plants.’ Is it not decidedly the commonest of our Vetches ?” VERONICA PEREGRINA. In July last I spent a few weeks in the neighbourhood of Belfast, county Antrim, and had the good fortune to find a species of Veronica fully established as a weed of the soil, and seemingly as much at home as any of its congeners. Through the kindness of Dr. Hooker and Mr. Babington I have had the species identified as /. peregrina, L., an un- doubted foreigner. Don describes VY. peregrina as having subserrated leaves, in my specimens they are perfectly entire. ‘They were gathered in the fruit-garden of The Lodge, Belfast, and, though not confined to one spot, were principally found growing amongst Parsley. Were Parsley- seed brought from abroad this would at once afford a clue to the manner of its introduction; but being of home production we must be content take the fact as we find it, and return the verdict wot proven in reference to the way in which this stranger has made his appearance. Collectors can have specimens in exchange on application. W. M. Hinp. Bayswater, January 13. ANGILOPS CHANGED INTO WHEAT. «There is nothing more improbable in this (the specific identity of Almond-trees, Peach-trees, etc.), than that we know must have occurred in the production of Cauliflowers from the Wild Cabbage of our English coasts, or of Muscat Grapes from the small-fruited Wild Vine of Baidar, or of Wheat from gilops, which last case, we presume, may now be regarded as beyond reasonable contradiction.”—Gard. Chron. August 9, 1856, p. 532. May it not be inferred that the two former facts are not “beyond rea- sonable contradiction”? We wish our readers would give us the re- sult of their serious considerations on these facts—facts assumed by high authority ; but facts should be supported by evidence rather than by az- thority. Epipocium apHyitium. By D. Stock. Lpipogium is the most curious discovery that has ever been made among the wild plants of this country. It is a leafless pallid Orchid, related to the common Neottia Nidus-avis. Germany, Switzerland, Siberia had alone 48 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QueERteEs. [February. been previously known to produce it. Modern researches have however shown that it has a far wider range; perhaps reaching even as far as Hindostan. : * P.S. The enclosed cutting is from the ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle’ of the — Sth Nov. Is it known, generally, that such a discovery has been made ? If not, a notice of it in your ‘ Phytologist’ would be acceptable and inte- . resting. Is Campanula hederacea frequent about Tiandlints ? T found quite a bed | of it this year in Epping Forest, and regret that I did not bring away a larger number of specimens. Note on the above Communication. This discovery was noticed in our Journal for 1855, p. 48, and again in p. 118. If any reader of the ‘ Phytologist’ will draw up a history of the discovery and a description of the plant, such will be a re- ceived. CAMPANULA HEDERACEA is not plentiful about London ; but its locality in Epping Forest, in a bog near the High Beeches, between Epping and Loughton, has long been known. The writer of this note has not ob- served it, nor ever heard of its being observed, in any other part of Epping Forest. The Rev. W. M. Hind, Hereford Road North, Bayswater, W., has spe- cimens of the following plants to offer in exchange :—Hutchinsia petrea, Eranthis hyemalis, Hippocrepis comosa, Geranium sanguineum, Pyrus Aria, Peplis Portula, Saxrifraga hirta, 8. hypnoides, Asperula cynanchica, Gna- phalium diocicum, Erigeron acris, Lobelia Dortmanna, Menziesia polifolia, Pyrola media, Euphrasia gracilis, Orobanche rubra, Lathrea Squamaria, Pinguicula lusitanica, Eriocaulon septangulare, Rhyncospora fusca, and Veronica peregrina. Communications have been received from William Cheshire; Rev. W. M. Hind; C. A. C.; Rev. H. A. Stowell; Archibald Jerdon; George Hunt; Isaac Carroll; Miss A. C. Payne; Thomas Moore, F.L.S.; Thomas How. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. The Phytologist, a Botanical Journal ; being the concluding Number of Volume the Fifth. : The Natural History Review ; January, 1857. ERRATA IN THE JANUARY NUMBER. Read *Gamsbrows’ for ‘Gainsbrowe. Salix tenuifolia should be ‘banks of the Lune’ (river), not ‘Lime: the very siation originally stated by Smith. Polypodium Dryopteris should be ‘in the first station, instead of ‘in the station.” Richard Buxton, a very accurate botanist and author of the ‘ Manchester Botanical Guide, informs me that he found Juniperus nana growing with J. communis on Moughton, near Settle. { March, 1857. | 49 LIST OF FUNGI Observed in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh, Roxburghshire. The following list contains the Fungi, principally of the larger genera, such as Agaricus, Polyporus, and Boletus, observed m this neighbourhood in the course of two or three years. At the same time it must be considered a very imperfect one, as I am but a tyro in Mycology, being still ignorant of many of the mi- nuter genera, and as my observations have been confined to this immediate vicinity. T have experienced much pleasure in attempting to investigate _ these lower forms of the vegetable world, and would heartily re- commend the study to those who, like myself, may have pretty well “worked out” the Phenogamous Flora of a district, and who are desirous of continuing their botanical researches. The multitude and variety of the forms which present themselves to us open quite a new world, as it were, and force us to exclaim with the Psalmist, ““O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.” Il. Hymenomycetes. Agaricus (Amanita) vaginatus: woods and grassy places, common. - ges muscarius: woods, very common. cs 3 excelsus: woods, rather rare. + 3 rubescens: Fir woods, common. 5 (Lepiota) procerus : woods and hedge banks, rather rare. 3 s granulosus: woods and grassy moors, common. The white variety abundant in woods in the autumn of 1856. ; x (Armillaria) melleus: stumps of trees, common. 5 (Limacium) hypothejus: Fir plantations, common. - (Tricholoma) furcatus: Fir plantations, not common. 5 33 rutilans: Fir stumps, common. £ BE imbricatus: woods, rather common. x 2 multiformis: Fir plantations, common. 2» - personatus: im woods and grassy places, common. BS (Russula) emeticus: woods, very common. s 5 foetens : woods, rare. Ss 7 adustus: dry banks in woods, common. N.S. VOL. If. H 50 LIST OF JEDBURGH FUNGI. [ March, Agaricus (Galorrheus) torminosus: grassy borders of woods and heaths, not uncommon, generally of a beautiful straw- berry colour. (Galorrheus) blennius: Beech woods, common. — 9) 3) 9 3) bP) 3) 3) 3) 33 +3 3) oP) »” +”) 33 not rare. deliciosus: in Fir and Larch plantations, (Galorrheus) subdulcis: Fir plantations, very common. Bo) ” ” ” (Clitocybe) ” ” ” » ”? common. (Clitocybe) common. (Clitocybe) 3) 3) pyrogalus: grassy places under trees, rare. piperatus: grassy woods, not uncommon. vellereus: grassy woods, rare. exsuccus: grassy woods, rare. flaccidus: Fir plantations, common. infundibuliformis, 8.major: woods,common. giganteus: woods, rare. phyllophilus: woods, common. nebularis: grass under trees, rare. canaliculatus: woods and pastures, very fumosus, 9. folus: grass under trees, not odorus: woods, not uncommon. cerussatus : woods, rare. grammopodius : pastures, common. camarophyllus: Fir woods, heaths, common. pratensis: grassy moors, not rare. virgineus: pastures, very common. psittacinus: pastures, not uncommon. conicus: pastures, rare. coccineus: grassy moors, common. laccatus: woods, very common. sulphureus: Fir plantations, common. radicatus: woods, not common. velutipes: rotten trees, very common. maculatus: heathy Fir woods, common. butyraceus: Fir plantations, common. confluens: woods, rare. dryophilus: woods, not uncommon. peronatus: woods, common. " Oreades: pastures, not common. (Collybia) tenaceilus: on Fir-cones, common. 1857. | LIST OF JEDBURGH FUNGI. 51 Agaricus (Collybia) Rotula: on stumps, etc., rare. PP) 3) 33 3) 3) 3) 9 2) 3) 2) +) 3) ” PP) 3) 3 3) PP) 35 2) by) PP) PP) bP) 9 I) 3) 2) 3) 39 oP] 3) 3) 33 Ep) 2 3) 3) (Mycena) filopes: woods, very common. i galericulatus: stumps of trees, etc., common. 5 polygrammus: stumps of trees, etc., common. 4 galopus : mossy moors, rare. a purus: Fir woods, etc., common. 4 epipterygius: on dead leaves, etc., common. m4 corticola: trunks of trees, common. (Omphalia) umbelliferus : moors, mossy places, common. fragrans: Fir and Larch plantations, rare. i metachrous: Fir and Larch plantations, common. (Omphalia) cyathiformis: woods and pastures, not rare. (Pleuropus) inconstans: stumps of trees, rare. at ostreatus: dead trees, not uncommon. Bs serotinus : dead Birch trees, not uncommon. 3 mitis : Larch and Spruce branches, common. (Clitopilus) rhodopolius: dry Fir woods, rare. - Pluteus: on stumps and by hedges, rare. (‘Telamonia) gentilis: grassy places under trees, common. (Inoloma) anomalus: woods, rare. * glaucopus: woods and banks, not uncommon. (Dermocybe) cimnamomeus: woods and banks, common. ie ochroleucus: dry woods, rare. (Pholiota) aureus: stumps of trees, rare. 53 Squarrosus: stumps of trees, not uncommon. Hi flammans: stumps of trees, not uncommon. ee mutabilis: stumps of trees, not uncommon. (Myxacium) collinitus: under trees, rare. a elatus: Fir woods, common. (Flammula) inopus: Fir woods, rare. (Inocybe) scaber: Fir woods, rare. ti flocculosus: pastures, etc., rare. i geophyllus: Fir woods, not uncommon, (Galera) tener: pastures, rare. » bypnorum: mossy moors, not uncommon. (Tapinia) involutus: woods and pastures, common. (Psaliota) Georgii: pastures, common. campestris : pastures, common. preecox : pastures and hedges, common. 3) 9 52 LIST OF JEDBURGH FUNGI. | March, Agaricus (Psaliota) semiglobatus: pastures, common. 3) oP) 9 3) 3) Ye eeruginosus: pastures and woods, common. (Hypholoma) lacrymabundus: stumps of trees, rare. r lateritius: Fir stumps, common. m fascicularis: roots of trees, very common. (Psilocybe) foenisecii: pastures, not rare. (Psathyra) atomatus: grassy woods, not rare. (Coprinarius) semiovatus: on dung, etc., common. re fimiputris: on dung, etc., common. 4) disseminatus: on stumps, etc., common. (Coprinus) comatus: roadsides, etc., common. 5 atramentarius: waste places, roots of trees, etc., common. (Coprinus) micaceus: roots of trees, common. 3 niveus: horse-dung in pastures, common. i> plicatilis: grassy places, not uncommon. $3 ephemerus: dunghills, etc., common. (Gomphus) glutinosus: Fir woods, rare. Cantharellus aurantiacus: Fir woods, common. Cantharellus cibarius: woods, common. Merulius corium: on sticks, etc., common. Polyporus squamosus: rotten trees, common. 33 3) 3) 3) 3) 3) 3) PP) 3) 33 33 33 33 varius; rotten trees, not uncommon. sulphureus: rotten trees, rare. crispus: stumps of trees, not uncommon. amorphus: Fir stumps, not uncommon. betulinus: dead Birch-trees, common. salicinus: stumps of trees, not common. versicolor: dead trees, stumps, etc., very common. abietinus: dead Fir trees, common. cae Bs _ | roots of trees, hedges, common. dryadeus: old Oaks, rare. fomentarius: dead Alder-trees, common. igniarius: on Willows, etc., rare. Boletus luteus: Fir woods, etc., common. 3) 33 23 +) Grevillei: Fir woods, etc., common. bovinus: heathy Fir woods, common. piperatus: dry banks, not common. variegatus: Fir woods, not uncommon. 1857.] LIST OF JEDBURGH FUNGI. 53 Boletus subtomentosus: woods, common. 3) 3) 3) 39 luridus: woods and banks, not rare. edulis: Fir woods, etc., common. scaber: woods and heaths, common. cyanescens: hedge banks, rare. Hydnum repandum: woods, not uncommon. Radulum orbiculare: dead Birch trees, rare. Thelephora laciniata: on the ground, in Fir woods, not uncommon. 39 33 PP) 33 33 33 hirsuta: on dead trees, especially Oak, common. sanguinolenta: on fallen trees, not uncommon. quercina: on dead Oak branches, common. Sambuci: on Elder, common. epidermea: on dead branches of Birch, not uncommon. comedens: on dead branches, common. Clavaria coralloides, 8. grisea: grassy places under trees, rare. 39 33 3D PP) bP) Calocera viscosa: Fir stumps, not uncommon. Spathularia flavida: Fir plantations, common. Morchella esculenta: riversides under trees, common. Morchella semilibera: hedges, etc., not common. Helvella crispa: woods, etc., not uncommon. Leotia lubrica: woods and grassy places, rare. Peziza reticulata: sandy riversides, common. 3) PP) 33 3) 39 3) 39 bP) 3) abietina: under Spruce Firs, rare. pratensis : pastures, common. corniculata: pastures, common. rugosa: grassy woods, common. fusiformis: grassy moors, not uncommon. badia: on the ground, rare. onotica: Beech woods, rare. vesiculosa: dunghills, not uncommon. tuberosa: woods, rare. granulata: on cow-dung, common. coccinea: on dead branches on the ground, rare. scutellata: on dead stumps, not uncommon. stercorea : on cow-dung, common. eruginosa: rotten branches, not uncommon. Bulgaria inquinans : on branches and fallen trees, not uncommon. Tremella mesenterica: on furze, common. Tremella sarcoides: on dead stumps, etc., not common. 54: LIST OF JEDBURGH FUNGI. | March, Il. Gasteromycetes. Phallus impudicus: woods and hedges, not uncommon. Nidularia crucibulum: on dead sticks, sawn wood, etc., not un- common. Spheeria Hypoxylon: dead stumps, common. Spheria cinnabarina: dead branches, common. Ceuthospora Lauri: on dead leaves of Laurel, common. Bovista nigrescens: grassy moors, common. Lycoperdon gemmatum (several varieties) : Lycoperdon pyriforme: on rotten wood, etc., not rare. Scleroderma vulgare: gravel walks, rare. Lycogala Epidendrum : on dead trees, etc., common. Reticularia umbrina: on dead Alders, not uncommon. A&thalium septicum: on stumps, grasses, etc., not uncommon. Arcyria punicea: rotten stumps, rare. }rvoods and fields, common. Ill. Hyphomycetes. Mucor Mucedo: on decaying substances, common. Aspergillus glaucus: on decaying substances, common. Sepedonium chrysospermum : on decaying Boleti, common. IV. Coniomycetes. Tubercularia vulgaris: dead branches, very common. Aregma mucronatum: on Rose leaves, common. Podisoma Juniperi-communis: on Juniper, rare. AXcidium Compositarum: on Coltsfoot, common. Berberidis: on Berberry, common. albescens: on Adoxa moschatellina, rare. Epilobii: on Epilobium montanum, not uncommon. Grossulariz : on Gooseberries, not uncommon. ‘ laceratum: on Hawthorn, common. Uredo segetum: on Barley and Oats, common. Labiatarum: on Mentha hirsuta, common. compransor: on Petasites vulgaris, common. suaveolens: on Cnicus arvensis, common. Epilobii: on Epilobium montanum, rare. Rosze : on Roses, common. effusa: on Roses, common. Potentillarum: on Alchemilla vulgaris, common. 3? 3) 3) a) I) 29 3) 3) 3) 33 3s 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 55 Uredo intrusa: on Alchemilla vulgaris, common. » eylindrica: on Populus balsamifera, common. » Caprearum: on Salix Caprea, common. ARCHIBALD JERDON. Mosshurnford, near Jedburgh, N.B. TOUR IN SCOTLAND. Botanical Tour in the Highlands of Perthshire : Taymouth, Ken- more, Acharn Falls, Aberfeldie, Grandtully Castle and Inn, Dunkeld, and Perth. After breakfasting, on the morning of the 19th, we set out on our homeward route. Ben Lawers, a classical spot in the annals of British Botany, had now been traversed ; and though our suc- cess had been but moderate, we could look back with pleasure on a locality celebrated by many eminent men, who had visited this mountain-range not once in their lives, but several times every summer. This was the culminating point of our journey, and when we had reached it the grand object of our short Scottish tour was accomplished. It was both the furthest extent from our home and the greatest elevation above the coast-line that we had attained. About three weeks had been now spent in the High- lands, and spent very agreeably and not unprofitably. We had passed through a country of great interest and beauty, celebrated by poets, painters, sportsmen, and men of science. We did not enjoy much of what is called Highland hospitality ; yet we are able to testify from experience that the ancient reputation of the inhabitants is not a myth. Hospitality is still one of the High- land virtues. Kind treatment, civility and courtesy, may be ex- pected from the genuine Celt. Deference, politeness, readiness to give information to strangers, and quickness in anticipating their wants, are characteristic of a genuine descendant of the ancient Gael. But our hearths and homes now began to exert their influence over our affections, and the charms of novelty had lost their fas- cinating power. The sounds of water and waterfalls were not so pleasing now as they were when first heard and seen. Rivers rushing over their rocky channels, lakes either calm or ruffled, mountain defiles, fringed with wood, or terrible with impending rocks, were now comparatively common objects; and they began 56 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. | March, to be objects of as much indifference as the sounds and sights of London are to the thorough-bred Londoner, who, intent on busi- ness or absorbed in social or personal cares, exhibits a passive in- difference to what he meets while passing through the busy bustle of the crowded, noisy, shoppy thoroughfares of his native city. We began to be home-sick. Our relatives, our connections, our occupations, our domestic and social ties began to engross our af- fections and to exercise a more stringent influence on us than all the attractions of natural scenery and of natural science united. In a word, we were not sorry to turn our backs on Ben Lawers and all its beauties. The road along the lower end of Loch Tay, from Lawers to Tay- mouth, is exceedingly pleasant. The character of the country im- proves with the slightly more favourable temperature. The gay agrarial annuals which were not even beginning to blossom about Lochearn Head and at the upper end of Loch Tay, were here flowering in profusion. The most showy were the Corn-flower or Blawart (Centaurea Cyanus), or Guille as it is called in Aberdeen and Morayshires (Chrysanthemum segetum), and the large-flowered Hemp-Nettle (Galeopsis versicolor). We did not see any ex- amples of the Corn Cockle (Lychnis Githago), though we passed by several wheat-fields. We suspect it is not one of Scotland’s common plants. We remember its first appearance in our native parish some time about 1812. The Poppies were not remarkably plentiful: yet we saw two species at least in the fields or by the waysides. But the genuine wild flowers of Scotland were plentiful and lovely as flowers can be. Scotland’s Bell-flower, rivalling the English C. patula in size, and, in the intensity of its colour, the blue of Scotland’s sky, and of her far distant mountaims, when the evaporation is dancing in the sunbeams. The Geraniums, the Orchids, the Roses, the Lady’s-finger, the Craw’s-taes, and many of less note adorned the grassy banks, burn-sides, and green nooks of many a field and headland. ‘The Honeysuckle in the hedge, the Hawthorn in the copse, and the stately Foxglove, gave dignity as well as brillancy to the scene. But the wavy Ferns that spread far and wide over the shaded braes were the most exquisitely lovely rural sights we had ever seen. The exceeding gracefulness of the plants, especially when in broad masses, their elegant often pensile foliage, and the various shades of green which are reflected from the leaves of the different species 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 57 can hardly be imagined by those who have not seen them in similar situations. About midway between Lawers and Taymouth the road ap- proaches the shores of the lake. Here we looked into the water for aquatic plants, but as usual without success. Hither the sea- son was ungenial or the roll or motion of the water hindered their growth. Whatever the cause may have been, few alpine aquatic plants fell in our way. Small quantities of a fine metallic-like sand were observed here and there in little heaps, or spread out in shallow baskets or on coarse cloths. On inquiry at a wayside cottage we learned that this sand had recently been collected and exported to Birmingham, where it was employed in certain manu- factorial processes, which the simple natives were unable to de- scribe. They were able to tell us that the export of the sand had been forbidden by the noble Marquis, and also that the small ' parcels which we observed were used for making whetting-boards on which scythes, reaping-hooks, etc. were sharpened. The road passes over the extremities of Drummond Hill, which is clothed with wood on its eastern and southern sides. Here it has all the appearance of a forest. The gardens of Tay- mouth lie under this hill, having the road on the upper side and the lake on the lower; they are very extensive. After having passed along the garden wall, which was on our right, we got a view of the Tay issuing from its parent lake and spanned by a noble bridge not more than 40 or 50 yards from the source of the river. Judging by the eye, not always an accurate measurer of distance or magnitude, we should think that the river here is about as wide as the Thames at Kew or Richmond. But judging by the ra- pidity of the current in the Scottish river, about twice as much water may pass under the- bridge at Taymouth as passes under the bridges of Richmond or Kew, if the tidal water is deducted from the Thames. We were once near giving offence by hinting that the channel of the Seine held as much water as that of the Thames at low water. The former drains a larger area than the latter. But this is not always a sound criterion for estimating the amount of water in a given channel. A hundred square miles in the Highlands will supply more than twice the quantity of water which an equal area in England can: first, because the rain is double, and second, because the evaporation is not half so aaneN, S. VOL, II. I 58 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ March, much as it is in the south of England. Before the Tay leaves the domain of the lord of its source it is augmented by the Lyon, another very considerable river, which rises in a lake of the same name far up among the hills on the north side of Glen Lochay. Kenmore, which is just over the bridge on the right bank of the Tay, is an assemblage of small white cottages, forming, with its old-fashioned inn, two sides of a square. The upper side of the square is bounded by the church and churchyard, and the lower side by the wall and gateway to Taymouth Castle. About half-a-dozen cottages and the Free Church are built on both sides of the road to Aberfeldie: these, with the aforesaid square, con- stitute the village of Kenmore. very place here is an appen- dage to the Marquis’s lordly mansion. It is everything ; and every one here is a retainer, a dependant, or a servant of the noble owner. We ought to except the clergy, the schoolmaster, and” the innkeeper. The Marquis has the reputation of bearing his honours gently. From Kenmore we walked along the park, under Drummond Hill to Glen Goldie and Fortingal, the latter celebrated for an immense yew-tree, which, if entire, would have a circumference of 56 feet, but only a portion of the circle remains, the deficient parts being either decayed or existing ina fragmentary state. The yew is still alive, though in a mutilated state, and is now likely to survive many more generations of men, for it is protected by an iron palisading to prevent future depredations. On this road, about halfway between the bridge of Tay and the Glen Goldie gate of the park, stands a cottage very much admired, it is said, by Royalty when Royalty condescended to honour Taymouth with its presence. Those who wish to peruse an account of this and other celebrities of Taymouth should read Sir T. Dick Lauder’s account of the royal progresses in Scotland. About three miles from Kenmore there is a ferry over the Lyon, and at the end of the ferry-house there is an old castle or forta- lice, all covered with ivy. The road winds round the base of the hill, and leads along the right bank of the Lyon up to Fortingal. In the middle of this Glen, before coming to the entrance of Glen Lyon, stands Garth Castle, the residence of Col. Stewart, a gen- tleman famed for his knowledge of Celtic history, manners, etc. We found, opposite to this Highland mansion, a charming though 1857.] | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 59 rather steep footpath over the hill to Kenmore. From the emi- nence we had views of Ben Lawers, Schehallion, Glen Lyon, etc., on the one side, and on the other charming peeps, through the trees which clothe the east side of the hill, of Taymouth Castle and grounds, Kenmore, Aberfeldie, the braes of Dull, etc. etc. In theevening we walked along the Aberfeldie road, whichskirts another side of the park, and visited the battery opposite to the castle. This has the fame of affording one of the finest views in Scotland: it is worth seeing. On this platform there are mounted several guns, not for the protection of the castle, but to announce great events. Happily the guns are now only employed on festive occasions. Here there is a very complete museum, where speci- mens of all the quadrupeds and birds, or portions of them, that have been killed on the estate are preserved. The wild cats are large and singularly handsome. Of the birds, the eagles, caper- cailzies, etc. are the most interesting. The floor is very appro- priately carpeted with skins of divers kinds of beasts killed on the Marquis’s estate. The next day, the 20th, was the day of rest, and we attended Divine service in the parish church of Kenmore. There is a zigzag road leading up the steep hill to Crief. From some of the angles of this road exquisite views of the Lake and of Tay- mouth’s noble halls, fine trees and extensive park, are to be had. This road leads over an immense tract of table-land at a con- siderable elevation above the vale. About four miles from Ken- more the summit is attained, where there is nothing to be seen but barren wilds of immense extent, and dreary waste, abound- ing in moor game and little flocks of timid sheep, and here and there a few red deer. The distance between Kenmore and Crief is above twenty miles. The greater part of the 21st was devoted to the park and gar- dens of Taymouth: both are very extensive. But we did not go to the Highlands to see parks and gardens; although, to say the truth, few more magnificent parks than Taymouth are to be seen : environed on all sides by lofty hills, clothed to their sum- mits with thriving woods, watered by two grand rivers, the Tay and the Lyon, and possessing as much variety in level lawn, sloping banks, and swelling hills as fall to the general lot even of parks ; and the whole is ornamented with the noblest specimens 60 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ March, of Beech, Chestnut, Oak, Fir, Birch, and other trees. There is a celebrated avenue of Limes, a mile long. The extent of Tay- mouth Park is said to be thirteen miles in circumference. But the attractions of home were more powerful than the attractions of Taymouth, and therefore in the evening we packed up all our traps and acquisitions of every sort and kind, in readiness for the Perth carrier, who leaves Acharn for Perth every week, call- ing at Kenmore about six o’clock every Tuesday morning. In the morning we saw our baggage safely deposited on his cart, went to breakfast, and were on the road to Dunkeld before eight o’clock. Before taking our final leave of Kenmore we have to notice another scene, one of the most interesting of its kind, viz. the Falls of Acharn. About two miles from Kenmore, on the right or south-east side of Loch Tay, is a large hamlet or group of cottages recently erected in a rather pretentious style, but suf- ficiently in character to harmonize well with the fine scenery. No church is here: Kenmoré is the parish, where are two churches, although one would hold all the people, if they were all of one mind on certain minor points, neither affecting doctrine, disci- pline, nor mode of worship; but the less the difference, the greater the animosity of the dissentients. This hamlet contains however a mill, a smithy, a carpenter’s shop, and a good school. On the stream above this latter and recent erection there is a her- mitage without a hermit, and a waterfall not without water, like | the cascades of the Leasowes,—Shenstone’s famous folly. The water here has worn for itself a channel of awful depth, and strong are the nerves and cool should be the head of him that ventures to look down through the shading foliage upon the dark lnns. About half a mile up the hill is the lower and most imposing of the falls of Acharn, with its hermitage built opposite, where, through a glass door or window, the cascade is viewed very much to the ease and even comfort of the spectator, who is furnished with a chair, a Claude Lorraine glass, a prism, and sundry ef- ceteras, artfully contrived to draw the coin from his pockets. Milk and honey flow abundantly from the lips of the genuine Celtic cicerone; and hard-hearted must the Sassenach be who does not feel the effects of the soft sawder in the most sensitive part of his person, his breeches-pocket. ‘This however is a scene well worth seeing; and specimens of Polypodium Dryopteris, grow- 1857. ] TOUR 1N SCOTLAND. 61 ing within reach of the spray from one of the falls, may be had in any ordinary quantity, and of any ordinary or even extraordinary dimensions. é The guide to the natural and artificial notabilities of the locality informed us that Burns visited this hermitage and cascade, and that the following lines, part of those written over the chimney- piece in the parlour of the inn at Kenmore, have an especial re- ference to this scene :— * Poetic ardours in my bosom swell, Lone wandering by the hermit’s mossy cell : The sweeping theatre of hanging woods, The incessant roar of headlong, tumbling floods. * * * * * Here poesy might wake her heaven-taught lyre, And look through nature with creative fire.” Both thought and expression are good, but there is little, if any individuality, contained in the poetry : it might serve for any other waterfall just as well as for this, if the said fall had the accessories of wood and a mossy cell. ‘This great poet does not shine in the kind of poetic composition called descriptive ; he had a far higher calling than this ; he describes but too truly, as well as forcibly, the sorrows, the sufferings, and the wrongs of humanity ; the loves, the joys, the pleasures, the toils, the cares, the fears, and the hopes of men and women generally, and in particular of those of his own class. His descriptions of nature are sometimes, as in the above quoted passage, generalities, and therefore touch few sym- pathetic chords in the human heart. His poetry is not an expo- nent of nature, but of natural feeling. The following list of Kenmore plants is from the ‘ Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. for Perthshire, 475. It ought to be observed that we did not see any of them, but we enter them on the authority of the reverend gentleman who drew up the account of the parish. Scirpus sylvaticus, Bromus asper and B. gigan- teus, Anchusa sempervirens, Lysimachia vulgaris, Reseda Luteola, Geranium sanguineum, Astragalus glycyphylius, Hupatorium can- nabinum, Carex pendula.— In woods and hedges: Convallaria majalis, etc., Campanula latifolia, Rosa spinosa, R. involuta, R. cesia.— Marshes: Hippuris vulgaris, Lysimachia Nummularia, Radiola Millegrana, Scrophularia aquatica, Hypericum Elodes. —In lakes: Potamogeton heterophyllum, perfoliatum, densum, lu- cens, crispum, pusillum, Lobelia Dortmanna, Ginanthe fistulosa, 62 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. | March, Cicuta virosa, Littorella lacustris, Subularia aquatica, Jasione montana, Sanicula europea, Allium ursinum, A. vineale, Pyrola rotundifolia, P. secunda, Saxifraga granulata, tridactylites, Orni- thopus perpusillus, Epipactis palustris. The way to Dunkeld is along the right bank of the Tay, having the river on our left, and the high grounds of Aberfeldie and Moness on our right. The distance of Aberfeldie from Kenmore is five miles. This village (Aberfeldie) is one of the largest and neatest which we had seen in the Highlands. It is rather larger than Callander, and contains several better houses than the latter can boast of; but the surrounding scenery of Callander is finer than that of Aberfeldie. The latter has the Tay, the finest of Scotland’s rivers—of British rivers? We have not seen the Shannon. Callander has the Teith; but it has also Ben Ledi, and the Pass of Leny, and Lubnaig, and the Crags of Callander, which surpass every scene about Aberfeldie, except its Falls; but Aberfeldie is a very enjoyable place, and Killiecrankie is within a moderate distance, and Taymouth only the distance of a walk before breakfast. Dull, celebrated in the ancient ecclesiastical history of Scotland, is near, and accessible by a bridge, which connects Aberfeldie with Weem, on the left bank of the Tay. We rested an hour at this agreeable place, and then walked on- wards by Grandtully Castle, and, passing several other places of less note, reached Dunkeld, nearly twenty-three miles from Kenmore, about five o’clock. Our road was very pleasant, being never far ‘from the river, often on its very brink. At Logierait the united rivers of the Tummel and the Garry combine their floods with the Tay, which is now enlarged to at least double of its original size. The distance from this point to Dunkeld is about eight miles, and the road along the south side of the river is about as beautiful as can well be conceived. We did not increase the botanical department much during this walk, but we increased our knowledge of the Tay and its banks, and were as enthusiastic in its commendations as ever was a gentle knight in the praises of his lady-love. Near to Dunkeld the scenery became much more imposing ; the steep hanging woods and the abrupt cliffy hills presented views such as we had never seen. We had seen higher and more romantic cliffs; but we had never seen any with so many pleas- ing adjuncts, as trees, green meadows of the richest soil and the 1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 63 liveliest colour, the waters of a noble river, the distant hills, some of them clothed with wood to their very summits, some in all the wildness of native greatness, without a tree to mitigate the savage aspect of the scene. Dunkeld has been very fortunate in being noticed both by artists and descriptive historians ; many eloquent and ready writers have celebrated its attractions. It has been lauded, strangers might fancy, far beyond all the bounds of mo- - deration and truth. Some have entitled it the gem of Scottish landscape ; others, the cynosure of Highland beauty, etc. This is unquestionably high praise; yet we do not say that it is too much. We had now seen the celebrities of Perthshire; Bridge of Allan, Callander, the Trosachs, the Pass of Leny, Lochearn, and Killin, and last, but by no means least, Taymouth. After seeing the aforesaid celebrities, we give the preference to Dun- keld. We will not say that one word written in its praise is ex- travagant. But this charming spot reminds us of the havoc that time, experience, and observation make in the hoard of long-treasured notions and ideas, or imaginary pictures of celebrated places. We had of course pictured to ourselves a mental representation of Dunkeld, and with pensive feelings we now note how unlike the dreams of bygone times are the existing realities. We knew there was a bridge and a river at Dunkeld, the remains of a cathedral, and fine hills and trees, besides the rumbling bridge, the falls, etc. This is all true. There is a river in Macedonia and there is a river in Wales; there is a river in Monmouth as there is one at Dunkeld; but that the river might be all enclosed, -the cathedral and churchyard shut up, even the very hills tabooed, never entered into the composition of our long-cherished imagi- nary picture. We never felt so keenly the force and truthfulness, as well as the beauty, of a stanza in Wordsworth’s ‘ Yarrow Un- visited,’ viz., “The treasured dreams of times long past, We'll keep them winsome marrow ; For when we’re there, although ’tis fair, "Twill prove another Yarrow.” Dunkeld proved indeed different from the city of our imagina- tion. Our treasured dreams of bygone times were dissipated by the stern reality. From the aforesaid fact a useful lesson might be deduced, if this were the place for moralizing. 64: TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [March, A moralist would say, “the reality is always exceeded by the anticipation.” Perhaps so. Most people can testify from expe- rience that their real enjoyment of a scene is often much less than their anticipations were. It is not our wish to run a muck against his Grace of Athol, but we think it is a shabby thing to shut up Craigie Barnes, Birnam Wood, ete.; yet it is defensible on the principle pleaded long ago by another duke, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ?” We walked about Dunkeld for an hour or two, and then went to rest; and if we were disappointed on finding every place in and about this ancient city shut against us, except the high-roads, the shops, and hotels, we were not disappointed in the enjoyment of a good night’s rest. This we needed after a long walk, and with another walk not very short awaiting us. The most remarkable buildings about Dunkeld are the hotels ; these are not notable for anything striking in their architecture, but merely for their immense size. It may be said the hotel at Paddington, at the terminus of the Great Western Railway, is as large as either of the Dunkeld establishments. Perhaps it may be so; but the inhabitants of London are between two millions and threemillions: those of Dunkeld only a few hundreds. The Duke’s residence is very small; and possibly his Grace, who has the re- putation of an economist, has caused ample provision to be made in the town for those who might expect an entrée into the ducal mansion in the park. On the 23rd, we were on the bridge of Dunkeld at five by the cathedral clock, intending to walk to Perth to breakfast. This we accomplished without distressmg ourselves. The Dunkeld end of the road is interesting enough, especially the celebrated pass between Birnam Hill on the right bank of the Tay, and the elevation near Caputh, on the other or left bank. Birmam Wood is said by Dr. Macculloch to be still suffermg from the effects of its march to Dunsinane in the days of Macbeth, but we think it has recovered some of its leafy attractions since the doctor’s day. With the exception of the first three miles from Dunkeld, there is nothing in the scenery of the remaining fifteen miles to repay a pedestrian for the tear and wear of shoes, muscular exertion, and time. As lovers of the picturesque we would have preferred the north side of the river, but we were told there was no road, and we had not time to improvise a new track for ourselves. 1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 65 The plants noticed on this portion (the last one) of our walk were not numerous, but more so than the acquisitions of the pre- vious day. On the 22nd we walked in the Highlands, but most of our last morning’s walk was in the Lowlands. On the roadside, not far from Scone, Pyrola media was ga- thered in fruit. We had on the previous Saturday seen two fine examples of this species in full flower, on the summit or near the summit of Drummond Hill, at Taymouth. This specimen, col- lected near Perth, showed that the temperature of the lowlands of Perthshire was considerably higher than that of the highlands ; for though the distance be only thirty miles, yet the difference in elevation is considerable, probably three hundred yards. The highland specimens were in full flower, the lowland examples were in fruit. We observed the following species for the first time in Scotland :—Linaria vulgaris, a rare plant in Perthshire ; also Veronica Anagallis, which is a rarity in other parts of the British Isles, as well as here. The other two rarer Sinapides, in addition to S. arvensis, were collected, viz. S. alba and S. nigra, both struggling for an establishment in this northern latitude. In waste places about Perth we also saw Dipsacus sylvestris. This is the last botanical rarity we have to register. Perth is a fine city, situated on a fertile plain on the right bank of the Tay, and partly surrounded by hills of no great elevation, and*at some distance from the town. The country in its vicinity is very fertile, and the scenery good. The spurs of the Ochil Hills are the most conspicuous objects in the landscape. The Tay and its bridge, and the beautiful Inch, are the most attrac- tive features of Perth. One of the churches, St. John’s, is the finest church we saw in Scotland, a country not remarkable for the grandeur of its ecclesiastical edifices. The bridge of Perth is probably the best im Scotland ; but Scotland is more remark- able for its rivers than for its bridges,—for natural rather than for artificial beauties. It is said that the legions of Agricola, on their march northwards, when they came within-sight of the Tay, exclaimed, Ecce Tiberim! They might easily have paid a shabbier compliment to their native river. People generally ex- aggerate the qualities of what is their own. To the Cockney no river is like the Thames; to the badaud of Paris the Seine is the fairest river in the world; and a true Roman loved the yellow Tiber. The Tay, though large and beautiful, has very few bridges N.S. VOL. 11. K 66 ASPLENIUM GERMANICUM. | March, to boast of. London and Paris have each many more than this river, which is larger than both of the rivers which flow through the celebrated capitals of England and France. We know only four, which unite the banks of the fairest British stream, viz. the bridges of Taymouth, Aberfeldie, Dunkeld, and Perth. There are also two in the domain at Taymouth Park, but they are private property; so is the bridge of Dunkeld, though the public may use it on payment of a fixed toll. There is a good ferry at Logie- rait; yet a few more bridges would be convenient. The distance from Taymouth to Perth is thirty-seven miles, and allowing for the bendings of the river, not very considerable, the distance may be forty miles. Four bridges for this extent is rather a short allowance. The distance between London and Windsor is about twenty miles, and the number of bridges is nearly as many. The population on the banks of the Thames above London Bridge is probably one hundred times as many as the inhabitants of an equal length of the Tay. The Perth, Dunkeld, and Blair of Athol railway will probably increase the population of this beautiful and fertile tract; at all events it will supply the means of transporting the natural pro- ductions of the couniry, viz. timber, cattle, sheep, horses, dairy and agricultural produce, to remote parts of the kingdom, where there is a good market for these necessaries. Instead of a carrier conveying goods once a week, and a post-cart conveying letters every other day, there will be daily intercourse established with all the great marts of the South; provisions will be as plentiful and cheap in the Highlands as in Glasgow and Perth, and the tide of population will flow upwards and onwards till the High- land glens are as populous as the Carse of Gowrie. ASPLENIUM GERMANICUM IN SOMERSETSHIRE. To the Editor of the *‘ Phytologist.’ Miss Payne has obligingly sent me the following account of her discovery of this rare Fern in Somersetshire, and with her — permission I forward it for the information of those readers of the ‘ Phytologist’ who are interested in Ferns :—- “When at Lynmouth in the latter end of October, 1854, I was informed that Asplenium septentrionale was to be found in 1857.] PTERIS AQUILINA. 67 Somersetshire. The place was pointed out to me, and I disco- vered the Fern growing plentifully on a. wall, which extended some distance. My sister, who was with me, called my atten- tion to another Fern on the same wall, which on examination proved to be Asplenium germanicum, and on searching further I found several roots, four of which I brought away with me; one of them I dried, and the other three are growing under a glass. —A. C. Paynes.” For obvious reasons, Miss Payne very properly is desirous that the more exact locality should not be stated. I may add, in con- firmation of the above, that a specimen with which I have been favoured is without doubt the true Asplenium germanicum of the larger form, which occurs abundantly in Switzerland. T. Moore. Chelsea, Jan. 20, 1857. UNCOMMON STATE OF PTERIS AQUILINA. Pteris aquilina at the Public Baths, Coventry. By T. Kirk. The curious state of Pteris aquilina,* respecting which your correspondent requests information, first made its appearance in 1853,—the bottom of a place intended for a plunging-bath, but remaining in an unfinished state, being completely covered with a dense carpet of the seedling state of this Fern. The soil in which it grows is nothing more than ceiling mortar, and the like rubbish, from the demolition of old buildings, which must have been deposited on the spot previous to the erection of the baths, and readily crumbles to dust, as it obtains no moisture except what it derives from the atmosphere. During the first two sea- sons the entire fronds were of a more delicate pale green colour, and the pinne much more diaphanous, than in the ordinary seed- ling state of the plant. No approach to fructification has yet been noticed; in fact, except that its delicate transparency of texture is in some measure lost, and the fronds are somewhat stronger, all the characteristics of its seedling state are retained. Many of the plants now have rhizomes six to ten inches long, with fronds four feet and upwards in length, but unable to bear their own weight. Bipinnate and tripinnate fronds frequently occur on the same root ; some fronds were produced this season * See ‘Phytologist,’ pp. 390 and 463. 68 REVIEWS. (March, resembling the curled and convex states of Lastrea dilatata, presenting a wide disparity from the ordinary appearance of the plant. In previous seasons the fronds have retained their freshness until the month of December; but I regret to say, owing to their wanton destruction by visitors during the present season, not a perfect frond was to be seen by the close of October, all having been completely trampled down. It is not easy to account for its occurrence in this singular habitat, except on the supposition of spores having, by some means, been mixed with the rubbish prior to its being deposited on the spot. It could not have existed here in its natural state, as the site of the Baths was portion of a swampy meadow, fre- quently overflowed by the river Sherbourne; and it is not now | found wild within upwards of a mile of the place, although so late as 1852 a few plants existed on a neighbouring brick wall, but these were invariably barren, always retaining the tender and delicate appearance characteristic of this plant when growing in similar situations; as for instance on a brick wall at Honily, in this county, where it may still be seen. As anot inappropriate pendant to this note, I will mention the occurrence of Lastrea Filiz-mas 1 company with one or two di- minutive plants of Ceterach officinarum on a brick wall near the centre of our city, where I have noticed them for the last four- teen or fifteen years ; whilst a cluster of Ferns, comprising Poly- podium vulgare, Lastrea dilatata, L. Filix-mas, Athyrium Filix- femina, and A.rheticum minus, may be seen springing from the brick-work near the top of the engine-honse at our railway station. Coventry, December, 1856. Reviews, The ‘ Phytologist, a Botanical Journal. The concluding part of Vol. V., with Title and Index. London: Van Voorst. The leading article of this number is entitled the Botany of the Chesil Bank, Portland, by Mr. W. B. Barrett; interesting both to the geologist and to the botanist. The latter will justly deem the followmg plants in the list rarities, viz. Lathyrus mari- ‘timus, Euphorbia Paralias, and Schoberia fruticosa; the latter 1857. | REVIEWS. 69 plant has some considerable influence on the aspect of this por- tion of the Dorsetshire coast; but it will be better to state this in the words of the author of the article. ‘The most striking feature however of the botany of this beach is the abundance of Schoberia fruticosa. It grows to a considerable size, and many of the stems exceed three inches in circumference. This plant, with the various species of sea-purslanes, constitute by far the greater part of the vegetation for several miles. Of the sea- purslanes, the shrubby orache (Atriplex portulacoides) is the most abundant ; the spreading halberd-shaped orache (A. patula), and the spreading narrow-leaved orache (A. angustifolia), are both common ; the grass-leaved sea orache (A. litioralis) occurs much less frequently.” Several plants of rather frequent occurrence are noticed, of which Conium maculatun, Cherophyllum temulentum, Aster Tri- polium, Glaux maritima, Tussilago Farfara, and Sedum acre, may be quoted as examples. To those botanists who are interested in the subject of the distribution of species, the most attractive part of the article will be the names of plants once produced on this bank, but which have subsequently disappeared from this as also from other localities. The author remarks ‘ that no traces of Vicia levigata have been found (observed) on the Chesil Bank, a plant discovered by Mr. Hudson on the beach at Lodmoor, near Weymouth, and said to have been found on the Chesil Bank and in Portland, by Sir J. Cullum; nor have repeated searches on the beach at Lodmoor of late years been more successful. These were the only stations recorded for this species im the whole world ; and there seems now little doubt of its being ex- tinct.” A necrology of British plants would not be altogether devoid of interest. Crambe maritima is also one of the defunct on the Chesil Bank ; item, Glaucium pheniceum, Althea officinalis, a common plant in the salt-marshes of North Kent, and in many other similar localities, and Cladium Mariscus. A history of the past and present botanical productions of Battersea fields, Hamp- stead Heath, Woodford, and other places in the immediate proxi- mity of London, of which accounts of their vegetation in bygone times are extant, would not be uninstructive. In these localities and other places changes have been going on which gradually and almost imperceptibly have effected great alterations in their vegetable productions. The disappearance of several plants from 70 REVIEWS. | March, that portion of the Dorsetshire coast is not without a parallel in the annals of vegetation elsewhere. We wish some of our Dorsetshire or Suffolk correspondents would be so obliging as to inform usif the Sea-Pea be as produc- tive as it was in the times of Gerard, when “it grew on a place all hard stone and pibble, called Shilfe, between Oxford (? Orford) and Oldborough, whereof the poore gathered above an hundred quarters (as man judged), yet remained some ripe and some blos- soming as many as ever there were before.” Portland Sago is also renowned among the marvels of vegetation that existed in past ages. Another article im the number is ‘ Remarks on the New Me- thod of Arranging Ferns,’ and a brief ‘ Note on Pseudatherium flexile” both by Mr. Newman. The former is rather above or beyond our cut, but we cordially recommend it to the attentive perusal of pteridologists. The Natural History Review, No. 1, January, 1857. London: Williams and Norgate. This well-conducted and useful periodical contains reviews of the British Diatomaceze, by W. S. Dallas, of the ‘Manual of British Botany,’ by Mr. Babington, and ‘Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore,’ by the Rev. C. Kingsley. There are many other Works on Zoology and Geology reviewed or noticed, but these sciences are beyond our border: we are restricted to Botany. This number contains reports or abstracts from original com- munications made to the various societies in Great Britain and Ireland, during the past year or the latter portion of it, together with the contents of the numerous serial publications devoted to natural science and published in America, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Switzer- land, ete. There are a few passages which have been marked as likely to interest our readers, and these we intend entering from time to time when we can find room for them, indicating the source from which they are derived. Etiquette does not sanction the practice of reviewing reviews, and consequently we have only cordially to recommend the ‘ Natural History Review’ to the no- tice.of our readers. 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 71 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. Str,—The enclosed Hypericum was gathered near to Ince-Blundell, near Liverpool, on the 4th of August, 1853. It was growing in consi- derable quantities under Ince-Blundell Park-wall, and was a large, bushy shrub, upwards of ¢wo feet in height. GrorGe Hunr. Handsworth, near Birmingham. The Hypericum for which we are indebted to our correspondent was duly received, and some notice of it will be forthcoming. ASPLENIUM ANCEPS. Having read in the ‘ Phytologist’ the announcement of Mr. Andrews’ interesting discovery of Asplenium anceps at Killarney, I was led to re- examine a very luxuriant form of Aspleniam Trichomanes, which I gathered last summer, on the wall of an old bridge, in a most sheltered spot, near Galway. The rachis was very long, and I remarked at the time the un- usual size of the fronds. Mr. Pamplin, of Frith Street, sent me some exotic Ferns lately; one of them is marked “‘ Aspleniwm anceps, Lowe— Coll. Bourgeau, 1855.” The fronds of my Fern are much larger than those of the plant from the Canary Islands. Gig vale Ballinasloe, February 7. S1tr,—Were any additional observations required to confirm those of Mr. Stowell, on the natural habitat of Saaifraga Tridactylites, I can state that the plant grows very abundantly in this vicinity, both on St. Vin- cent’s Rocks and those of Durdham Down; I have also gathered it fre- quently in Cardiganshire, on rocky ground, never there on walls or artifi- - clal erections. M. M. Atwoop. Clifton, February 4, 1857. PYRUS DOMESTICA. In the ‘ Phytologist’ for 1856, p. 300, Mr. Douglas appears to decide the question which might be raised about the nativity of the Pyrus do- mestica, Sm., on the authority of Parkmson, who, in his ‘Theatre of Plants,’ says, that this rare tree was introduced into the land by John Tradescant. ‘This is no doubt true. But does Mr. Douglas mean that the old Service-tree of Wyre Forest was either introduced by Tradescant, or that it is a descendant from one of his introduced trees? ‘The Sorb- tree of Wyre Forest appears to be of greater antiquity than the times of Elizabeth and Charles 1., when Tradescant lived. Burra. Names OF PLANTS, DERIVATION OF. LicustrumM, the name of a flexible, slender shrub, the pliant twigs of which may have been used as bands, ligatures, and such-like. The term is probably from ligo, I He The classical proverb, “Alba ligustra cadunt, (nigra vaccinia leguntur,”’ or “the white flowers of this shrub drop off, but the black berries of ihisio or some similar shrub are collected and preserved for use,” is derived from this plant. Heywood, the famous English epigrammatist, in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and } Mary, rendered this proverb rather quaintly and not inelegantly, in the following words :— 72 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. | March. ‘Snow is white and lies in the dyke, And all men let it lie; Pepper is black and has a good smack, And all men do it buy.” The modern spelling is given. The poet intimates that beauty, like a flower, soon fades. The ancient classics appear to have had an intense admiration, or perhaps veneration, for natural beauty, and the fervour of their devotion to this deity was in the inverse ratio of its permanence. The sareastic moralist teaches us that beauty, like everything else, is to be valued at its market-price, and “The market-price of anything Zs just as much as it will bring.” CausTICUS. CHERITON GOSPEL OAK. (from the Winchester Observer.) Many of our Alresford readers must remember that active county ma- gistrate, the late John Duthy, Esq., of Ropley; and in his delightful PGketches of Hampshire,’ published after his death, appears the fallow ing :—‘ In the northern part of the parish of Cheriton, where its limits An on those of Ovington, stand the remains of a venerable tree, called the Gospel Oak, which is mentioned as a known and ancient boundary in an old manuscript, without date, among the muniments of the bishopric of Winchester at Wolvesey; and again in a survey taken about the year 1560, and is stated to have been so denominated because the Gospel was wont to be said there in the perambulation [treading the bounds] week, between the lordships of Cheriton and Ovington. Among the traditional stories of the rural sages of Cheriton, on the subject of this Oak, it is. gravely recounted that it is the spot where the Gospel was first preached in this neighbourhood, before any parish or church existed here. It is almost needless to add that this rumour has no better foundation than village lore, or an old wife’s tale; yet it serves to mark the general belief in the antiquity of this venerable vegetable ruin, the remains of which cannot be less than four or five centuries old, and probably much older.” Aconitum NAPELLUs. In the beginning of July I had the pleasure of discovering a new loca- lity for this plant, in the northern part of this county (Monmouth), by the side of a small brook, in the parish of Llangattock Lingoed. I do not specify the place more minutely, for fear of its having too many visitors. James Buiapon. Communications have been received from Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay ; J. 8. Mill; C. A. C.; M. M. Atwood; W. M.; W. L. Noteutt; W. Dickinson; Maxwell T. Masters; Rev. A. Bloxam. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Monograph of the Genus Abrothallus ; by W. L. Lindsay, M_D., ete. On the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Oxfordshire ; by Maxwell T. Masters. | April, 1857.] 73 ON THE HIERACIA OF SETTLE, etc. By Joun Winpsor, F.L.S. In the list of Settle or Craven Plants, publishing in the ‘ Phy- tologist,’ I enumerated the species of Hieraciwm, from my notes written at the time I was residing in that neighbourhood. Mr. Baker, of Thirsk, who has paid much attention to this genus, kindly inspected my specimens, collected there many years ago ; and by his aid ‘an amended list of them was published in the ‘ Ble rilostst? for October last. A few additional remarks on the subject may perhaps not be objectionable, especially as the genus is one which has of late years, like some others, as Rudus, Rosa, Salix, etc., undergone considerable investigation and elucidation, or at least multiplica- tion of species, by the accurate attention applied to it by a suc- cession of eminent botanists. - These few observations however are now added rather by way of explanation of my first list, than of any novelty or particular information I can adduce on the subject. ' First, then, with regard to the plant named in Backhouse’s late excellent and elaborate ‘Monograph on British Hieracia,’ Hieracium Gibsoni, 1 may be permitted to observe, that I can scarcely admit with him that it was discovered by the late Samuel Gibson, inasmuch as it was well known to myself and _predecessors for many years, I believe, before Mr. Gibson had “ever visited the neighbourhood of Settle. I would not however object to the name, if it be really a distinct species, and not merely a spotted form or variety of H. cesium or H. pallidum, from the pains he took in distinguishing it (as seen in the first volume of the ‘ Phytologist’) from Hypocheris maculata, to which, by its spotted leaves, it bears a resemblance, and with which it was at one time certainly confounded. How this first occurred I do not exactly know. In 1795, in ‘English Botany,’ Hypocheris maculata is said to grow in the sequestered country about Malham Cove, but no particular authority is named. In Smith’s ‘Flora Britannica’ (1800) it is mentioned, ,on the authority of Mr. Caley (in Wi- thering’s Botany), to grow near Settle; and the same quotation is continued in Smith’s ‘ English Flora’ (1825). (N.S. VOL. II. L 74: ON THE HIERACIA OF SETTLE, ETC. - -[ April, In the fourth edition of Withering’s Botany (1805) it is mentioned as found by Mr. Caley near Ottermire (or Atter- mire) Cave, Settle, Yorkshire. I have not the second or third editions of Withering, and no particular habitats for it are men- tioned in the first edition. In the ‘ Botanist’s Guide’ (1805), p. 708, the mistake is continued, also on the authority of Mr. Caley ; but in the same work (p. 707) there is a remark, under Mieracium murorum, or spotted variety, that the late Mr. Tees- dale intended to take it up as a distinct species, under the name of Hieracium maculatum, as it did not vary by cultivation; and in this opinion Mr. Dawson Turner concurred, the latter remark-: ing that, besides preserving its spotted leaves, its habit was dis- similar to that of H. murorum. . From that period, it may be remarked, H. murorum and H. cesium were not distinguished. In the list of plants appended to Whittaker’s ‘ History of Craven, Hypocheris maculata is also erroneously quoted as growing about Attermire Cave; I refer to the second edition, published in 1812. In Ray, the third edition, p. 167, Hyp. ma- culata is not mentioned as growing near Settle ; but im the next page the editor alludes to a spotted variety of Hieracium murorum. Curtis, in his ‘Catalogue of Plants growing about Settle’ (1782), only mentions two species, H. murorum and H. sabaudum, and no Hypocheris. Of H. sabaudum he remarks, “This plant, m its usual state, is extremely common. A variety, whose leaves are spotted with red, and which is sometimes mistaken for the Hy- pocheris maculata, is frequent on the rocks in Grasswood, and at Gordale.” Curtis very probably here alludes (although ap- parently wrong in calling it a variety of H. sabaudum) to the plant which Mr. Backhouse has named /H. Gibsoni. By my im- mediate predecessors and co-botanists at Settle, Wm. Kenyon and T. W. Simmonds, in 1808, it was called Hypocheris macu- lata; but in a list of Settle plants which I possess, by the latter gentleman, a mark of interrogation is affixed to the name, indi- cating his doubt about it. Following them, I also at first mis- named it Hypocheris maculata. In the year 1804 or 1805 I saw the latter growing plentifully at Ompherhead, or Humphrey Head, near Cartmel, but in places too inaccessible to be reached, and therefore had not then an opportunity of comparing it with our Settle plant. About the year 1810 my specimens of this plant (and other 1857.] ON THE HIERACIA OF SETTLE, ETC. 75 Hieracia), of which I had many, were submitted to the inspec- tion of Mr. Sowerby ; and the name of Mieracium murorum var. foliis maculatis was then, I believe, affixed to them, instead of Hypocheris maculata. Of the other Hieracia now enumerated as growimg near Settle, I may again observe that of HH. cerinthoides, form angli- cum, or H. Lawsoni of Smith, I had collected specimens in se- veral localities near there. It is generally very villous, shaggy ‘about the lower part of the stem and root-leaves, and hence might at first sight be mistaken for H. villoswm, which Mr. Caley stated he had found at Meer Gill, foot of Ingleborough. In company with T. W. Simmonds, [ have in vain looked for it in this locality, but afterwards thought I had found it near the summit of that mountain, erroneously, it appears, mistaking for it a form of H. cerinthoides. H. Lawsoni, although not described in Smith’s ‘Flora Bri- tannica,’ or in Withering’s fourth edition, is mentioned by Ray, third edition, p. 169, under the name of H. macrocaulon hirsu- tum, or, according to Smith, of H. leptocaulon hirsutum, as found at Gordale by Dr. Richardson. Backhouse however refers the former synonym to H. pallidum. The last-named species, 1. pallidum, is now said to have been found sparingly at Gordale, and to be the same as the H. oreades of Fries. I long ago frequently noticed the abundance of Hie- racia on the rocks at Gordale, but did not then detect this form, described by Backhouse, and enumerated also by Babington. Of H. murorum and H. cesium, although long bearing the name of the former only, I have many specimens, which I col- lected near Settle in the earlier period of this century. H, vulgatum (sylvaticum) was formerly confounded with H. murorum, even by Smith himself, in the ‘ Flora Britannica,’ and hence I did not distinguish it in the neighbourhood of Settle until about the years 1805 to 1813, when I collected and first named it correctly. A form of it, collected in Mill Island, I misnamed formerly H. Lapeyrousi (iricum). Since I resided at Settle H. prenanthoides has been found, as mentioned in the list, in two places near there, also H. umbella- tum in one or two places, and H. crocatum is said to have been found on Attermire Scars, but I have not yet seen satisfactory specimens from this locality. 10. ll. 76 | April, NOTICE,.OF SCARCE IRISH PLANTS. By Isaac CaRROu.. . Thalictrum alpinum, L. Moist rocks, and amongst quartz débris by a small stream on Ben Lettery, Connemara, Au- gust, 1855. This plant was first recorded as a native of Ireland by Dr. Wade, who found it in the above station fifty years ago. Saxifraga oppositifolia, Asplenium viride, and a Hieracium with villous leaves, occurred in the same station. , . Diplotazis tenuifolia, DC. Near Westport, Mayo, C. C. Ba- bington, Esq. Portmarnock, near Dublin, in considerable plenty, growing with Calamintha Acinos. October, 1854, Thomas Chandler. . Reseda fruticulosa, L. Hedge-banks by the Donnybrook road, and on the sandy shore, south side of Howth, near Dublin, introduced. . Melilotus officinalis, Willd. By the Kilkenny Railway (which passes through brackish marshes), near Waterford, plentiful, Thomas Chandler. . Melilotus arvensis, Willd. By the Railway, at Caher, county Tipperary, in some quantity, Thomas Wright. . Trifolium fragiferum, L. Tramore, Waterford, Miss S. Grubd. . Myriophyllum alterniflorum, DC. Millpond, in county Kal- kenny, near Waterford, T. Chandler. . Mr. C.’s specimens are very much advanced, but the species seems pretty certain. . Asperula cynanchica, L. Sandy coast at Roundstone, Con- | nemara. . Inula Helenium, L. This was found by a stream near Clifden, Connemara, along with Salix pentandra, L., in August, 1855. Whether these plants were indigenous, or planted in the above station, which was near houses, is doubtful. - Saussurea alpina, DC. On Brandon Mount, Kerry, very sparingly. August, 1856, 7. Wright. Sazifraga hirta, Sm., var., Alchemilla alpina, and Poa alpina, L., also occurred. Hieracium cerinthoides, L. (apparently), Thalictrum minus, L., Oxyria reniformis, Hook., Saxifraga stellaris, L., Salix herbacea, Li., on Mangerton, Kerry. . Lysimachia Nummularia, L. Ditch-bank near Tramore, Waterford, apparently wild, Thomas Chandler. 1857.] _MARITIME AND INLAND TEMPERATURES. 77 18. Centunculus minimus, L. Coast near Clifden, Connemara. The white-flowered variety of Menziesia polifolia grew near the same spot. Some miles further south, Erica mac- kaiana, Bab., was plentiful; and on Urrisbeg Mount I saw EE. “aoe eae L., 8. Eriocaulon abounds in all the lakes. 14. Utricularia intermedia, Hayne. Bogs, Connemara, frequent. 15. Betonica officinalis, L. Roadside in county Kilkenny, near Waterford, Thomas Chandler. 16. Polygonum lapathifolium, L. Abundant in turnip-fields at Riverstown, near Cork. September, 1855. 17. Betula glutinosa, Fries. Blarney, Cork. Leaves of the young twigs conspicuously cordate. 18. Salix smithiana, Willd., var. rugosa, Leefe. Freq. near Cork. 19. Asparagus officinalis, i. Sand-hills at Tramore, Waterford, June, 1856, Miss S. Grubb. This plant was originally dis- covered in the above station by Dr. C. Smith, 100 years ago, and recorded by him in his ‘ History of Waterford.’ Mr. D. Moore tells me that it was also found in the Barony of Forth, county Wexford, a few years since. 20. Potamogeton flabellatus, Bab. (?) A plant which agrees with this species, save that the young leaves and ripe fruit are wanting, is plentiful in brackish marshes at Ballycotton, county Cork. 21. Ruppia rostellata, Koch. Near Dublin, Thomas Chandler. 22. Juncus acutus, L. Near Tramore, S. Grudbd. 23. Polystichum Lonchitis, Cystopteris fragilis, and Asplenium viride, Huds. Moist rocks on Mangerton. August, 1856. 24. Chara crinita, Wally. Shanagany bog, near Ballycotton, county Cork, September, 1855, in fresh water occasionally influenced by the tide. A large and beautiful species. MARITIME AND INLAND TEMPERATURES. On the Contrast between the Summer Temperatures of an Inland and a Maritime Locality. The following Tables are intended to illustrate the iiuehes of proximity to the sea in lowering the temperatures of summer. The figures in the left-hand column represent degrees of the cen- tigrade thermometer; those in the two others are obtained by 78 MARITIME AND INLAND TEMPERATURES. [April, multiplying the excess of the monthly mean above the stated degree by the number of days in the month. The average an- nual temperature of Scarborough is 49°3° Fahrenheit, that of York 48°2°; and yet it will be observed, that from April to Au- gust the York temperatures are considerably the highest, and that it is not until September that those of the seaside regain their normal ascendency. ‘The two places are only some thirty-five miles apart, and yet, with a mean temperature lower by upwards of one degree of Fahrenheit, with reference to annual plants, York is decidedly the warmest locality of the two. APRIL. JULY. Scarborough. York. Scarborough. York. i 193 230 1 479 487 2 163 200 2 448 456 3 133 170 3 417 425 4 103 140 4 386 394 5 73 110 5 355 363 6 43 80 6 324 302 May. AvGustT. Scarborough. York, Scarborough. York. 1 300 356 1 448 470 2 269 325 2 417 439 3 238 294: 3 386 408 4 207 263 a 355 377 5 176 - 282 5 324 346 6 145 201 6 293 315 JUNE. SEPTEMBER. Scarborough. York. Scarborough. York. 1 393 423 } 390 365 2 363 393 2 360 335 3 333 363 3 330 305 4 303 333 A 300 275 5 273 303 5 270 245 6 243 273 6 240 215 ToTaAL FOR THE Six Monvus. Scarborough. York: Scarborough. York. 1 2203 2331 4, 1654. 1782 2 2020 2148 5 1471 1599 3 1837 1965 6 12388 1416 J. G. Baker. 1857.] — 79 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. General Summary or Results of our Tour in Scotland. The impressions or recollections of the scenes already noticed and partly described, the general features of the country, and the aspects of its vegetation, now only remain to be briefly stated. We had now travelled nearly 400 miles in Scotland; the half of this distance on foot: we had crossed Scotland’s most cele- brated rivers, the Tweed, the Forth, the Tay, and the Clyde; had paid our respects to the sites of Scotland’s ancient renown, Ber- wick, Edinburgh, Stirling, and Perth. The general results of the whole are now to be deduced and offered to our readers. On the eastern Borders, from Berwick to Edinburgh, along the coast—for the railways generally select the flattest parts of every country—the landscape is by no means interesting. It is far more fertile—at least after we crossed the Tweed the crops were better than on the southern side of that river,—and the country was not quite so tame, bleak, and cheerless, as it is in Northumberland along the coast; but this is not high praise. The belt of fertile land between the Lammermuir Hills and the coast is well cultivated, and this year (1856) at least gave promise of an ample return to its cultivators. The hills beyond were ““in pastures green,” as all the hills*of the south-west parts of Scotland are, and grazed by both cattle and sheep. There were seen abundant proofs of human labour, but of the inhabitants and their dwellings little was visible from the railway. The road passes through a rich and well-tilled country ; but few villages and no towns were in sight till we reached Dalkeith, near Edinburgh. Here and there a park was observed, well sheltered and ornamented with trees, and now and then there was a narrow ravine, the sides of which were too steep for cultivation; these were fringed with plantations; otherwise, where the land was convertible into tillage fields, few trees were visible. The country upon the whole has rather a bare, uniform, and unpicturesque appearance. On approaching the capital, Arthur’s Seat, the Berwick Law, and the hills of Fife give relief to the uniformity of the scene; but these elevations are as bare of everything save grass as the sea-shore, or as the summit of Ben-mac-dui. Craig- miller Woods on the left, though at a distance, give an aspect of richness to the scenery. ' 80 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ April, The general bare and barren-like appearance which prevails about the metropolis has been already noticed. But the barrenness is only in appearance,—the rich succulent green herbage, though closely cropped, evinces the natural fertility of the soil; but there is a striking absence of trees on the south and east of Edinburgh. The trees on the west of Edinburgh, or on the south side of the Frith, between Leith and Hopeton House, “ only serve to remind us,” as Dr. Macculloch well said, “ of the millions that are want- ing.” The environs of Edinburgh on the south and east are singularly romantic: the Calton Hill is now pretty well occupied with monumental and other erections, all more or‘less of an or- namental kind; but Arthur’s Seat, the noblest and most pictu- resque of all Edina’s natural features, does not possess a single tree to soften the rugged aspect of the scene. The rocky peak . of the hill, and the long mural-like frowning rocks of St. Leonard’s, contrast rather singularly with the architectural appearances of the new town of Edinburgh. ‘Trees might be judiciously em- ployed even to enhance the pictorial effect of Arthur’s Seat. But if the citizens have not ornamented Arthur’s Seat, they have abstained from spoiling it; and this is no mean praise in times when a taste for artificial beauty and landscape ornamenta- tion is so prevalent. From Edinburgh to Stirling, the aspect of both shores of the Forth forms a very favourable contrast with that~of the country between Berwick and Edinburgh. Here both wood and water are the rule; there they are the exception. Agriculture and grazing are the prominent occupations of the people on the south of Edinburgh, on the eastern or coast line. From Edinburgh to Stirling the country verging on the shores of the lower part of the Frith appears about equally divided be- tween the noble and opulent classes and the hardy races who toil in quarries and mines. ‘The little towns that skirt the shores are all more or less engaged in the maritime trade of this thri- ving part of the kingdom, or are supported by the quarrying or mining branches of industry, or by some other of the useful pro- ducts derived from the adjacent hills. The Frith of Forth, about half-a-dozen miles from Stirling, contracts within the dimensions of an ordinary-sized river; but what it loses in breadth it gaims in length; for the windings or doublings of the stream are so many and extravagant, that the 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 81 six miles from Alloa to Stirling by land becomes about twenty by water: this is probably an extravagant estimate, yet the wind- ings of the Forth, both above and below Stirling, are very re- markable, and are now celebrated. The vegetation here is about as rich as a fertile soil can produce, and a mild and moist clt- mate can maintain in a state of verdure unknown in less favour- able parts. The fine chain of hills, called the Ochils, on the right, and the rather less elevated range, called the Fintry Hills, on the left of the voyageur from Edinburgh to Stirling, with the imposing masses of Highland mountains in front, contribute to render this extensive prospect one of the most beautiful and imposing of Scotland’s grand scenes. Distance both softens and “lends enchantment to the view.” The tourist has no wish but to push onwards, except it may be the prudent one to enjoy the present, and to try to fix its grand features indelibly on his memory. Stirling is built on a commanding site. The distant view promises much, and the interior of the town does not baulk the visitor’s expectation. It still contains much of its ancient aspect and character: the streets are not so wide nor so long. as they are in Edinburgh, but the churches, and above all the Castle, vie with the metropolitan edifices, if not in extent, cer- tainly in situation and architecture. The views, as have been already stated, are nearly as fine as from Edinburgh Castle,—we preferred them. The metropolis has a fine view of the sea and of the Pentland Hills. Stirlmg has a proximate view of the Highland Hills, which are about four times the altitude of the Pentlands. There is far more variety in the environs of Stirling than in the country about Edinburgh; only in the old town of Kdin- burgh, the noble High Street is a charming picture by itself,— the houses of Edinburgh enhance even the picturesque interest of its fine situation. But Stirling is well worth a visit, both for its own intrinsic merit and perhaps still more from its being in the vicinity of places justly celebrated in the historical annals of the kingdom. Most visitors will look with greater pleasure on the hills near Dollar, on Abbey Crag, and on the beautiful mo- dern village of Bridge of Allan, than on the fields of the battle of Stirling, the old bridge, Bannockburn, and Sauchie; but de gustibus nil disputandum,—the lover of the picturesque, as N.S. VOL. II. M 82 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ April, well as the historical antiquary, will find something to admire in this view, especially if taken from the ramparts, with one of the fine old bombardiers for a cicerone,—one who will deliver his historical, pictorial, and traditional lore, with the precision and dignity of a man who fully comprehends his subject, and appreciates its importance. Stirling is enlarging its bounds,—many houses and handsome villas have been built in it and round about it since the railway system was developed in the south and west of Scotland. This cannot be said of the capital in the summer of 1856; Edinburgh was then stationary. Princes Street, the Railway-stations, the Castle, the Piers of Leith, and the Fish Market were the only places that exhibited any signs of industry or even of vitality. — New erections in Edinburgh would appear to be quite superfluous, and in all our walks about it we saw none in progress. The Bridge of Allan is the most popular watering-place (a strange term) in Scotland. Scotland is celebrated for its Spas (a word used chiefly in Scotland), and the owners of them gene- rally make arrangements for the convenience of the public who come to drink the water. Among the neighbouring nations Scotland is more celebrated for its beautiful natural scenery than for its medicinal springs; and it was with some surprise that we heard of a London patient resorting to the Bridge of Allan as many do now to Montpelier, Naples, and the Islands of Madeira. Stirling, like Edinburgh, is not rich in its botanical productions ; and even if it produced more rarities than it does, these would hardly induce a botanist to tarry here who had the intention of visiting the interesting mountains of Breadalbane. At Callander a day or two might be well spent, not only in observing the rare plants in that neighbourhood, but im contrasting the progress of vegetation with that of England on the one hand, and with the upper parts of Perthshire on the other. Probably there are but few plants about Callander which are not also growing about Killin, but there is a considerable differ- ence in their condition; for example, Vrientalis europea and Trollius europeus were in fruit when we were at Callander,—no example of either of them was seen in flower. At Killin, quite a week later in the season, both these plants were collected with unfaded blossoms. The botany of Callander, upon the whole, oecupies a more prominent position in the surrounding landscape 1857. | TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 83 than it does in the estimation of the botanist. The vales, with few exceptions, are well wooded, and the Sycamores, the Maples, and especially the Ashes, are very fine. The common Elm in Scotland is Ulmus montana; the usual English form of this tree, U. campestris, we never saw as a hedge-shrub, which it frequently is in England. The Scottish Pine is often a grand and picturesque object where it has ample room for development; but the loveliest of Scotland’s trees is the pendulous or weeping Birch. This tree, as an element in the picturesque, is seen to the greatest advantage both in the Trosachs and about Taymouth. It is said that the Pine is the monarch of the Scottish woods, as the Oak is of the English; yet the Oak is not absent in Scot- land; and the Wallace Oak at Ellerslie, the native place of Sir William Wallace, with many other celebrated trees of this kind, is not unworthy of mention among the more famous Oaks of England. Some of the Pines of Scotland are picturesque; and the dark masses of Pine forests and plantations always harmonize well with the sombre hue of Highland scenery. But the Birch is a lovely object, whether seen individually or collectively, and it harmonizes well with the scrubby Oak abounding in the cop- pices which clothe the abrupt elevations that enclose the Scot- tish glens. As a botanical station, Ben Ledi, close to Callander, is de- spised or ignored by botanists in general. Its name does not once occur in the annals of British plants, numerous though they be. Yet it is not quite barren. A couple of specimens, which would confer celebrity upon any mountain in England, were in the possession of the post-mistress of Callander: Lastrea Lonchitis and Buxbaumia aphylia are the plants intended. The beginning of July is rather too early a period for seeing the beauty or for collecting the gems of the Scottish Flora. This time of the year nearly corresponds with midsummer in the south of England, and midsummer is too early for seeing the floral treasures of the mountainous parts of the south and south-west parts of the British Isles. The most experienced of Scottish botanists recommend the summer from the middle of July to the middle of August as the best time for seeing the greatest number of Scottish alpines in flower. Every experienced botanist knows that a district or locality must be visited several times in a sea- 84 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ April, son, viz. from March to September inclusive, before a tolerably exact estimate of its vegetation can be formed. Ben Lawers would be rather a formidable ascent in the month of March, when in most seasons it is invested in its robe of spotless snow. But doubtless the enterprising muscologist would then find se- veral rarities to repay him for his toil and suffering. The beginning of August would however be preferable, on many accounts. The weather is milder than in early spring, the days are longer, and the fairest objects of an alpine flora are in their prime. But we would with due deference recommend a botanical route totally different from that which we ourselves adopted. It is not to be expected that strangers would venture ' to dictate even to the uninitiated. Yet it is to be wished that young, energetic, and enterprising botanists would strike out a new track for themselves, and not be contented to follow the steps _ of scientific veterans, and continue to hunt in the same ground that _ has for so many years been the scenes of the explorations of Don, , Graham, Greville, Hooker, Balfour, and their pupils and com- panions. We should like to explore the hills further west, by Ben More, Ben Ean, and some other of the Argyleshire mountains, be- sides Ben Cruachan, the only one of these popularly known. It has been stated on good authority, that the number of species de- creases as the explorer advances towards the west from the east. This, we have little doubt, is the case in the southern part of the island of Great Britain ; and it is probably the same in Scotland, from the Tweed to the Moray Frith. The agrarial annuals, or colonists, as they are mostly denominated in the ‘Cybele Bri- tannica,’ decrease rather rapidly towards the west, because culti- vation decreases. We should like to hear if the perennial her- baceous plants, which do not depend on agriculture for their per- manence, are affected by longitude; and if so, what are the pro- bable causes of this decrease. The rivers of the Highlands have a pretty general uniformity of character. The rocky bed, the eddying pool, and the scrubby or meadowy banks, are common characteristics. Of course they vary in breadth, and in the quantity of water which they contain. But in this even most of the Highland rivers preserve a consi- derable uniformity. The lakes in which they usually originate have a tendency to preserve this equality of flood. It takes se- veral days’ rain to raise perceptibly the surface of Loch Tay, and 1857.| TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 85 indeed of all large lochs; and the floods in the Dochart and Lochay, or other feeders of lakes, are some time before they have a perceptible effect on the Tay or the rivers that issue from Highland lochs. The Tay will gradually increase after heavy rains for several days after the floods which flow into its loch have subsided. A river with a long, wide, shingly beach, is a rarity in the Highlands. The channel, if not always quite full, is never reduced to a slender stream in the centre, and where the water-worn pebbles are almost the sole indications that water is there at certain seasons. But the extent and diversity of the lakes make ample amends for the uniformity of the rivers. Loch Vennachar, the lowest of a chain of lakes of which Loch Katrine is the uppermost, is not very remarkable, either for its extent or the beauty of its en- virons. Ben Ledi slopes down very gradually to its shores, and the hills on its other or southern side are of no great altitude. Loch Achray is very prettily surrounded by the undulating grounds of the Trosachs, which are ornamented by the Tro- sachs Inn and a little church and manse, all recent erections, and in a peculiar style, which is not ill adapted to the striking scenery with which it (the lake) is surrounded. Loch Katrine, the queen of Scottish lakes (we saw not a fairer in all fair Scotland), is not to be described here. Poets and painters have exhausted all the resources of their respective arts in vain attempts to transfer some of its beauties into their pages or on to their bits of canvas, but without success. Loch Katrine must be seen, and it will bear looking at. The Scots however have an eye for the useful as well as for the picturesque. The blue waters of this fine lake are now on their way to Glasgow, to subserve the com- mon necessities of humanity. ‘'To what vile uses may we turn, Horatio!” We can recommend it on the crede experto prin- ciple. It may be used without filtration, if the pipes, cisterns, and water-butts be kept clean. Scotland however, and even Perthshire, possess lakes of no mean pretensions, but which have not reached the fame of the scene of ‘The Lady of the Lake.’ Among these Loch Lubnaig, on the north side of Ben Ledi, deserves honourable mention. It is not a counterpart of Loch Katrine, nor of any Scottish lake whatever. The north shore has a gentle slope, which extends far away to Benvoirlich’s head, a pastoral region; the other, or south side, is bounded by the 86 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ April, majestic cliffs of Ben Ledi. The lower part of the lake is orna- mented by the woods of the celebrated pass of Leny (Lenie), and the upper by the fine forest which separates this district from Strathire. Dr. Macculloch, whose eye for the picturesque was equal to his descriptive pen, says of this lake, “‘ Loch Lubnaig is utterly unlike every Scottish lake, by the dissimilarities of its two boundaries; the one flat and open, the other a solid wall of mountain, formed by the steep and rocky declivities of Ben Ledi.” Some of the little Scottish lakes on the summits of the table- lands have an expanse of only a few acres: their extent is not to be measured by miles, but by perches or acres. But the very smallest of them give rise to good-sized burns or rivulets, which enhance the interest of the bleak, widely-extended moors in which the peaks of the higher mountains have their base. These — lochs would be termed ¢arns in the north of England. Loch- earn is a fine lake, and the upper end (Lochearn Head) affords fine scenes. Like Loch Tay, it is a long, narrow lake; but where we saw it, the banks are finer than those of its rival. Of Loch Tay Dr. Macculloch says that “it scarcely affords one landscape, from Kenmore to near Killin. Nor do I know,” he adds, “any place in Scotland which with so much promise pro- duces so much disappointment.” Loch Tay, viewed from the summit of Shroine-ach-Lochan, is a fine object in the picture. Its two feeders, the Dochart and the Lochay, are seen to unite and enter it on the spit of land below Killin; and both sides of the lake are for two or three miles fringed with the ancient woods of Finlarig on the left, and by the woods of Kinnell and Auchinore on the right hand. There is another lake which we visited, and which, both in outline and in scenic character, is quite distinct from any of the aforenamed lakes. The Loch of Menteith, or Monteith, has a roundish outline, and is surrounded by quite flat shores on all sides except on the north-west or Aberfoyle side. This lake is. a beautiful sheet of water, plentifully fringed by ancient woods and with two small islands, on the larger of which was a priory, founded by one of the ancient Kings of Scotland. The other islet contains the remains of the castle of the Grahams, Earls of Menteith,—a name detested by Scottish patriots, because borne by the betrayer of one of Scotland’s most heroic and disinterested warriors. This race has been long extinct. 1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 87 The most celebrated passes visited by us were the two at Dun- keld; the western one between Inver and Craigie Barns, and the eastern between Birnam and Caputh Hills. The former is the most celebrated, and deservedly. Another noticeable pass is that of Leny (Lenie), near Callander. Concerning the latter Dr. Macculloch writes: “‘No one who has seen the pass of Leny (Lenie) will ever forget it; but he who has seen it will forget the rest of Strathire, Kilmahog, and all: the river is broad and majestic, while rapid, and rocky, and fringed with wood suited to the breadth and elevation of the noble precipices of Ben Ledi,” etc. (vol. 1. p. 149). Strathire is not much altered since the Doctor wrote, and Kilmahog (Kilmaig) is probably in the same neglected or forgotten state. But when the railway is extended to Callander from Stirling, the pass of Leny, Loch Lubnaig, Kilmaig, Strathire, and ail, may attract some of the at- tentions and admiration now exclusively lashed on the Tro- sachs and Loch Katrine. ; On our homeward journey from Perth to Carlisle, we passed through one of the most fertile districts in Scotland: Stratherne, which is bounded by the Highland Hills on the north-west, and by the Ochils, or by spurs of them, on the south-east, and which is watered by the Erne, yields in productiveness to few straths of Scotland. Long ere we reached the Border, the darkness pre- vented our viewing the scenery. The only scenes very conspicu- ous were the furnaces and fires of the smelting-houses, of which there are many between Glasgow and Carlisle. The absence in Scotland of the common wayside plants of the south and centre of England, is a feature which arrests the atten- tion of the wayfarer in the northern districts of Britain. There are, even in Surrey and Hants, tracts as dreary and barren as the moors of Rannoch and Breadalbane; and the vegetation is very scanty on such places, both in Devon and Perthshire, and there the difference is not very obvious. But about the streams and near villages the number of plants begins to increase, and then the botanical pedestrian in the North is reminded that he is not in England. In passing through a Scottish village, he fails to see our two common Mallows, M. sylvestris and M. rotundi- folia: Ballota nigra and Lamium album are also absent. The common climbing hedge-plants of England, both the Bryonies, the white and the black, the large white Convolvulus, the Sola- 88 TOUR IN SCOTLAND. [ April, num Dulcamara (Woody Nightshade), and the more permanent or durable plants, the Honeysuckles and the Clematis, are absent or vary scarce species in Scotland. Galium Mollugo, Convolvulus arvensis, and several crucifers, umbellifers, and ranunculaceous plants, are not observable in the corn-fields. Scotland does pro- duce species peculiar to herself and to other similar mountainous or northern regions; but these are not agricultural weeds, nor such annuals as we now term colonists, nor such as are called viatical (wayside species), nor sylvan, nor septal plants. The sylvan and septal species of Scotland are probably the remaims of the ancient original forests, through which roads have been formed, and the original vegetation left as a protection to the fields. The Elm, Oak, and Hazel are not so common in the Scottish as in the English hedges ; the Viburnum, the Huonymus, the Rhamnus, are not natives of Scotland; and the Ivy is but rarely seen, probably because there are but few or no Elms in the hedgerows. It loves to cling to the Elm; and though not a parasite, it helps to kill that from which it derives its sup- port. The Cornel-tree and the White Beam-tree (Pyrus Aria) are entirely absent from Scotland. The luxuriance and pictorial beauty of an English unclipt hedge is missed in Scotland. Yet the hedge-trees of England, when planted in Scotland, attain enormous magnitudes for these trees. We observed at Killin a Hawthorn-tree which had reached the dimensions of an ordinary English Elm; and as it was but comparatively a- young tree (under 200 years of age), and was quite healthy, it bids fair to rival some of Scotland’s largest forest-trees. We have already noticed an enormous specimen of Acer campestre, or Field Maple ; and many other examples are recorded. Our impressions of the Scottish atmosphere are not very fa- vourable to its fair fame. We never had more than three fine days in succession, and that only twice. There a soft* day is the rule, and not the exception. 'The weather in England is prover- bially changeable. It is not so in the Highlands ; but there un- * He who does not know the meaning of “a soft day,” must go to Fort Wil- liam ; or he may go to Inyerary, which will do as well. This is the usual friendly salutation when it is raining what the Scots denominate an “even down-pour ;” what the Americans call “ stoning rain ;” what the Cornish very expressively term “lashing ;’ and what is vulgarly denominated “cats and dogs.” On the other hand, a good day is like angels’ visits. 1857.] PYRUS DOMESTICA. 89 happily the changes are generally from rain to snow, and from snow to hard frost,—or in other words, it rains all summer and snows or freezes all winter. This we have heard; “ but Fame, I ween, says many things in sport.” Sed crede experto: we were there in summer, and can recommend top-coats, leggings, if waterproof the better, flannel waistcoats, worsted stockings, thick shoes, and more than two pairs, and the use of a good fire where it is pro- curable, where it is not, a good allowance of blankets will do quite as well. PYRUS DOMESTICA, Sm. In reply to Beta’s question in the last number of the ‘ Phyto- logist’ (vol. ii. p. 71), I may say that, while drawing attention to Parkinson’s statement of the introduction of Pyrus domestica into this country, I wished botanists to form their own conclu- sions as to how far it applied to the Wyre Forest tree. I have never had the pleasure of visitmg Wyre Forest, and therefore, perhaps, am hardly justified in expressing a decided opinion on the age of the tree in question; but I cannot help thinking that it is greatly over-estimated by some writers. It must not be forgotten that the tree is in a state of premature decay, owing to the barbarous treatment it has received at the ruthless hands of curiosity-hunters. Bearing this in mind, and taking the speci- mens mentioned in the ‘ Phytologist, w.s., vol. 1. p. 197, as guides, it seems not unreasonable to conclude that the age of the Wyre Forest tree does not exceed two hundred years. If one of these trees, whose dimensions are given, and whose age is esti- mated at two hundred years, may be taken as a fair specimen of the dimensions attained by the species in a couple of centuries, our Wyre Forest specimen has never approached the size of a full-grown tree of its kind. For while the tree alluded to pos- sessed a trunk of three feet four inches in diameter, that in Wyre Forest had attained to only one foot nine inches. On the whole, therefore, I cannot see anything in what has been published re- specting this remarkable tree, to negative the supposition that it has descended from one of those introduced by John Tradescant. Beta has, inadvertently, referred my quotation of its introduction N.S. VOL. I. N 90 REVIEWS. [ April, by Tradescant to Parkinson’s ‘Theatre of Plants ;’—it occurs in another book by the same writer, which seems much less known to botanists, viz. the ‘ Paradisus Terrestris.’, This work contains descriptions of, and directions for rearing, the flowers, vegetables, and fruits cultivated in gardens at the time of its publication, and is a very curious record of the practice of horticulture in _ those days. The Service-tree is said (Loudon’s ‘ Encyclopzedia of Plants’) to be still cultivated for its fruit in some parts of France, and near Genoa. Is it ever planted in English gardens nowadays ? Selby, in his ‘ British Forest Trees, says that it is difficult to propagate in this country “ from its fastidiousness as to soil and situation.” Rospert C. Dovetas. March 10th, 1857. Rebiews., Index Filicum: a Synopsis, with Characters of the Genera, and an Enumeration of the Species of Ferns, with Synonyms, Re- ferences, etc. By Tuomas Moors, F.L.S., F.H.S., Author of the ‘Handbook of British Ferns,’ ete., ete. London: Pamplin. In this comprehensive Index to all that has ever been written about Ferns, the learned author first defines the alliance Filicales, and in succession the Orders PoLypopiace® (true Ferns), Ma- RATTIACER, OpHrociossace®, the alliance Lycopodales, and the Orders Lycorpoprace# and Marsiteacem. ‘The tribes and sec- tions are defined under their respective Orders. The generic descriptions, which are both ample and perspicuous, are accom- panied with the synonyms and examples of the genera, and with references to works wherein the species are pictorially or otherwise described. A sufficient account of the nature and scope of the publication may be obtained from the advertisement prefixed to the work, of which the following is given as a sample: —“The attempt now made to produce a catalogue of Ferns, ar- ranged on some uniform plan, of convenient bulk and moderate price, as complete withal as a diligent research in the publica- tions accessible to him has enabled the author to make it, has 1857. | REVIEWS. 91 sprung from the acknowledged want of some recent enumeration of the species of Ferns, embodying the modern principles of clas- sification. Such an enumeration required, in order to render it fully intelligible, that a synopsis of the genera of Ferns should be prefixed. It seemed also necessary to its utility, that the Catalogue itself should indicate, under the adopted species, the following particulars, viz. (1) references to the most useful gene- ral publications, as well as to those detached Memoirs in which they may be classified or described; (2) an enumeration of their synonyms; (3) references to Figures; and (4) a summary of their known habitats sufficient to illustrate their geographical range.” Of late years this order of plants has been more investigated than the vegetable kingdom in general. Some of our most emi- nent systematic and practical botanists have laboured both at the classification and the description of Ferns. The growing taste for elegant forms has been met by numerous publications, which, in all, would constitute no small portion of a botanical library. The scheme of publishing an index to the great mass of recent and modern as well as ancient information on this popular subject, is certainly a good one, and will doubtless be approved and encouraged by all lovers of the most elegant of nature’s productions. The well-won reputation of the author is an ample guarantee that the plan will be carefully and success- fully carried out in the execution of the work. Monograph of the Genus AxsrotHattus (De Notaris and Tulasne emend.). By W. Lauper Linpsay, M.D., Perth. The author of this elaborate paper premises that the above genus has long been known, though under a variety of designa- tions (names), although the true structure of the species and their proper place in the series were quite misunderstood till the recent investigations of De Notaris in Italy and Tulasne in France. Both of these eminent lichenologists have published memoirs on this subject; and the object of Dr. Lindsay in his communication is to correct some of their errors and to supply their defects. In stating the untenable views of Scherer and others, Dr. Lindsay informs us that “It has been too much the 92 REVIEWS. [ April, custom lazily and ignorantly to refer minute, black, point-like, or spot-like parasitic Lichens to the great family of the Fungi ; but I feel assured that many species of Spheria, Dothidea, Pe- ziza, and other Fungi, presently so called, which are parasitic on the thallus of various familiar. Lichens, will ultimately be found to belong themselves to the ranks of the Lichens. [I attri- bute however no blame to my predecessors for having erred in regard to the structure and place in classification of these minute organisms. Nay, I do not see how such errors could have been avoided; for the parasitic Lichens to which I refer could not have been properly studied prior to the introduction of the mi- croscope, etc.” Our author reduces Tulasne’s five species of Abrothallus to two, discarding A. inquinans, and combining A. Welwitzschii and A. microspermus under the name A. Smithii, which forms three varieties or sub-species, ater, pulverulentus, and microsper- mus: the species A. oxysporus he retains. The genus is well illustrated by two coloured plates, contain- ing highly magnified figures of these species, and of portions of the Lichens on which they grow. Dr. Lindsay well deserves the encouragement and commenda- tion of all the friends of botanical science, for his disinterested labours in the cause of progress. Art is largely indebted to him for his many communications on the colorific properties of Lz- chens, a family of plants which he has taken under his protection and patronage. But for the sake of the many who do not under- stand the magniloguent terms of modern science, we wish he would condescend to manifest a little more sympathy for people not quite so learned as he himself is. As it is possible to write learnedly without learned language, so it is not impossible to write scientifically without the use of such unusual words as differentiation, ostiole, maturescence, anamorphoses, and the like, which convey no idea that is not expressible by distinction or distinctness, pore, ripeness or maturity, malformation, etc., and similar less neologistic-like terms. Dr. Lindsay cannot believe, nor imagine that his readers entertain, the omne ignotum pro magnifico wotiou, or that people admire only what they do not understand. 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 93 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. PLANTS GROWING ON AND NEAR BuacKHEATH. By J.5. M. Torilis nodosa.—On the grassy slope above Hyde Vale. Trifolium striatum.—V ery abundantly along the road crossing the heath” diagonally towards Morden College, and the prolongation of that road into Blackheath Park (June, 1856). Trifolium (or Trigonella) ornithopodioides.—Very scantily by the same road, in front of the Paragon, in 1853. Not seen since; but Blackheath being one of the recorded stations of this small inconspicuous plant, it probably still exists on some other part of the heath. Tragopogon porrifolius.—In some abundance in a corner of a meadow by the prolongation (already mentioned) of the diagonal road into Black- heath Park. The plant has been completely established in the locality for some years past. There is nothing to show its origin; but it is to be feared that the progress of building will shortly root it out. Senecio viscosus.—A weed on the glebe-land at Lee, in profusion (1851). The land is now covered with houses, but the plant has survived this peril, being still found in considerable quantity by the roadside. Rare Puants or HeERtTs. I have an unpublished chapter of additions to the ‘Flora Hertfordi- ensis, of my own making, but this is not in a tangible shape for publi- cation just now. Indeed, although it shall be for the ‘ Phytologist’ even- tually, I should like to send it to the reverend author of the ‘ Herts Flora’ first. You doubtless know this neighbourhood. We have several interesting plants, but very few near at hand, that Babington (‘ Manual,’ 4th edit.) would mark as “7a7e.” The Valley of the Lee, between here and Brocket Hall Park, yields Menyanthes, Orchis latifolia, the lovely Parnassia by thousands, and several scarce Hertfordshire plants; but I do not recollect a single kind more valuable to a botanist than Dianthus Armeria, which occurs here. Galanthus is abundantly wild, if not imdigenous in the neigh- bourhood. In the famed Devil’s Dyke (an earthwork of the contests before the Norman conquest) Polystichum angulare abounds; and on No- Man’s-Land Common Gentiana campestris occurs. We are very scant of grassy fields, but wherever we have pasture, there old Abbott’s favourite, the exquisite Alchemilla vulgaris, appears. On the nearest chalk, [beris amara is often abundant; but I do not think that we have anything more likely to be interesting to collectors than such generally distributed kinds as those I enumerate. HK. E. . DROSERA INTERMEDIA. From ‘ Die Botanische Zeitung, 17th October, 1856. In this species, as well as in D. rotundifolia, the flower-stalk is not axil- lary, but terminal, as the author of this paper, Th. Irmisch, had previously suspected. The leaf-stalk, in both, springs from the axil of the uppermost leaf, which consequently subtends the base of the stalk (scape). Branch- 94, BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [April, ing examples of the scape (flower-stalk) of the British specimens of Drosera are probably not very unfrequent; and it would be worth while to direct our attention to these states. The caulescent form of D. intermedia figured and described in the February number of the ‘ Phytologist’ has, it ap- pears, been overlooked, or, if observed, was not thought worthy of special notice. Such facts, trivial though they may be deemed, will always be welcome to a place in our pages, and, it is believed, will be acceptable to the majority of our readers. : E CARDAMINE ACAULIS. Character of a new Cardamine, in Germany, discovered: and described by Dr. Otto Berg. The learned discoverer .of this new species proposes the following spe- cific name and character :— “ Cardamine acaulis, Bg.; perennis, acaulis; foliis omnibus radicalibus, basi exauriculatis, pinnatipartitis, novellis hispidis, demum plus minusve glabris ; foliolis petiolulatis, rhombeo-subrotundis, repando-dentatis, ter- minali majore; scapo radicali simplici, filiformi, glabro, unifloro, foliis vix longiore; petalis calyce triplo, staminibus duplo longioribus, obcordatis ; stylo latitudinem siliquee superante ; stigmate capitato. - “Habitat in graminosis humidiusculis umbrosis. Floret Aprili, Majo. Prope Berolinum.” This description may be thus Englished :— Stemless Cardamine. Root perennial; leaves all radical, pinnate, at first hairy, finally more or less smooth; leaflets stalked, rhomboid-round- ish, with spreading teeth, upper leaflet the largest; scape (flower-stalk) filiform; simple, one-flowered, scarcely longer than the leaves; petals three times as long as the sepals and twice as long as the stamens, obcordate ; fruit tipt with the style; stigma capitate. y In moist, grassy, and shady places. April, May. Near Berlin. This plant is distinct from all our British species of this genus by the one-flowered scape. It approaches C. hirsuta, from which it is very rea- dily distinguished by its perennial root, as well as by its single flower. BorTanica. NATIVE COUNTRY OF DatuRA STRAMONIUM. The home of this now widely-distributed plant is probably the shores of the Caspian Sea, or in the countries adjacent thereto. It is not an Indian native plant, and it is very doubtful if it was known in Hurope during the period of the dominion of Rome in the West. It appears to have gained a footing in Europe between the decadence of the Roman Empire and the discovery of America.—From Die Botanische Zeitung. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. A portion (Heft) of Schnitzlein’s elaborate and beautiful work on the Natural Orders, viz. ‘Iconographia Familiarum Regni Vegetabilis,’ appeared in the end of last year (1856). The part just published contains illustra- tions of the Orders Caprifoliacee, Jasminee, Verbenacee, Globulariee, - Asperifoliee, etc. To this brief notice the editor of the ‘ Botanische Zei- = - 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 95 tung’ expresses a wish, which is general, that the work may be expedited ; for, he says, it is now fourteen years since its commencement: a rather long period in this age, wherein the work that formerly occupied a cen- tury is now finished in a decade.—Botanische Zeitung. Meyer’s History or BoTany. A third volume of this important contribution to our knowledge of ancient and medieval botany, was published before the close of the year 1856. Meyer’s elaborate work has already been mentioned in the pages of the ‘ Phytologist ;’ and the following brief account of the contents of the volume lately published will, it is hoped, be not unacceptable to our readers. The ninth book of the work, and the first of the third volume, contains the history of botany among the ancient nations of the Hast; for ex- ample, among the Indians, the Per sians, and the Nabathzans (Arabians 2), The history of botany among the Arabians is brought down to the four- teenth century, and this is the subject of the tenth book. The eleventh contains an account of the revival of science in Europe during the age of Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Albertus Magnus, from 800 to 1250, including the authors and founders of the Salernian school (Schola Saler- nitana), “describing in this part what was known about plants on this side of the Alps in the twelfth century. Frequent. . Mnium punctatum, Hedw. J . Funaria hygrometrica, Hedw. Everywhere. 70. Enthostodon Templetoni, Schwegr. On the banks of the stream near Castletown ; very fine. . Bartramia fontana, Brid. In fruit in Glen Laxey, ete. . Bartramia pomeanzet Hedw. Ona bank near Castleward, Douglas. . Bartramia arcuata, Brid. Glen Laxey. . Fissidens bryoides, Hedw. On banks, ete. . Fissidens osmundioides, Hedw. On a dripping stone at the commencement of Glen Laxey, with Bryum julaceum. . Fissidens taxifolius, Hedw. Common on banks, — . Isothectum myurum, Brid. Glen Laxey. 8. Isothecium myosuroides, Brid. On a shady rock in Glen Laxey. 79. Leskea sericea, Hedw. On trees; not common. 1857. ] MOSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN. lll 80. 81. 82. 83. 34. 94. 95. 96. 7: 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. Hypnum lutescens, Huds. On banks near Douglas and Cas- tletown. Hypnum plumosum, Swartz. Common in the Glens. Hypnum populeum, Swartz. On a wall near the Quarter Bridge, Douglas. Hypnum velutinum, Hedw. Banks; not uncommon. Hypnum illecebrum, Lin. On sandy banks, Douglas, Castle- town, and Peel. . Hypnum rutabulum, L. Abundant. . Hypnum rivulare, Bruch. In the stream near Castletown. . Hypnum prelongum, Lin. . Hypnum Swartz, Turn. | tages . Hypnum striatum, Schreb. . Hypnum ruscifolium, Neck. On rocks and stones in the streams. . Hypnum serpens, Lin. On walls, etc.; not common. . Hypnum stellatum, Schreb. Glen Laxey, and wet cliffs about Onchan. . Hypnum palustre, Lin. Glen Laxey. ) luxuries of puddings and drinks; and the husks supply fibre, of which the natives make their very neatly-plaited ropes. At dinner the milk of the cocoa-nut is generally drunk hot, and the dessert closed by a cold nut. The great luxury of the islands in the way of drink however is derived from the Piper methysticum ; a specimen of which is on the table. This is a large-growimg shrubby Pepper, which the Feejeeans call Yangona, but which is elsewhere more com- monly known under the name Kava, or Ava. It is universally cultivated, and on approaching a chief it is usual formally to present him with a piece. The method of preparing a drink from this root has been often described. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. DRoSERA LONGIFOLIA, var. CAULESCENS ? Since writing a notice of a caulescent form of Drosera, found near Kil- larney, I have received intimations of its being in the hands of collectors from two other sources. First, from Mr. Hardy, of Manchester, who has kindly promised to send me a specimen collected in Lancashire. Secondly from Mr. Kirk, of Coventry, who writes to me as follows :—“ I found the caulescent variety of Drosera intermedia very fine and plentiful, not far from Taylors Hill, Galway, in 1854. Although my specimens are in fruit and flower, I see no difference except in luxuriance. I regret that I have given them away so freely that I cannot send one with this. I have received a similar form from Tolchmoor, Devon. I think it is not un- common in Connemara.” Thus far there is evidence of the plant having been found in six different places (five of these recently), and in localities very considerably removed from each other. The question to be settled is simply—has D. longifolia a strong tendency to the caulescent state; or are the above-mentioned discoveries to be regarded as proofs that the caulescent plant is specifically distinct from D. longifolia ? W. M. Hinp. STACHYS ARVENSIS. Have you ever observed in the above-named plant a fondness for throw- ing out tufts of radicules (radicles ?) from the lower part of its ascending stem? I have found it frequently this autumn: is it a common occur- rence in an annual ? Two monstrous varieties of Linaria Elatine and spuria are very common with us,—the one double, and more rarely triply-spurred, the other with the throat prolonged of equal. width throughout, instead of terminating in a spur, and the lips very small and scarcely distinct. The whole corolla is thus very like that of the common Musk- -plant. Faversham. Huenw A. STOWELL. 118 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [ May, ANNUAL TEMPERATURE. Hypericum perforatum, which has a horizontal range of 11°, or which grows between 50° and 61°, and has a temperature ranging from 52° to 46°, remarkably differs from the following, viz. H. dubium. H. dubium, with a range of 7° (50° to 31), flourishes in a temperature ranging from 51° to 45°. H. montanum, with a range of only B® (50° to 55°), j is stated to grow in a temperature ranging from “50° to 47° The temperatures at the further or north end of the series ate feasible enough, viz. 61° latitude and 46° temp., 57° lat. and 57° temp., and 55° lat. and 57° temp. But how is it that the temperature differs so widely at the southern end of the horizontal range? All the three above-mentioned plants grow in latitude 50°, yet there is two-degrees-difference between their respec- tive temperatures. The temperature of H/. perforatum is 52°, of H. dubium 51°, and of H. montanum 50°. QUERIST. [Perhaps the learned author of the ‘ Cybele Britannica’ will condescend to enlighten our correspondent. | LocALITIFS AND RANGE OF BritTIsH PLANTS DESCRIBED IN ‘BritisH Botany.’ Some misapprehensions having arisen about the publication of single lo- calities of certain rare species, the author wishes to state clearly that when one or even two stations are entered where the said species have been ob- served, it is by no means to be implied that they are confined to these mentioned localities. As examples, Jéeris amara and Erodium maritimum are cited: the former about Pangbourn, etc., because it abounds there (its range is quoted from ‘ Cybele Britannica’). ‘The latter, as is well known, occurs on various parts of the coast, as well as in the vicinity of saline springs in the interior. The locality given is several miles from any known salt-spring. . CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE OrncHIDOLOGY oF INDIA. By Pror. LINDLEY. The most remarkable and unexpected fact is brought to light by the examination of a great mass of materials, that certain of the * species are found to have an extensive range. It has hitherto been believed that these plants were extremely local, such being probably the case with epiphytal species; but it has been proved quite the reverse with the terrestrial ones, the range of some of which turns out to be as wide as that of the most ubiquitous species belonging to other natural orders. Orchis latifolia, which had been long known to wander into North-western India, had now been found in Western Thibet. Herminium monorchis, in no respect distinguishable from its English state, had been found in North-west India, and probably in Sylhet. Gymna- denia cucullata, a plant of Hastern Europe and Siberia, seemed to be the same as one gathered by Dr. Hooker at an elevation of 14,000 feet in Sikkim. Goodyera repens was common in Sikkim; while G. procera ex- 1857. | BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 119 tended from Sikkim, by way of the Neilgherries, Ceylon, and Java, to China. A plant, which the author believed to be Spiranthes autumnalis, is found in North-western India; and S. australis everywhere, from Si- beria, North-west India generally, Ceylon, and Java, to China, New Hol- land, and New Zealand. It was added, that any one who has examined a large number of species would be correctly led to regard the latter vari- able plant as nothing more than our own S. estivalis. Epipactis vera- trifolia, a remarkable Persian species, the same without doubt as the com- mon Indian species described under the names of Z. consimilis, macro- stachya, herbacea, and Dalhousie, were only so many states of the common Kuropean ZL. latifolia. Cephalanthera acuminata, abundant all over North- ern India, is identical with C. ensifolia of England. Epipogium Gmelini, recently discovered in England, had been found in Sirmur. “Facts of this nature,’ observes the author, ‘are of the more im- portance, seeing that the ordinary modes of dispersion—by birds, by winds, by waves, by man—would seem to be here inoperative, or at least insufficient to explain such very remarkable ranges (a plant appearing at two points of the globe, distant about 12,000 miles from each other).”’ CALIFORNIAN PINEs. Description of the Gigantic Trees of California. By Rumy, Archives de Science Nat. et Phys. (Bib. Universelle de Genéve). The extent on which these giants of the forest are standing is not above a mile in circuit, and its height above the coast-line is scarcely 5000 feet (4883). The trees are about ninety in all, and the smallest has a diameter of 15 feet; and, as our author states, they surpass all the other trees of the forest as much as the Italian Poplar surpasses the Osier; or, as Virgil has it, ‘‘ Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.” Yellow Moss and Lichens ornament their lofty stems, and a parasite (pace Newman alio- rumgue), of the genus Hypopithys, grows on their roots. The majority of these trees have had their heads broken off by the incumbent masses of snow which lodge on them in winter, and many have been much injured by fire. One of them, as is generally known, has been stripped of its bark to the extent of 100 feet ; and though this tree was peeled more than two years ago, it still survives the loss of its rmd. Whole families of people could be comfortably accommodated in hollow spaces that have been con- sumed by fires. The author gives the following description and dimensions of the most remarkable. The dig tree, 95 feet diameter, and 300 feet high. Five men laboured twenty-five days in cutting down this immense tree. A house and skittle-ground are erected on the stump; room is left for a pavilion, with benches, intended for theatrical representations. Tra- vellers have estimated the age of some of the trees, which are not the largest, at 3000 years; but the author of this account estimates the age of these at not more than 2000 years. ‘The ‘Miners’ Cabin,’ the ‘Three Sisters,” the ‘Old Bachelor,’ ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ ‘Mister Shelby,’ ‘Bride of California,’ etc., range from 70 to 95 feet diameter, and from 280 to 360 feet in height. The father of the twenty-four children has been laid prostrate for several years. The diameter of the base of the patriarchal tree is 110 feet, and its probable estimated height 450. Truth 120 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [ May. is stranger than fiction: a tree equalling the dome of St. Paul’s in dia- meter, and 100 feet higher than its ball and cross, is a production worthy of the grand country in which it had its beginning and development. LINN#AN SOCIETY. Note on the Cultivation of Mossns; by the Rev. H. H. Higgins.— The author’s bryarium consisted of a glass case, four feet six inches long, twenty-two inches from back to front, and twenty-six inches high, fitted with shelves, and having two doors, one of which was generally left only partly closed. The plants were kept in separate pots, and never moved from the case, but kept in the shade and frequently watered with a syringe. Some care was taken to procure suitable kinds of soil, but in most instances soil had been but sparingly used, the pots being more than half filled with drainage. In this bryarium about 240 species had been planted; and the paper consisted chiefly of notes of the result. Among many instances of failure or but partial success, the author mentioned some instances in which the results had been satisfactory, among which were the following :—Grimmia pulvinata proved a charming little plant for cultivation, but required to be kept rather dry. Aulacomnion palustre was another most desirable kind for cultivation, growing freely, the tall psewdopodia being both abundant and interesting. Leptobrywm pyriforme is one that should be excluded, as it became a perfect pest, growimg everywhere but in its own pot. Bryum nutans and corneum both produced their fruit freely. Physocomitrium pyriforme fruited so densely as completely to hide the leaves. The Bartramias were stated to be on the whole the best and most satisfactory Mosses for cultivation; nothing of the kind, observes the author, can exceed them in beauty of colour, growth, and fruit. The species of Fissidens were also gems for cultivation; and it was mentioned, that the author’s plant of /’. adiantoides was a portion of a specimen which has been in cultivation for twenty years. Leskea sericea and polycarpa were other very beautiful and suitable species for cultivation. The Hyp- nums were found to be of straggling habit, and seemed to have their vita- lity chiefly confined to their extremities, for if cut off, the plant will not throw up fresh shoots from the root, but perishes; while the extremities, if planted, make vigorous growth. Finally, Hookeria lucens proved to be alike beautiful in winter and summer, never changing or losing its delicate freshness. ‘These, it appeared from the author’s experience, were the most desirable Mosses for cultivation. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Moore’s Index Filicum ;~ Part the Second. Communications have been received from E. M. Attwood; W. P.; G. E. Hunt; Delta; John Windsor, F.L.8. ; George Jordan; C. A. C.; Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay; Henry J. Church ; Sydney Beisley; W. H. Wilkin; George Davies. [June, 1857.] 121 THE DIATOMACE: Their Characteristics and Structure ; together with Remarks on Collecting and Examining this Order of Plants. Communicated by Henry J. Cuurcn. [The following pages are condensed from Rabenhorst’s work, ‘ Die Siiszwasser Diatomacez’ (Berlin, 1853)—‘ The Fresh- water Diatomacez,’—a cheap and useful book. They form by far the larger part of the Introduction; a few passages only being omit- ted, in order to bring the present Paper within due limits. | The Natural Order Diatomacee* consists of unicellular organ- isMs, possessing a prismatic flinty skeleton or frame, and con- taining a peculiar golden-yellow or brown colouring matter. Propagation—by the division of the parent-cell into two new cells. No order in organic nature is more strictly defined than that of the Diatomacee. Their inflexible siliceous frame- work—destructible neither by a red-heat nor by decay—distin- guishes them at once from all known organized bodies. If their near neighbours, the Desmidiee, approach them as regards form, a simple experiment at once removes all doubt. This experi- ment consists in placing a small portion of the specimen in ques- tion upon mica or platinum foil, and exposing it to a red heat by the aid of a spirit-lamp. All organic matter is thus destroyed, and only the frame of the Diatom remains, its form unchanged ; while, on account of the removal of its contents, its structure is more sharply and clearly defined. Care must be taken however that no salts of potash or soda be present; otherwise, as is well known, they would enter into chemical combination with the si- lica, and produce glass. If the Diatom be infallibly distinguished by the material of its exterior, we meet with yet other characters hardly less pecu- har. The form of its framework is highly symmetrical; round (rund), discoid, cylindrical, or prismatically quadrangular, with acute angles, and generally plane extremities. The two surfaces which correspond in position, almost invariably correspond also in form; hence, in diagnoses, we need only describe one side and one extremity. Sometimes the former is the more deve- * From the Greek dia, through, and teuvw, I cut. N.S. VOL. 11. R 122 THE DIATOMACER. | June, loped, sometimes the latter,—presenting the greater diversity of form, structure, and markings, and affording the more essential characters for the genera and groups. The external surface of this flinty structure is, almost without exception, smooth and even : internally, however, glandular thick- enings of the most varied kind: are found projecting. The par- ticles of silica which compose these, le less compactly than those on the perfectly smooth planes,—presenting umbilical nodes of definite form (globular, oblong, cuneate, or funnel-shaped). Some of them appear as little dots, arranged regularly, and extending in the direction of the length or breadth of the Diatom: others, again, present opaque lines, traversing the same directions, and, according to their width, designated ridges, ribs, stripes, or lines,—these also being often bordered with dots. Thus the Diatomacee are so characterized by their form and structure, that at first glance they may be distinguished from every other organism. Proceeding inwards from this siliceous exterior, we come next upon a delicate membrane—the cell pro- per—by which the flinty skeleton is produced. This membrane encloses the contents of the cell, which consists of a slimy sub- stance, and of a peculiar. brown or golden-yellow colouring- matter, quite distinct from the chlorophyll of plants. Chloro- phyll is soluble in alcohol, and in contact with alkalies dissolves, forming a yellowish-green substance; whereas the colouring- matter of the Diatomacee is insoluble in alcohol (though bleached by it after some time), and remains unacted upon by alkalies. While the Diatom is yet young, this colouring-matter is equally distributed ; but in a short time it undergoes various changes, in common with the interior of the cell generally. It assumes the most diversified forms,—these mostly symmetrical, and often extremely elegant. Granular bodies are at the same time pro- duced, which circulate with a spiral motion in the interior of the cell,—a phenomenon resembling that which takes place in the cells of some Alge (Spirogyra). The Diatom thus formed, is found to be enveloped in a kind of mantle, corresponding to the cuticle of the higher plants. Being of a gelatinous consistence, it is now apparently absent, and again very evident. Sometimes it forms the medium of attach- ment between numbers of Diatoms, which appear as groups or masses, in seeming disorder, or in regular rows. Occasionally 1857. | THE DIATOMACER. 123 it is more developed at the extremity of the Diatom, forming a kind of pedicel; and sometimes, though very rarely, an exact counterpart of this is produced in the opposite direction. The Diatomacee multiply by the separation of the old or pa- rent cell into two new cells. The contents of the parent-cell be- come divided, and a primordial utricle is formed round each por- tion. Shortly these grow into new cells, which either remain in contact, or become separated. In some genera two connected Diatoms are split asunder, and their contents, surrounded by a primordial utricle, form a process called a gonidium. Sometimes numerous rudimentary cells—at first unsymmetrical, afterwards regularly oval or oblong—are developed within the parent-cell, after awhile circulate there, and become discharged by the break- ing up of the old cell. Ina surprisingly short time they attain or even surpass the size of the parent-cell, which, immediately after discharging its contents, ceases to exist. An apparently voluntary motion is displayed by almost all the unattached Diatomacee, and particularly by those shaped like a boat, as the Navicule. This motion greatly varies; sometimes it is calm, sometimes fitful; now progressive, now retrograde. If obstacles interfere, the Diatom diverges from its straight- onward course, and passes alongside the obstruction, or swims round it, its anterior extremity being either raised or depressed : this motion arises from the reception and expulsion of fluids by the Diatom. If these fiuids are received at the right side, and expelled at the left, the movement is towards the right, and vice versd. As both halves of the Diatom, physiologically and mor- phologically, are precisely alike, the reception and expulsion of the fluid may take place either to the left or right, and hence the motion may be progressive or retrograde. Wherever moisture prevails, one is sure to meet with Diatoms. ‘They are most abundant in spring, and are found in puddles and ditches, as well as in the clearest streams. Their production and increase are often astonishingly rapid. On allowing a glass of water to remain for some days in a room, they may be detected, together with minute algze, deposited on the bottom and sides of the vessel. In spring the number of species is comparatively small, and that of the individuals of each species great; while in summer and autumn the variety of species is much more consi- derable, one gathering often showing from ten to twenty. They 124. THE DIATOMACE. | June, form slimy pellicles, of a brownish or greenish colour, on mud, stones, pieces of wood, and other submerged bodies. In com- pany with Alge they cover the entire sides of rocks, conduits, etc., and are found swimming freely in tufts of Conferve and similar plants; or they live, parasite-like, on water-weeds, often in such numbers as to cover them like Aphides. Sometimes, by being connected end to end, they form brown chain-like pro- cesses, several feet in length, resembling the filamentous Alge (differing from these, however, by immediately becoming discon- nected when touched). Lakes and stagnant waters are often full of them, and they are occasionally raised, by escaping gases, se- veral inches above the surface of the water in frothy heaps. Only a few species appear to have any choice as to locality, the majo- rity having just as little regard to this as to thermal differences. Many species are distributed over the whole surface of the earth ; found from the poles to the equator, in the waters of the glaciers and in the hottest springs. The sea has its characteristic forms, differmg widely from those of fresh-water localities. Diatoms met with in salt land waters are mostly referable to the latter. But the distribution of the Diatomacee goes still further: we may assume their invariable presence in dust. If we consider how heavy bodies are sometimes blown about and transported from place to place by the wind, we can easily conceive the same to be the case with the little Diatom that, far minuter than the smallest particle of dust, frequently remains suspended long after the aerial strata again become calm. If the atmosphere where- in they are suspended be not sufficiently loaded with moisture, they die a natural death, and soon only their indestructible ske- leton remains. But in the atmosphere in damp weather perfect Diatoms are not unfrequently discovered, their contents fully coloured. Once taken up by the breeze, they are found on the castle turret, the mountain-top, the dust that settles on our books, and, in short, everywhere. The mode of collecting the Diatomacee is most simple, and needs no particular instruction. A case of from twelve to eigh- teen inches long, more or less, wide-mouth stoppered bottles, each capable of holding from two to four drachms of water, is the first requirement. Every bottle should be numbered on the stopper or on some convenient place, and according to these num- bers the locality of each gathering is entered in a note-book. A spoon for skimming purposes completes the outfit. 1857-] THE DIATOMACE. 125 The specimens thus collected are to be examined at home. Portions of each may be preserved either in the mass, or by di- luting a little with a few drops of water, spreading it on a slip of glass, and evaporating to dryness. These slips are wrapped in paper, on which the necessary notice is to be written, and ar- ranged systematically or alphabetically, no matter, so that each object can be readily found when wanted. Diatoms are some- times preserved in spirit, on account of the organic contents re- maining, in this medium, almost unchanged. For the investigation of the Diatomacee a microscope magni- fying from 250 to 300 diameters is necessary.* Besides the mi- croscope, a good lens, forceps, glass rods, needles and handle, together with some hair-pencils for cleaning the eyeglass, are necessary. Suitable glass slides, and thin glass for covering the object, are sold by the optician: care should be taken that the surface of both glasses be perfectly even. Thus equipped, we commence our investigations. A portion, the size of a pin’s head, is taken from the specimen to be ex- amined, laid upon a slip of glass, diluted with a drop of water, covered with a piece of thin glass, and placed under the micro- scope. The whole surface of the covering-glass must be in con- tact, any obstacle being easily removed by the needle, and air- bubbles must be guarded against. For the better recognition of the object, specimens may be exposed to a red-heat, and after- wards examined.t This renders their structure and specific cha- racters more evident, and admits of their accurate delineation,— a process requiring particular apparatus and considerable skill, but which possesses many recommendations. Warwick, April, 1857. * Rabenhorst mentions several microscopes of this description by foreign makers. Tam credibly informed that Mr. Baker, 243 and 244, High Holborn, manufactures an instrument, price two guineas, which answers every purpose. It is capable of magnifying 300 diameters.—H. J. C. + Instead of employing a red-heat, specimens may be advantageously placed in a test-tube, and boiled in strong nitric acid over the spirit-lamp or gas. The acid must be poured off after the sediment has quite subsided, and this sediment washed seyeral times in water, to guard against the deposition of crystals of nitrates on the glass slides. The damp sediment is placed on a slip of glass, a drop or two of water added if necessary, thinly spread over the glass, and the moisture evaporated. Each specimen should be carefully examined prior to the acid-treatment.— H. J.C. 126 THE ROOT OF WATER HEMLOCK. [ June, THE ROOT OF WATER HEMLOCK. “A most distressing case of poisoning, by which the lives of two fine young men have been sacrificed, has occurred in the pretty little village of West Boldon, near Sunderland. John Snowdon, a farmer’s son, and William Ridley, a labourer, went out on Wednesday morning to clean a hedge and ditch belonging to the father of the former, adjoining the Newcastle road, and about noon the same day they were found lying paralyzed and speechless in the field, close to the ditch where they had been employed. There was a mark of blood on Ridley’s face, and a black mark was forming round Snowdon’s eyes. A carter saw them first, and imagining they had been fighting, gave an alarm, and assistance was brought to them. They were removed in a cart to the village, and medical aid was summoned, but both the poor fellows expired shortly after they were got into a house, and their bodies blackened all over. The medical men gave it as their opinion that both the unfortunate young men had died from the effects of a vegetable poison. A quantity of the Water Hemlock (Cicuéa virosa) grew in the ditch where they had been employed. One of them at least had been in the habit of eating some simple roots; and, from the fact that the root of the Water Hemlock was subsequently found with teeth-marks in it near to where the men had been laid after losing their conscious- ness, and that another piece of the same root was found in Rid- ley’s pocket, there is no doubt whatever but that they were poi- soned by eating the root of this plant in mistake for some other. Snowdon was only eighteen years of age; Ridley was thirty-five, and has left a widow, with a small family, but meanly provided for.”’—From the ‘ Times’ of April 13, 1857. Is a general knowledge of the poisonous plants superfluous in common life ? It is now upwards of twelve months since a similar distressing case of accidental poisoning happened at Tain, in Ross-shire, through the mistaking of the roots of Monkshood for Horse- radish. Few plants are more unlike than those just named. Our correspondent asks a very plain and important question, which every one is qualified to answer. Ignorance of common things is not confined to the labouring ng heh aE 1857. ] ON PROGRESS. 127 classes, as the case in Ross-shire plainly shows: the parties who suffered from eating Monkshood for Horse-radish were gentle- men of the more elevated and instructed grades of society. We look to the active intelligent young men now training for the honourable and useful profession of public instructors, to free us from the danger and reproach of inability to distinguish be- tween salutary and noxious plants. One of the victims of ignorance had been, it appears, “in the habit of eating simple roots,” a fatal habit for him, and its fatal termination should be a warning to others. It is always danger- ous to tamper with unknown objects. There are many plants virulently poisonous in every part; some are so in some parts: but every suspicious plant should be avoided. We could give a description of Water Hemlock, but it would be of no use; for all our readers are either sufficiently acquainted with the plant and its nature, or they know that the Order to which the plant be- longs contains many plants dangerous to those that eat them, and many positively poisonous. We most seriously recommend such a knowledge of botany as would be a preventive of similar disasters, to form a part of the struction given at every school, whether such be established for the higher or the lower ranks of people. ON PROGRESS. The ‘ Phytologist,’ like every other periodical which enlarges the boundaries of human knowledge, is the advocate of progress. Progress is however twofold in its nature. It may either be pro- moted by adding to the height of the pyramid by which know- ledge may be represented, or by increasing the altitude, and at the same time enlarging the area of the base. Progress consists in the spread of science, as well as in its accumulation. And in order to make science effective as an educational means, or, in more general terms, in order to make it conducive to the improve- ment and well-being of the greatest number, it must be spread horizontally as well as be elevated or accumulated vertically. Our ardent wish is to make this Journal instrumental in diffusing a knowledge of botany in general among the masses, even among those who are deterred by the difficulties which beset the very alphabet of science. 128 ECONOMICAL BOTANY. | June, Several papers on Cryptogamic Botany have appeared m our pages, viz. ou Lichens, Mosses, Fungi, Filices, Equiseta, etc. ; and it is not very improbable that there may be some of our readers who cannot satisfactorily distinguish a Lichen from a Fungus, or even a Fern from a Lycopod. It is therefore most respectfully suggested to our scientific and good-natured corre- spondents, that a series of short, plain, comprehensive articles on the limits and distinctions of Fungi, Lichens, Alge, Hepatice, etc. would be very acceptable. There is some risk of becoming liable to the obnoxious charge of invidious partiality in com- mending any individual article which has been primted in our pages. Yet we will for once incur this risk, and will undertake this responsibility ; and hereby we particularize a paper on the Diatomacee as being exactly what is wanted in order to carry: into practice the hint which is here merely thrown out. It is far from our intention to prescribe to those who are generous enough to give us the cream of their knowledge and the fruits of their experience, what they should write about, and how they should write it. We only give publicity to a generally felt want ; and hope that those who have the means and the in- clination will effectively assist us in redeeming a pledge which was given at the commencement of this ow undertaking. ECONOMICAL BOTANY. By Grorce Jorpan, of Bewdley. An account of some of our British plants which were used by our ancestors as esculents and medicaments, and are also occa- sionally used at the present time. Then horticulture and the science of medicine were in their in- fancy. But now the character of plants is so completely changed by culture, hybridizing, and excess of nutriment, as to have en- tirely changed their physical characters, and rendered them totally — unlike their progenitors, so much has been done for the enjoyment, health, and well-being of the human race. We need not go now into the fields, woods, and waysides to gather our esculents, as our forefathers used to do. Whatever may be said in favour of the “ good old times,” we have no wish for a retrogression as regards our agricultural, horticultural, and floricultural advantages. 1857. | ECONOMICAL BOTANY. 129 It seems as though some mystic power hath lent its aid to metamorphose nature thus, that she even does not know herself; she, ever in her generations chaste, still disowns her hybrid pro- geny, yet always prone to receive again to hex bosom her vagrant offspring. An account of some of our British plants, used as esculents :— Sinapis nigra and S. alba, the young tops. This S. nigra was much cultivated for its seeds, which were used as a condiment, and also medicinally. They were bruised by the rotary motion of an iron ball in a wooden bowl; the appearance was unsightly, but it was genuine mustard. Sisymbrium officinale, Agopodium Podagraria, Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus, Chenopodium album, Myrrhis odorata, Atriplex patula, Polygonum Bistorta, Allium ursmum, Urtica dioica. Our Saxon ancestors cultivated the Nettle, as we do Hemp, for cloth for domestic uses; paper may be made from its fibre. Humulus Lupulus, the young shoots. Petroselinum satiwum, Erysimum Alharia. Those herbs men- tioned were used in the spring of the year and early part of the summer, and were considered very wholesome and beneficial for purifying the blood; and undoubtedly in those times were use- ful for that purpose as attenuants, when scorbutic complaints were so prevalent, from feeding during the winter months on salted meats, and when our present culinary esculents were un- known. Many of those plants which were considered as good for food and medicine, and were cultivated in gardens for those purposes, still linger about our dwellings as outcasts. Oh, how delightful were those excursions I used to take, to gather those esculents and medicinal herbs for the village doc- tress, to relieve her sufferig neighbours’ ailments! Collecting those herbs first gave me a desire to study botany, which con- ferred on my after-years the greatest enjoyment. In no pursuit is there more pleasure derived than from the study of natural history. Let the morbid sceptic study natural history ; it will remove the gloomy visions of his mind, and he will become the happiest of mankind. The following herbs are principally used in domestic therapeu- tics for different purposes :— As tonics and corroborants, we have no occasion to go to Peru for Cinchona, when we have at home plants equally efficacious,— N, S. VOL. IT. S 130 ECONOMICAL BOTANY. [ June, our Polygonum Bistorta, Tormentilla officinalis, and Salix Caprea. For dyspepsia: Inula Helenium, Anthemis nobilis, Marrubium vulgare, Menyanthes trifoliata, Teucrium Scorodonia, Erythrea Centaurium, Artemisia Absinthium. Diuretics: Cytisus scopa- rius, Leontodon Taraxicum, Daucus Carota, Arctium Lappa. Corroborants: Agrimonia Eupatoria, Verbena officinalis, Betonica officinalis, Tanacetum vulgare. As carminatives, all the Mints. Nervines: Artemisia vulgaris, Fumaria officinalis, Valeriana offi- cinalis. Cathartics: Rhamnus catharticus, Iinum catharticum, Senecio vulgaris, Sambucus nigra, Sambucus Ebulus. Deiter- gents: Pyrethrum Parthenium, Chelidonium majus, Sanicula eu- ropea. Rubifacients: Bryonia dioica, Ranunculus acris, Tamus communis, Sinapis nigra, the bruised seeds, Cochlearia Armoracia. For gargles and lotions: the barks of Oaks, Rudi, and Saher Caprea. As antiscorbutics: all the Docks, Ulmus campestris, Malva sylvestris, Potentilla reptans. As discutients for indolent tumours: Digitalis purpurea, Conium maculatum. Emollients: Malva sylvestris, Symphytum officinale. Attenuants: Séellaria media, Galium Aparine, Tussilago Farfara, Glechoma hederacea. Vulneraries: leaves of all the Rumices, Sanicula europea, Hy- pericum perforatum, one of the sacred herbs, a panacea for many ailments, Stachys palustris, Plantago major, called Waybread, Wayberry, Ribwort. The proper name and most significant is Waybred ; for by the sides of the hardest trodden ways it prefers to grow, in preference to other places, in rank and file, with lances raised, to keep the traveller in the way. It would be better to eschew the following deleterious plants from your domestic physic; leave those to the homcopathist, from whose atomic globules you surely can receive no harm, which is an important consideration. It has been too much the fashion of late to use very exten- sively both vegetable and mineral poisons by the regular prac- titioner, and_which has taught mankind thei baneful uses. From such knowledge the most deplorable consequences have ensued. There are still many valuable exotics cultivated in our gardens, and much used as domestic medicaments, such as Ruta graveo- lens, Rosmarinus officinalis, Hyssopus officinalis, the Lavandulas, Melissa officinalis, Artemisia Abrotanum, Salvia officinalis. A phytological Materia Medica and Pharmacopeia of our Bri- toe vo Sie, ee 1857.] CALAMINTHA NEPETA. 131 tish plants would be of much value to the domestic Esculapius : probably Asculapius himself used little else except herbs. CALAMINTHA NEPRETA, Clairv. As grave doubts exist about the specific existence or identity of the above plant, it is hoped that the following notices may not be unseasonable. The subjomed characters are those of a plant gathered somewhere in West Surrey, and which has been in the herbarium for some considerable time. C. Nepeta, Clairv.—Stems roundish, erect, leafy, densely woolly, mostly simple, or with short opposite branches. Leaves small, ovate-deltoid, obtuse, with blunt serratures, and on short peti- oles (this character varies, but, as a general law, the petiole is considerably shorter than the leaf), pale-green, hairy. Flowers in forked cymes, not numerous. Calyx subcylindrical, not swell- ing in front, teeth equal, linear or filiform, with short fringes, hairs of the throat prominent ? In Kittel’s ‘Taschenbuch der Deutschen Flora,’ the author states that it is very similar to the foregomg C. vulgaris.— “Flowers lilac-ecoloured, the lp dappled with violet; the two lower calyx-teeth nearly twice as long as the three upper; clusters of ten to fifteen flowers.—A very variable plant.” Mr. Leighton’s idea of C. Nepeta is thus stated in the ‘ Flora of Shropshire, p. 290.—‘“ Leaves smaller (than those of C. vul- garis), on very short petioles, ovate or ovate-deltoid, obtuse, ser- rated. Flowers in dichotomons, axillary, many-flowered cymes ; calyx subcampanulate, not swelling im front, indistinctly two- lipped, segments all subulate and straight, the two lower ones slightly longer than the three upper ones, hairs of mouth pro- minent ; central lobe of lower lip of corolla rounded and entire ; seeds paler, brown, less conspicuously dotted.” - ; Dr. Walker, in his ‘ Flora of Oxfordshire,’ 1833, distinguishes - both species or states, and says,— Specific difference between T. Calamintha and T. Nepeta (Calamintha Nepeta) not easily de- fined. Leaves of this, C. vulgaris, larger, with smaller serratures. Flower-stalks shorter than the leaves; hairs at the mouth of the calyx less prominent. Flower-stalks axillary. Leaves stalked, 182 BOTANICAL NOTES FROM WELLS, SOMERSET. | June, in opposite pairs.—Flavour of this much less lke Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium). Cor. light purple, dotted with Violet.” “TT. Nepeta (C. Nepeta).—Stems ascending, square, rough. Leaves stalked, egg-shaped, Flower-stalks axillary, repeatedly forked. Calyx-hairs closing it, like a mouse-trap, very closely. Corolla variegated with pale-purple and white. ‘Leaves smaller than in Thy. Calamintha (C. vulgaris).—Plant pungent, smelling like Pennyroyal; used as a stomachic tea.” My impressions of the plant in a recent state are, that the whole herbage is of a much lighter green than that of C. vulgaris, that the flowers are larger and of a fainter colour, and that the smell of this plant is much less like Pennyroyal than the smell of C. vulgaris is. T find that all authors, from Ray to Smith, describe the odour of C. Nepeta as strong, or very strong, and resembling that of Pennyroyal. A. I., Chelsea. BOTANICAL NOTES FROM WELLS, SOMERSETSHIRE. By the Rev. T. F. Ravensnaw, M.A. The soil about Wells is chiefly limestone; and the proximity of the Mendip Hills, and the many sheltered valleys, afford a variety of climate which renders the Flora of the district, a very rich one. NV ’ Corydalis lutea: Banwell. Clematis Vitalba, Thalictrum mi- mike Cheddar Cliffs. Ranunculus auricomus: Bishop’s Wood, Wells. Ranunculus hederaceus, Glastonbury. Helleborus viridis : near Tyne Hill, Wells. Meconopsis cambrica: Cheddar Cliffs. Cochlearia officinalis: Cheddar Cliffs. Arabis hirsuta: Ebber Cliffs. Barbarea vulgaris: Bristol Road. Hesperis matronalis : near Bristol Road. Reseda fruticulosa : Banwell. Helianthemum vulgaré: Tor Hill, Wells. Viola odor ata’ and imberbis, Linum catharticun’: Tyne Hill. “Acer Pseudo-plutanus ‘and Acer cam- pestris, Erodium cicutariun: Tor Hill. Geranium lucidum : Walcombe Woods. Geranium molle: Tor Hill. Geranium co- lumbinum: Walcombe. Oxalis Acetosella:: Wokey Hole. Euo- nymus europeus, Genista tinctoria: Tyne Hill. “Orobus tubero- sus: Walcombe. Poteriwm Sanguisorba: Liyott Hull. ~ Alche- milla vulgaris : Walcombe. Pyrus Aria: Ebber. Epilobium hirsutum, Circea lutetiand, Lythrum Salicaria, Bryonia dioica, 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES FROM WELLS, SOMERSET. 133 Jf ae Cotyledon Umbilicus : Waicombe.) Sedum album, Sedum reflexum : Walcombe, sparingly. Rides Grossularia, Ribes nigrum: side of a stream near Shepton Mallet. Savifraga tridactylites > on all the walls. Chrysosplenium oppositifolium® Wokey Hole. Chrysosplenium alternifolium : Walcombe. Sanicula europea: Horrington Woods. Adoxa Moschatellind : very common. Vi- burnum Opulus: Bishop’s Wood. ‘Asperula odorata: Milton Wood. common. Scrophularia nodosa : Cheddar Road. Lathrea Squamaria : Lyott Hill, rare. Veronica 39 . serpyllifolia: WWokey Hole. , Veronica humifusa (var.): Lyott 3 ae Veronica Beecabunga : very common. Veronica officina- Walcombe. Verbascum Thapsus: Mendips. Verbascum Lychnitis? Banwell. Primula vulgaris, var. caulescens: not un- | ~ 7 frequent. Hottonia palustris’: Glastonbury. Lysimachia nemo rum: Worrington Woods, Polygonum Bistorta: Walcombe Woods. Daphne Laureola: Tor Hill.. Kuphorbia am ygdaloides : Bishop’ S Wood. Mercurialis perennis: very common. Alisma Plantago and var. lanceolgtum: near Tor Hill. Orchis Morio : Horrington. Orchis latifolia: near Dulcot Hill. Orchis macu- lata: common. Orchis mascula: common, “Habenari ia virus : meadow near Dulcot Hill. Habenaria bifolia and chlorantha : Tyne Hill, in great abundance. Neottia spiralis : Warminstow and Milton Hill. Listera ovata and Nidus-avis : Horrington Woods. LEpipactis latifolia: Ebber. Ruscus dculeatus ; near Duleot Hill. Paris quadrifolia : Milton Wood. Allium ursi- num: Walecombe Wood. Arum maculatum: Tor Hill. Luzula Forstert and campestri is: Bishop’s Wood. Luzula pilosa: Wal. 134 REVIEWS. [ June, comhe. Colchicum officinale: a meadow near Milton Wood. Tamus communis, Pteris aquilina, Blechnuin boreale, Polypodium vulgire, Polypodiuim calcareum; Cheddar. “Cystopteris fragilis : Cheddar. Polystichum angulare, Lastrea Filiz-mas, Lastrea spinosa, Lastrea, multiflora, Athyrium Filix-feemina, Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum: not common. Asplenium Ruta-muraria, As- plenium Trichomanes, Scolopendrium vulgare, Ceterach officina- rum: very common. Ophioglossum vulgatum: meadow near Walcombe Wood. Webiewws, The British Botanist’s Field Book: a Synopsis of the British Flowering Plants. By A. P. Cuttps, F.R.C.S. London: Longman, 1857. It is now just ten years since an original work on the British Plants was offered to botanists. The ‘ Phytologist’ then de- scribed 7 in the followimg rather cool terms :—‘ This work omits avery great portion of the more useful parts of Hooker’s ‘ Flora’ and Babington’s ‘ Manual,’ and contains no useful additions to make amends: it appears ill-adapted for students, the arrange- ment of matter being obscure, and in many instances unintel- ligible.” Again, ‘We can scarcely imagine that the most remote proba- bility of success attends the publication of a descriptive list of British Plants in opposition to the established works of Hooker and Babington ; but we have no wish on this account to prejudice the work before us,” ete. This is all very like offermg the cold shoulder to the new- comer, the friendless stranger, and reminds us of Bailie Nicol Jarvie’s remark on the shabby reception he received from his fair cousin, Helen Macgregor, in the pass of Aberfoyle. The virago attempted to hurl him headlong over a precipice into Lochard, which the Bailie quietly said was a sort of Highland hospitality fav on the north side of friendly. The author of the present work will at all events get a more genial greeting from the ‘ Phytologist’ now, than his immediate predecessor got then. Literary and scientific sinners will not be roughly handled in the pages of the New Series of the only serial work now existing on 1857. ] REVIEWS. 135 the subject of British Botany. The ingenious author of this new Flora will not be treated like a poacher on the fair domain of science, but hailed as a fellow-labourer in a field large enough for all who are genuine well-wishers to the spread of science and to the progress of humanity. It is but just to Mr. Childs to allow him to open the subject, and to explain his object in his own words.—“ It is obvious that, in preparing this book, a chief object has been the reduction of its bulk, by selecting, as nearly as possible, the essential marks, and those alone, by which each Order, genus, and species may be distinguished.” Lest the botanical public (a small one, but not likely to be rendered smaller by such books as this under notice) should think that the “gentleman doth profess too much,” to what has been above quoted he very modestly subjoins: “To accomplish this task fully and successfully would demand a far larger expe- rience than I can lay claim to, combined with a happy and rare faculty of observation, which would disregard characters, however striking, that are not permanent, and in the midst of all fix only upon those that are essential and determinate. I beg the reader to believe that, in offering this little book, I do not for one mo- ment indulge the presumption that I have succeeded in accom- plishing this. I offer it as a humble and necessarily very imper- fect attempt to supply an undoubted deficiency.” The effort is made in the right direction, and it is very unassumingly: an- nounced in the above extract from the author’s Preface. “TI have,” he proceeds to inform his readers, ‘‘ ventured however to hope that it might possibly be of further use. There has of late years been an increasing tendency in the direction of minute and needless subdivision, and it may not be amiss that even thus at- tention should be drawn in an opposite direction, to codification and condensation.” Botanists who delight in the multiplication of genera and spe- cies, may differ from our author. Conservatives, as they may be called, will approve whatsoever has a tendency to check the pro- gresistas of science, those who promote the progressive develop- ment of botanical synonyms, a department which forms now no inconsiderable addition to the literature of Botany. Quot ho- mines, tot sententie: “ Many men, many minds.” The office of the reviewer is best promoted or fulfilled by first 136 REVIEWS. [ June, simply stating the author’s object : if a good one, it will justify the intention of his work; and, secondly, by ascertaining how far the author has been successful in the accomplishment of his self-im- posed task. It will be admitted that a really portable pocket field- book, arranged on what is on all hands called the natural system, was a desideratum. This want has been supplied. The work before us will be quite as easy to consult for the name of a plant as the London Catalogue; indeed it is not much heavier. The whole is comprised in 160 pages 12mo, with sixteen pages of Title, Preface, and Glossary; and the whole is in a neat flexible cloth binding. As there is no existing descriptive work on British plants so portable as the book under consideration, it may fairly be admitted that our author has accomplished that part of his task which involves portability. It is a more serious matter to lay before our readers the materials for forming a pretty accurate opinion of the merits of the work in the two essentials of ar- rangement and distinctive marks of Orders, genera, and species ; yet we will do our best to enable them to form an opinion on this head also. In our professional career we have often had occasion to complain that the authors of new Greek and Latin grammars— and many excellent ones have appeared in the last half-century —were not unceremoniously sent to Coventry, and their works rigidly suppressed. It is easy for a beginner to learn from any grammar, but it is a harassing office to have to teach according to half-a-dozen or ten systems, diverse in their arrangement and ip their details. It is now somewhat above forty years simce we were instructed in the simple art of counting stamens and pis- tils, and in the mysteries of Didynamia and Tetradynamia (the superiority of dimensions residing in ¢wo and in four). To our young, simple, and unsophisticated perceptions, these distinctions were in some examples very obscure and anything but distinct: but though our apprehension was weak, our faith was strong, and the name of Linnzeus was as a tower of strength. To ques- tion the dicta Linneana would have been deemed equally hete- rodox as to doubt the orthodoxy of the Confession of Faith. About twenty-five years ago we happened, incidentally, while speaking about our botanical doings to a friend who had never heard of the innovations of the last half-century, to mention that Linnzeus and his system had been cashiered by the march of in- 1857.] REVIEWS. 137 tellect. He was perfectly astounded to learn that the present audacious generation of botanists ignored Linnzeus, and Wither- ing, and Smith, and followed Jussieu, De Candolle, Endlicher, Lindley, Fries, and a host of minor stars, (quas) quos nunc pre- scribere longum est. If any of our readers are aware that there are two distinct works on botany, by two independent authors, arranged exactly after the same system or in the same order, we do not know this fact, and should esteem it a favour to have the same pointed out to us. De Candolle’s system ends where Jussieu’s begins. Both these eminent systematists have adopted different nomenclatures and differing diagnoses, as well as differ- ing arrangements. Dr. Lindley has given each of them a turn; but on the whole this eminent system-maker sticks to Jussieu. Fries and Endlicher have had no followers in Britain: De Can- dolle and Jussieu bear the palm among us. Our first British Flora on the natural system is on De Candolle’s, modified to adapt it to our plants. Dr. Macreight’s ‘ Manual,’ Mr. Babing- ton’s ‘ Manual,’ Hooker and Arnott’s ‘ British Flora,’ ete. etc., all differ more or less from each other; and subsequent editions of the same work differ from earlier ones, etc. ete. This, as has been already stated, may be of small moment to a beginner, to whom all systems are equally unknown, but it is a trouble to veterans who have had to learn and unlearn many previous modes of arrangement. Hoping the readers of the ‘ Phytologist’ will excuse this i gression from our legitimate subject, nous reviendrons a nos mou- tons. Mr. Childs divides the British Plants into Ewogens and Endogens. We omits the Ferns and Fern-allies, usually com- prehended in similar works. The Exogens he divides into Her- maphrodite and Diclinous Exogens. The former term might have been dispensed with, because it is not entirely unexcep- tionable, and the terms complete or perfect are equally expres- sive: besides, the contrast would have been more intelligible to tyros if the nomenclature stood thus—“ Perfect or complete Ex- ogens,” and “ Imperfect or incomplete Exogens.”” Thus one dis- agreeable word, as well as a difficult one, might have been spared. The complete-flowered Exogens are subdivided into Hypogynous (ovary superior), Perigynous (ovary attached), and Epigynous (ovary inferior) species. He omits the subdivisions Polypetaie and Monopetale. Dichlamydee and Monechlamydee are also aS. VOL. IL. T 138 REVIEWS. | June, discarded, and hence we have Polygonacee, Illecebracee, Cheno- podiacee, Amaranthacee, Aceracee, Droseracee, Berberidacee, and Ericacee, between Crassulacee and Caryophyllacee. The Order Leguminifere follows Labiate and Boraginacee. Rosacee follows Lentibulariacee. The Pines follow the Campanulas. Beginners may be better judges than we are how far these changes are conducive to their progress. We are of opimion (old-fashioned or unfashionable though the opinion may be) that to divide the Exogenous plants into such as have a poly- petalous, and into those having a monopetalous corolla, when the perianth is double, and into such as have a single perianth or none at all, is not a bad division. These might be subdivided into plants which have the ovary free or the ovary attached or adherent, as the case may be; the latter of course comprising — the Perigynous and Epigynous Orders; while the former would include all the Hypogynous plants. This is all we have to say about arrangement. Some improvements might be made by Mr. Childs in the de- finition of the Orders: for example, ‘ Nympheacee,—stamens indefinite ; styles single or none; petals passing gradually into stamens. Water-plants.” Also, “ Hlatinacee,—stamens definite. Little marsh annuals.’ Again, “ Cistacee,—stamens all perfect ; sepals five, persistent.” This character would include every Or- der with indefinite stamens and five persistent sepals, which is the rule in Hypericacee, Rosacee, and Malvacee. The following Orders are arranged under the common character “ United car- pels,” viz. Polygonacee, Chenopodiacee, Aceracee, Ericacee, Ca- ryophyllacee, Linacee, etc. We do not understand what the author means by “united carpels,” but there is an evident and wide distinction between the fruit of Spinach, Beet, Goosefoot, and that of the Pink, Flax, Wood Sorrel, etc. In the distinc- tive characters of species, Viola hirta is described as bemg with- out scions. Both Viola odorata and V. hirta are stoloniferous. There are a few omissions of species which are usually enume- rated among British plants, of which the following are examples : Impatiens fulva, a plant known to have been naturalized above two centuries, and which has an area of many square miles. Maianthemum bifolium is retained, with the character of a doubt- ful native. Calamintha sylvatica is another absentee; while Thesium humile, Vahl, duly appears, indorsed with the high au- 1857. | REVIEWS. 139 thority of Mr. Babington. We think, of course, that Impatiens fulva is as equally well entitled to a place among British plants as Tiesium humile. It is probable that the omission of this and of several other usually-recognized British plants was an oversight, and no intentional disrespect to the fair subjects of our remark. The flowers of Hottonia palustris are stated to be purple: they often have a faint tinge of red, but their usual colour is white and slightly rose-coloured. They are described in Hooker and Arnott’s work on the British plants as being “ pale purple.” They sometimes have a shade of what is usually called pink. ‘This and other minor blemishes, such as Urolensis and Herculus, will be rectified in a second impression, which there is no doubt will be soon required. Upon the whole the printing is well done, and very creditable to the press and to the corrector. While these minor defects in arrangement and description of Orders are thus prominently noticed, it is but just to the author, or rather to the students of the science, to state that the work deserves, with the above and similar exceptions, un- qualified commendation. It contains a glossary of botanical terms, which will be useful to a beginner. This appendage to a British Flora Mr. Babington found it impossible to ac- cord to the wishes of some young botanists. For this purpose— a knowledge of botanical terminology—this eminent botanist re- commends several works, and last, though not least, “ especially the ‘ Botanique’ of M.A.De Jussieu.” How many of our botanists can read French with either profit or pleasure? How many can afford to purchase such expensive books, or who have time to read them, we do not know; perhaps Mr. Babington, who re- commends the books, does. But we know some zealous bota- nists who cannot avail themselves of such costly appliances. Mr. Childs has compiled a book for botanists who know only their own vernacular, and who cannot conveniently spend more than half-a-crown on a botanical work. But his work will be useful to every man who shoulders a vasculum or handles a trowel, —not a mason’s implement, so called, but a plant-digger. It is very unimportant to real botanists, as distinguished from learners, what arrangement an author may adopt, or how meagrely he may define the Orders and the genera: all these a botanist knows at first sight; but he often forgets the names and the dia- gnoses of species, and these are in general distinctly and briefly 140 REVIEWS. [ June, given in the present work. As in an artificial system, the author has made natural arrangement subordinate to convenience; and though we are not able to see the convenience of an arrangement which is new and strange to us, yet we can see the very great conveniency of having the names of species followed by a few words which we presume generally express the distinctive cha- racter of the species. The glossary is also an improvement, even although it does not “possess that fulness and detail” which characterize the excellent works of Henfrey, Gray, Lindley, and Jussieu. The work will be useful to both classes of botanists: for those who possess the elaborate and expensive works above quoted, and also for that larger and less influential class of bota- nical readers and students for whom no one thinks it worth his — while to write books. We hope the time is coming when bota- nical works will be as cheap as Routledge’s Railway Library, and then botanists will be counted not by the score and the hundred, but by thousands and myriads. Programme of a Course of Lectures on Botany now in course of delivery in the Royal Circus Institution (Edinburgh) for the Education of Young Ladies. By Grorcse Lawson, F.R.P.S., ete. etc., Demonstrator of Botany and Vegetable Histology to the Edinburgh University, ete. A copy of the above Programme has been sent to the ‘Phytolo- gist’ by one of our contributors, and we beg to congratulate the fair éléves of the Scottish metropolis in being provided with so able an expounder of one of the most interesting of the natural sciences. We have laboured in a quict way to excite some interest for botany in the metropolis of the south, not with much success. But the seeds have been scattered here and there: and as we are commanded to “cast our bread on the waters’—the bread of knowledge on the well-watered soil of the human intellect—we wait in hope that it will spring up and be reproductive. It is to the future teachers of the rismg generation that we look for the extension of natural science; and we commend the consideration of the subject to the Principals and Professors of our normal schools, to the heads of those important educational establish- ments in which the future educators of the million are receiving their training. 1857. ] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 141 Let them first be well indoctrinated in botany, zoology, etc., and they will be able to communicate, not mere facts about na- tural objects, but a love and admiration of the beautiful and the good. The men who admire and enjoy the productions of nature are rarely besotted with the coarse enjoyments of sensualism. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. LEONARD PLUKENET. If you can find a corner in your very interesting Botanical Notes and Queries for the following, it may draw attention to an individual, little of whose history is at present current amongst us; moreover, one who cer- tainly deserves well of all botanists. Is the precise locality or dwelling-house where Plukenet resided in Westminster known? We are quite familiar with a pretty little copper cut representing the iterior of his study, and himself at work therein,— and laboriously he must have wrought there. Up to the present hour it may be fairly questioned whether any botanist has represented pictorially, or has preserved in the herbarium, so large a number of previously un- known plants in one lifetime, as Leonard Plukenet. March, 1857. A CrTizEN OF WESTMINSTER. On THE EXHIBITION oF FuNGI IN Cases. By the Ruv. H. H. Hiecrns. The author stated that a case in the Museum of the Royal Institution of Liverpool had been placed at his disposal, and that he had filled it with arranged species of Fungi, numbering about 250 species, found in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, and illustrating the principal families and genera. The specimens, which had been dried without pressure, and re- tained in many cases their natural form and colour, were glued on oblong tablets of wood. This was the only series exhibited to the public in England or elsewhere, so far as known to the author, whose object was to attract more general attention to these interesting but much neglected plants.—Gard. Chron. Arum 1TaLicum, Mil. (From the ‘Manual of British Botany.) Leaves triangular-hastate, with divaricate lobes and yellow veins ap- pearing in the autumn. Spathe ventricose below, opening nearly flat, very broad above. Berries three-seeded.—I learn from Mr. Hambrough that A. italicum is very plentiful in the south of the Isle of Wight, and that it flowers in June, about a month later than 4. maculatum. [| Will any good-natured botanist send us a specimen or a detailed ac- count of the above 477m, which we do not find in Dr. Bromfield’s ‘ Flora Vectensis ’? | Horse-Chestnut Flour.—The following is M. Flandin’s plan of making flour from Horse-Chestnuts. Grind the Horse-Chestnuts, and mix with the pulp Carbonate of Soda, in the proportion of one or two per cent. at the 142 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [ June, utmost, and then wash the produce until it is perfectly white. 1 Ib. of Carbonate of Soda will purify 100 lbs. of Horse-Chestnuts, and produce 60 Ibs. of flour fit for bread, as the salt removes the bitter principle from the nut.—A. L. O., Gard. Chron. SAXIFRAGA TRIDACTYLITES. A correspondent from Galway, Ireland, writes, that the above plant was in flower there, as a weed in a gravel walk, as early as the 10th day of February, 1857. ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE IN DEVON. During the summer of 1856, the above rare Ferm was found by Miss Hill. The locality is Lynton, on the north side of a loose stone wall, and at an elevation of 1000 to 1100 feet. It had previously been collected on the Somersetshire side of the boundary by Mrs. Chanter, but not actually in Devon. BRYUM TORQUESCENS. Sir,—I have much pleasure in recording an entirely fresh locality for the rare Bryum torquescens, Br. and Sch., which I had the good fortune to find last June, near Teignmouth in Devon; the obconical capsules are of a beautiful rich red colour, with palish teeth ; inflorescence synoicous. M. M. Arwoop. ANACALYPTA C#HSPITOSA, Bruch. This species has occurred this month (April) near Arundel. Specimens having been submitted to Mr. Wilson, have scene that gentleman’s verification of their authenticity. G. Davizs. April 20, 1857. ORCHIS PYRAMIDALIS AND CARDAMINE HIRSUTA. ** At a recent meeting of the Linnean Society, G. Bentham, Esq., exhi- bited two curious instances of abnormal development in plants, the one being Orchis pyramidalis, having all its flowers destitute of the usual spur, and the other Cardamine hirsuta, in which the leaves at the point of junc- tion between the petiole and the lamina (blade) had become proliferous. The latter specimens had been communicated by Miss Llewellyn, of Penllergare. Dr. Lindley remarked, in reference to the Orchis, that such cases ed been observed, occurring, not commonly, but now and then, among cultivated species of this family, especially in the instance of Ca- lanthe veratrifolia, and seemed to be connected with some disturbing cause, generally influencing the other parts of the floral whorls. In re- ference to the proliferous Cardamine, he adverted to the fact that some- thing similar had been before recorded. These proliferous growths, he suggested, were to be referred to the organizing power of the cellular tissue, provided it were kept from decay for a sufficiently lengthened period for this to take effect.” —Hx Gard. Chron. NYMPH#A ALBA, var. MINOR, AND CENTAUREA NIGRA, ETC. Dr. Caspary, of Poppelsdorfer Schloss, Bonn, on the Rhine (Rhein), 1857.| BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 143 would esteem it a great favour if any botanist who sees or hears of this notification would give him or only lend him examples of the above va- riety. The Doctor informs the readers of this, that one flower and one leaf would be sufficient. If any such specimens are sent to the publisher of the ‘ Phytologist,’ they will be forwarded to Dr. Caspary. 45, Frith Street. It would greatly oblige us if our kind correspondent, H. M. A., who contributed an account of Centaurea nigrescens, C. Jacea, and C. nigra (see ‘ Phytologist’ for October, 1856, p. 463), would furnish us, when convenient, with diagnostics of these’ plants, but especially of C. Jacea. Specimens of the latter would very much oblige the Editor. ALDERS AND POPLARS. Dorsetshire woodmen apply the following adage to the Alder poles, when peeled for rafters, viz. :— * Thatch me well, and keep me dry, Heart-of-Oak I will defy.” The wood-cutters of the midland counties repeat the same adage in praise of Willows and Poplars.—See ‘.Loudon’s Arboretum,’ p. 1681. Where is the north coast of Sunderland, where the rare Dryas octope- 1. | tala is reported to be abundant? See Hooker and Arnott’s Br. Flora, 7th ed. p. 120. What is the difference between decurved and reflexed ? What are the well-known Cuxton plants ?—‘ Phytologist’ for 1855-6, p. 293. BLECHNUM BOREALE, ETC. Mr. Editor,—Can you or any of your readers inform me why the spe- cific name of Blechnum boreale, Sw., is printed spicans? (See ‘ Phyto- logist,’ N.S. Vol. I. p. 301.) Its usual form is B. Spicant. Beta. What is the difference between the terms decumbent and procumbent, between Jleafits and leaflets ? QUERIST. To DELTA. The Herbarium of the Botanical Society of London is established by its present proprietor, Mr. F. Y. Brocas, at 38, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, as the London Herbarium of reference. If Delta will send us his dubious plants, we shall have much pleasure in attempting, at least, to resolve his botanical dowbts. Any specimens may be transmitted through the Post-office, either to 45, Frith Street, Soho, or to 28, Upper Manor Street, Chelsea. TREES IN IRELAND. It appears from a return moved for in the last Parliament by Mr. H. Hughes, that 2,678,856 trees have been registered with the clerks of the peace in Ireland during the last ten years. The compiler of the return has not however obeyed the order of the House “to distinguish the num- bers registered in each year.” —From the ‘ Times,’ April 10, 1857. 144, BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. | June. ? REMEDY WORSE THAN THE DISEASE. A great number of the large trees in the Champs Elysées are undergo- ing the process of being stripped of their rough outer bark to a height of twenty feet and upwards, with a view of destroying the worms that are bred and harboured in the interstices of the bark, and which, by piercing the trees with innumerable holes, prevent the sap from rising, and cause their premature decay—From the ‘ Times,’ Paris, March 30, 1857. Muscus scoricus. In Petiver’s ‘Gazophylacii Nature et Artis Decades’ there is the fol- lowing notice at p. 16: “ Muscus scoticus corallio incrustatus. Got ina fresh river near Clackmannan on Forth, within a few miles of Stirling, procured me thence by my curious and worthy friend Mr. James Hamilton, surgeon, in Edinburgh.”—Can any of our readers inform us what the Scottish Moss is? Prices oF Otp Books anp MSS. Early manuscripts on botany, and pictorial representations of plants, are of course great rarities; but we confess we were scarcely prepared to find the following articles realize the enormous prices as affixed below. Amongst a very interesting collection of ancient MSS. sold by public auc- tion at Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkimson’s on the 30th of April, the two undermentioned lots were knocked down at the sums below recorded. Lot 26. Astromica plurium Auctorum et Macer de Herbis. Written in the fourteenth century, with coloured drawings of the plants: £29. Lot 389. Dioscoridis Opera Grecé. Manuscript of the twelfth century, on vellum, with numerous paintings of the plants, animals, ete.,—a most beautiful specimen of Byzantine caligraphy and art: £590. Communications have been received from J. B.; John Windsor, F.L.S.; W. Cheshire; Beta; Querist; A Citi- zen of Westminster; C. A. C.; John Barton; Rev. R. H. Webb; A. L; Sydney Beisly. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Natural History Review, for April, 1857. ERRATA. In the May number of the ‘ Phytologist’ page 114, line 17 from top, occurs Professor Buckland, it ought to read Buckman; the paper there spoken of was read at the British Association Meeting at Cheltenham. In the volume for 1855-6, page 298, where in line 16 from bottom occurs “ Low Honeybourne,” it ought to read “ Cow Honeybourne ;” and 9 lines from bottom is “old red clay,” this ought to read “new red clay,” or still better “red clay” only, as there is none of the “old red” near Stratford. At page 74, line 13 from the top, the word from should be at. At same page, line 10 from the bottom, the year 1808 should be 1801. Page 86, line 16 from the bottom, for Auchinore read Auchmore. Page 88, line 3 from top, for vary read very. In ‘British Botany,’ p. 144, Lotus major: the reference to E. B. is 30, the number of the volume; it should be 2091, the number of the Plate. [July, 1857.] 145 PLANTS OF SNOWDON. A few Observations on the Character of the Snowdonian Flora. Having spent more than two months last summer in the im- mediate vicinity of Snowdon, and enjoyed the opportunity of several very interesting botanical rambles on the surrounding mountains, perhaps a short account of some of the rarer plants which I obtained there may not be unacceptable to the readers of the ‘ Phytologist. There are only two stations on Snowdon ‘ which I should consider to be worth a botanist’s attention, as being rich in alpine plants, viz. the precipitous sides of Cwm Dyll above the copper-mines, especially those facing to the north- east, and the less lofty though equally craggy precipices above Cwm Glas, also facing north-east, and looking down upon the Pass of Llanberis. The Ordnance Map will clearly indicate these two localities, and by its help I would desire to direct attention to a peculiar formation visible in the Snowdon district, and on which I feel fully persuaded, from the experience I have had at present, that all the rarer alpine plants of the Welsh Flora are to be found. Supposing the tourist to be ascending by the ordinary route from Capel Curig, directly he attains the level of the upper lake, the waters of which are of the most vivid green, through receiv- ing the drainage of the neighbouring copper-mines,—if he turns his eyes towards the precipices immediately below the highest peak, Y Wydffa, which rises almost perpendicularly to a height of 1500 feet on his left, he will observe a thin band of rock, passing in a vertical direction down the precipices, clearly distinguished from the surrounding mass of clay-slate by its lines of stratifica- tion being disposed horizontally instead of nearly vertically, and then crossing over the upper part of the valley before him, as- cending the precipices again on his right, till it becomes lost to view in the heights of Crib-y-Desgil and Crib Goch. On a closer inspection* this rock will be found to be of a totally diffe- rent nature to that of the formations on either side; it consists almost entirely of an indurated sandstone, the softer parts of * The Geological Ordnance Map does not mark it clearly: can any of your readers furnish a little information as to its character ? Nig lo NAO) big Lit U 146 PLANTS OF SNOWDON. [ July, which have been worn away by the elements, so as to present a curiously honeycombed appearance,—and by this one peculiarity the rock may be traced throughout its whole extent without dif- ficulty. It may perhaps be very familiar to many who have vi- sited the celebrated fissure of Twll Dt, immediately above Llyn Ogwen, where the curious holes in the rock, there formed by the incessant drip of the water from above, have received the so- briquet of the Devil’s Pots, the fissure itself bemg termed the Devil’s Kitchen. But this mterpolated rock, interestmg enough in a geological point of view, is far more so when examined with reference to its botanical productions. As may be readily ima- gined, the porous sandstone affords a congenial home to the moisture-loving Ferns and rarer alpine plants, less able to thrive in the more rugged soil, where their hardier neighbours, as the. Saxifraga stellaris, Silene acaulis, Sedum Rhodiola, etc. are found to flourish successfully. It is impossible to follow along the line of the sandstone rock, to which I have alluded, for ten yards, with- out having the opportunity of fillmg one’s botany-case with mag- nificent plants of Thalictrum alpinum, Vaccinium Vitis-Idea, Ly- copodium selaginoides, and the beautiful little Asplentwm viride. A closer search will furnish some fine plants of Aspidiwm Lon- chitis, snugly nestled in their rocky crevices, but easily distin- guished from a considerable distance by the glossy green of their rigid fronds. Also I found Draba incana, a plant _peculiarly a al- pine, and have little doubt that a more protracted search would have revealed some specimens of the Woodsias. But here both TI and my friend who accompanied me were completely beguiled by a clever “dodge” of the botanical guide at Llanberis, William Williams, which I will recapitulate for the benefit of those whom he may attempt hereafter to lead astray in a similar manner. We first saw him in the hut at the top of the mountain, where he had been since daybreak, he having come up from Llanberis with a gentleman to see the sun rise, while we had ascended from Beddgelert. He left some time before we did, as we sup- posed, to go back to Llanberis; but on descending the precipices by the Capel Curig path, shortly before reaching the upper lake, we observed him ascending the precipices on our right, in the direction of the Snowdon summit, and felt little doubt that he was engaged in a search after some rare plants, as he had the re- putation of being well acquainted with almost every inch of the 1857.] PLANTS OF SNOWDON. 147 whole Snowdon district. We accordingly directed our steps slowly towards the point at which he had ascended, and had not gone far before we found our suspicions were correct ;—we were upon the productive sandstone formation, and had already made one or two “ finds” when he came down to us with a mag- nificent specimen of Aspidium Lonchitis in his hands, which he had just obtained from the heights above; and on our accosting him he immediately volunteered to show us where the Woodsia was to be found. This was so tempting an offer, that we agreed to accompany him over the ridge to Cwm Glas, where he said we should find some plants, those on Clogwyn-y-Garnedd (the preci- pices he had just been on) having been cut off, according to his account, by the past night’s frost, which I felt at the time strongly inclined to doubt, inasmuch as it was only the first frost of the season, and the time of year was not later than Sep- tember 2nd. Before crossing over the valley, however, he showed us a very small plant of what he declared to be Woodsia hyper- borea, but for the genuineness of which I could not venture to vouch, as all the mature fronds had been stripped off for the gratification of some greedy fern-hunters. The plant itself was completely hidden under a piece of rock, so that we had before walked almost over it ; and Williams informed us, with a grin, that it was his usual practice either thus to hide up all the plants of Woodsia he could find, or to transplant them when growing in too exposed a situation, so as to prevent all possibility of their being detected. Another piece of information which he volunteered with equal satisfaction to himself was, that he was accustomed to give wrong habitats when applied to by Newman and other writers on Ferns for the localities of rare species: thus, he told us, he had informed Mr. Newman that Moel Lichog was a ha- bitat for Asplenium septentrionale, when in fact Moel Lichog was miles distant from any known locality of the plant in question. In fact it was very evident that he delighted in “taking in” each successive visitor who trusted himself to his tender mercies, and then amused himself by chuckling over it to the next comer, who of course received the unpleasant impression that he was being treated in a similar way at that very moment. However, we retraced our steps to the head of the upper lake, and then commenced ascending the precipices on the north-east side of Cwm Dyll, in the direction of the peak or ridge called Crib-y- 148 PLANTS OF SNOWDON. [July, Desgil. Three-quarters of an hour’s scramble brought us to the summit. On the way up I was fortunate enough to fall im with several very fine specimens of Aspidium Lonchitis growing with a south-east aspect, quite an unusual thing for the more alpine Ferns, which seem generally to shrink from the sun as much as possible. I would strongly recommend every one who has the opportu- nity to make a détour to this ridge, which could be effected without much difficulty from the ordinary route to Llanberis. The view was grander by far than anything I have yet seen in Wales, and quite unique of its kind. Let the reader imagine himself standing upon a narrow ridge scarcely twenty yards in width, with two yawning abysses on either hand,—the one some 1200 feet in perpendicular depth, the other perhaps about 700 feet; in the first, two little tarns, glistening in the morning sun, and of the most vivid green, from the quantity of copper at the bottom, lie embosomed in the vast abyss, the rocky precipices rismg immediately above them on the other side of the Cwm; while looking above and beyond this ridge a thin streak of silver wind- ing along a steep wooded valley marks the Aberglaslyn river as it hastens to discharge its waters into the estuary of Traeth-bach. But turn the other way, so as to face the north; the view on this side is in no way less strikmg. The white road winding in and out at the foot of the precipices forming the Pass of Llanberis is seen from its first commencement at the little inn of Gorphwysfa till it melts into the upper Llanberis Lake,—which, with its larger sister, lay sparkling joyously in the sunlight,—gradually dwindling away at length into the little river by which both empty them- selves into the Menai Straits at Carnarvon. And there stood the fine old castle, as though it were the guardian of the valley, with the blue waters of the Menai behind it, and the now hazy ex- panse of sea beyond the distant Holyhead mountain. It was indeed an exquisite view to gaze upon; but our time was short, and we soon began to descend the rocky heights above Cwm Glas, the highest and steepest of the many recesses on the Llanberis side of Snowdon. Our old friend, the honey- combed sandstone, began to appear again in a succession of ter- races, one above another, like the seats of an amphitheatre; and a rare harvest we could have had there, had there been time for us to explore it thoroughly. As it was, we found Saussurea 1857. ] ANEMONE PULSATILLA. 149 alpina in considerable profusion ; Aspidium Lonchitis more abun- dantly than ever. Above our heads, on an inaccessible ledge of rock, the delicate Lloydia serotina was growing in happy secu- rity; while every crevice was filled with the most exquisitely di- vided forms of Asplenium viride and Cystopteris fragilis. I have little doubt in my own mind that the Woodsia was to be found there as elsewhere. But Williams’s intention evidently was to lure us from the spot. He declared it grew below Crib Goch, about a mile or more nearer the Pass, in the direction of Gorph- wysfa, and said he would take us to see it; but as he wanted to go back to the inn, and we preferred to descend into the Pass, we agreed to meet him halfway up after we had breakfasted, and then go with him to the spot. Of course he did not appear; and on meeting him a few hours afterwards at the Victoria Hotel he tried to shuffle out of it, but only succeeded so far as to convince sus that he had been intentionally misleading us. So I would give my humble advice to all future explorers in those regions to trust to nothing but their own eyes and accurate observation of the various geological strata while searching for plants. I may mention that Hymenophyllum tunbridgense occurs in company with the Wilsont along the banks of the stream, halfway between the Waterfall and the Victoria Hotel at Llanberis. The finest specimens of all, however, that I have ever seen of this beautiful little Fern were in the Vale of Festiniog, on the south bank of the wooded glen immediately below the church. Aspidium recurvum or Fenisecu (Lastrea emula, Brackenridge), or whatever Botanists may choose to call it, occurred also most abundantly in the same spot. With respect to other of the rarer Ferns, I may mention that I found Asplenium marinum sparingly on the Great Orme’s Head, halfway down the cliff, also abun- dantly on the cliffs between Port Madoc and Criccieth in com- pany with A. lanceolatum. Cambridge, April 29th, 1857. Joun Barron. ANEMONE PULSATILLA, Etc. Geological Relations of Anemone Pulsatilla and Astragalus hypoglottis. Sir,—I observe in a recent number of the ‘ Phytologist,’ that a correspondent remarks upon the absence of such plants as Ane- 150 REMARKS ON BOTANICAL [July, mone Pulsatilla and Astragalus hypoglottis from the Floras of the chalk downs of Surrey as the result rather of their being over- looked than of a peculiarity in their distribution. I am inclined to believe that Anemone Pulsatilla, and I think I might include the Astragalus, are rarely if ever found off the lower chalk for- mation; and hence their absence on the chalk downs of the Weald, where the lower chalk scarcely crops out at all. The herbage on each of these two formations is markedly different, especially in the old, unworked clunch-pits of the eastern coun- ties, as Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, etc., where the Anemone is fre- quently found raising its beautiful little purple head among the long, wiry grass. Can any of your readers inform me if my hypothesis is correct ? J Bs The counties assigned in the ‘Cybele Britannica’ as stations for the Anemone Pulsatilla are Berks, Oxford, Herts, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedford, Northampton, Gloucester, Lincoln, and York. REMARKS On Botanical Glossaries and Nomenclature. Sir,—The subject of these remarks was suggested by a glance at the glossary prefixed to the ‘ British Botanist’s Field-Book,’ a work noticed at some length in the ‘Phytologist’ for June, 1857. Several scientific terms and phrases are sanctioned by com- mon usage, and are convenient as briefly describing what must, without their aid, be described by a sentence or periphrasis. Where judiciously employed, they are conducive both to brevity and precision. ‘Their abuse only is the subject of the subjoined animadversions. The following canons or rules, it is respectfully submitted, might be generally observed in determining the expe- diency of employing technical terms. First, that when a scien- tific word has an English equivalent.in common use, such equi- valent should be used instead of the technical one. This practice would be conducive to elegance of diction and to intelligibility. Mr. Childs, in his ‘ Handbook,’ professes to abstain as much as possible from the use of technical terms, yet employs in his no- menclature the terms hermaphrodite and diclinous quite unne- cessarily, as our language has two words in common use which 1857. ] GLOSSARIES AND NOMENCLATURE. 151 express more delicately and perspicuously what is understood by the offensive word hermaphrodite, and by the pedantic, barbarous word diclinous. Hermaphrodite, as applied to plants, expresses exactly what we mean by complete, or perfect; when applied to animals, it means just the reverse. A thing is complete in all its parts; a flower is complete when nothing can be added to it without marring its symmetry or its utility. A hermaphro- dite is the exception among animals; it is the rule in the vege- table kingdom; and as Nature’s works are generally considered perfect as to the beauty and design of their construction, the plants called hermaphrodite might be described as complete or perfect without any ambiguity, and with more elegance and deli- cacy than when characterized by the disagreeable term above- mentioned, which might, out of deference to the fairer portion of the votaries of Flora, be cashiered without any perceptible incon- venience. The words male and female, as generally applied to barren and fertile, or to incomplete or imperfect blossoms, might also be discarded. Those who object to the terms darren and fertile as descriptive of what are called male and female flowers, might employ staminiferous and pistilliferous, especially if they like sesquipedalian words and entertain the vulgar maxim, Omnia ignota pro magnificis habentur. The term diclinous is exactly rendered by incomplete or imperfect ; and, for the sake of the unlearned generally, one or other of these equivalents should take the place of the learned barbarism. A second canon or rule might be adopted, to the effect that two or more technical terms should never be employed to express one state, or one state with a modification. An attempt to describe with an undue amount of precision is too often subversive of the object of scientific description, which is always limited to groups of natural things, never to individuals. The terms deflewed and decurved ; reflexed, recurved ; procumbent, decumbent, and prostrate ; stolons, scions, and shoots; terete, tapering ; sessile, sitting ; dehiscent, opening, etc., will illustrate what is meant. These pairs of epithets, or leashes (threes), are nearly synonymous. ‘There is a distinction between a curve or curvature and a flexure or crooking, bending or bowing: a bending is probably a greater degree of curvature. But Nature does not always, even in the same object, never in a group of objects called species, genera, and orders, construct her curves or flexures of an equal number of degrees of declination, 152 REMARKS ON BOTANICAL GLOSSARIES. [July, either from a vertical or a horizontal direction. Decumbent, pro- cumbent, and prostrate, all mean the same state, only the first term expresses, in addition to the general sense of being flat on the earth, a rising up of its tip, an effort to assume a direction at right angles to the horizon, or a tendency to get at its normal state (perpendicular to the earth’s surface). One of the terms would be amply sufficient. Prostrate, or prostrate at the base, when only the lower part of the stem was on the ground, would be sufficient; we could describe clearly enough without the other ‘wo terms. Scions, stolons, shoots, and runners, are em- ployed indiscriminately to describe such prostrate rooting stems or branches as we find in Violets, Strawberries, etc. Scions and shoots indicate erect growth ; stolons and runners, such as are horizontal, and close to the ground, and rooting. Two of them . might be discarded. The states of terete, sessile, dehiscent, and scabrous, might be expressed by the commoner words, tapering, sitting, opening, and rough. As a sample, the following are taken at random from a com- munication by the learned author of ‘A Popular History of British Lichens.’ “Apothecia epithalline, scattered, rarely confluent, prominent, pulviniform or globose, normally smooth and black, sometimes green-pruinose, circumference agglutinated or free; ultimately falling out and leaving distinct cyphelloid foveole, ete.” ... “Spores ovate-oblong (Koérber describes them as solezeform or schuhsohlenforning [schuhsohlenférmig ?] ), two-locular, etc., ... loculi frequently containing one or two globular nuclei.” Again: “Which (/acinie) are sinuate-lacinulate, and the lacinul diva- ricate-angulose, with retuse extremities. They are epithalline, situated upon the ordinary thallus of P. savatilis, etc.’ Again: “'The most globular or hypertrophic specimens I have met with, ete: I will leave the translation. of these scientific phrases to their learned author, and beg to conclude by asking, what reason we have to marvel that science is unpopular when it is so often con- veyed in similar repulsive phraseology ? ZotLos. 1857. | FAVERSHAM PLANTS. 153 FAVERSHAM PLANTS. Plante rariores Favershamienses ; communicated by the Rev. H. A. Stowe tu. (Continued from page 106.) [There is no particular occasion for offering an apology in be- half of the Faversham Plants, portions of which have appeared in several numbers of the ‘ Phytologist,’ and at somewhat distant intervals. We think however that the reverend author of these valuable records of the Flora of his parish, and to whom we are greatly indebted both for his efficient aid and, above all, for his patience, does deserve at least that honourable mention should be made of his forbearance. Our readers are hereby reminded, that by means of these local lists they may ascertain how the gaps in their herbaria may be filled up. Botanists resident in the northern parts of our island are thus put in possession of important facts, viz. they ascertain what plants they can procure for themselves, and what are likely to be desiderate in the her- baria of their Southern brethren. | Myosotis repens. Marsh dykes near Graveney, and about Up- lees; sparingly. Myosotis sylvatica. Frequent m our woods. Myposotis collina. Walls of Faversham, Graveney, and Rodmer- sham churchyards. Davington Priory. Myosotis versicolor. Banks behind the little wood near the Four Oaks, and on Beacon Hill. Gravelly pasture near Daving- ton Priory. Lithospermum officinale. In the gravel-pit, Cockset Wood. Syn- dale Wood. Lithospermum arvense. Cornfields near Newnham and Norton, and on Badging Down. Symphytum officinale. Dykes in Luddenham, Ham, and Grave- ney marshes; but sparingly. Borago officinalis. Near the ruins of Buckland Church. Near Rodmersham church. Lycopsis arvensis. Banks about Stone Farm, and Hemhill. Cornfields between Luddenham and Oare. Cynoglossum officinale. On the beach at Seasalter. Echium vulgare. Bysing, Syndale, Cockset, and Badging woods. N.S. VOL. 11. x 154, FAVERSHAM PLANTS. [ July, Primula veris. In an old chalk-pit behind Ewell. Woods near Belmont. Samolus Valerandi. Edges of dykes and wet places in the marshes. Glaux maritima. Margins of the creeks; with Armeria mari- tima and Statice Limonium. ; Plantago media. Banks and roadsides; chiefly on the chalk. Plantago maritima below, and P. Coronopus upon, the sea-walls beside the creeks. Chenopodium olidum, rubrum, and ficifolium are occasionally to be found on manure-heaps and rubbish about the town. Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus. Under a wall near Rodmersham church. Atriplex portulacoides. In the salt-marshes; abundantly. Atriplex littoralis. Margin of Faversham Creek, with A. patula and A. Babingtonii. _ Beta maritima. On the sea-wall near Graveney, but rarely. Salsola Kali. On the beach at Seasalter. Schoberia maritima and Salicornia herbacea. In the salt-marshes ; abundantly. Polygonum lapathifolium. Fields below Hemhill church. Polygonum laxum. Field between Bysing Wood and Mr. Car- ter’s Oast. Polygonum Hydropiper. Wet places by the roadside in Bysing and Perry woods. Polgonum dumetorum. Lower part of Bysing Wood, towards Luddenham Vicarage; sparingly. Rumex Hydrolapathum. Davington Osiers. Ham and Graveney marsh dykes. Rumex aquaticus. Swampy ground below Bysing Wood, and in a ditch by the roadside near Luddenham Vicarage. [Is this R. aquaticus ? If so, its range in Britain is much greater than is generally supposed. | Rumex pulcher. Womestall road. Beacon Hill. Daphne Laureola. Bysing Wood. Sandbanks Wood. Euphorbia exigua. Cornfields; frequent. Euphorbia amygdaloides. Frequent in all our woods. Mercurialis annua. By the pathside through Preston meadow. Parietaria officinalis. Walls of Davington Priory. Faversham churchyard, west wall. 1857.] FAVERSHAM PLANTS. 155 Humulus Lupulus. Hedge below Bysing Wood, on the Lud- denham Road. Behind Sandbanks Wood. Carpinus Betulus. Syndale and Lees Court Parks. Hemlull and Perry Woods. Saliz purpurea and Helix. Davington Osiers. Salie Caprea. Bysing, Badging, and Hemhill woods. Salix ambigua. By astream in Hemhill wood. Juniperus communis. Hedges about Whitehill and Belmont. Taxus baccata. Below Whitehill. Selling Churchyard. Neottia Nidus-avis. Woods about Belmont and Lees Court. Dully Wood. Listera ovata. Bysing, Cockset, and Hemhill woods. Epipactis grandiflora. Mr. Giraud’s wood, at Cades. Fir-plan- tations and woods about Lees Court and Belmont. Dully Wood. Orchis Morio. Cades Wood and the meadow below. Swampy ground below ‘the Pulpit,’ Perry Wood. Orchis mascula. Bysing Wood. Woods near the Oaks. Wood between Shepherds, Fostal and Perry Wood. Orchis fusca. Syndale Wood; very rarely. Woods and banks about Lees Court. Dully Wood. Orchis pyramidalis. Cockset Wood, about the gravel-pit. Badging Wood: lLarch-plantation, by the steps, on the path between Ovens Court and Selling church. Woods about Lees Court and Belmont. Orchis latifolia. Davington Osiers. Swamp in Ham Marshes, near Hollyshore. Orchis maculata. In all our woods. Gymnadenia conopsea. Woods near Belmont, and about Newn- ham. Lees Court Park. ‘ Habenaria bifolia. Cockset, Syndale, and Badgmg woods. Woods about Lees Court and Belmont.* Aceras anthropophora. ees Court Park. Dully Wood. Lane between Whitehill and Ospringe Vicarage. Ophrys apifera. ees Court Park. Woods near Belmont; spa- ringly. Ophrys muscifera. Syndale, Cockset, Sandbanks, and Dully * Tn the woods and Fir-plantation on either side of the Office-road to Belmont, Epipactis grandiflora, Habenaria bifolia, and Orchis maculata attain a uxuriance of growth such as I have never seen approached elsewhere. 156 HERTS FLORA. | [ July, woods. Mr. Giraud’s wood, by Cades. Woods about Bel-. mont and Lees Court. Tris Pseudacorus. Davington Osiers. Marsh dykes occasionally. Allium vineale. By the path from the Brents to Ham Farm. Allium ursinum. Little wood adjoining Dully Wood. Woods near Lees Court. Ruscus aculeatus. Near the gravel-pit, Cockset Wood. In hedges near the Oaks, and near Badging Wood. Porter’s Lane, at the Whitehill end. Tamus communis. Bysing and Syndale Woods. Porter’s Lane. Road from Selling to Brendley. Hydrocharis Morsus-rane. Ham, Clapgate, and Graveney marshes, in the dykes. HERTS FLORA. Additional Supplement to the Flora Hertfordiensis. By the Rev. R. H. Wess, Rector of Essendon, Herts. 1851-57. (This mark * prefixed to the district denotes that the plant has been discovered there since the publication of the Supplement to the ‘Flora Hertfordiensis’ in April, 1851; * prefixed to the plant shows that it is altogether new to the Flora. The note (!) following the station signifies that the plant has been seen growing ; — following the authority, a specimen gathered by the same.) p. 1. Thalictrum flavum. 1. Meads, near the Lea, below Hat- field Park, 1845-56: C. C. p. 3. Anemone nemorosa. *4. Thrift Wood, Westmill; Graves wood: L. 8S. ! p. 4. Myosurus minimus. *2. Frith Garden (a weed), near Welwyn: C.C. *8. The Rookery, near Watford: E.S8. 1. Corn- fields, Hollwell Farm, Hatfield, 1857.7 p. 6. Ranunculus Lingua. *6. Totteridge Green, and other ponds in the neighbourhood! L. P. p. 6. Ranunculus Flammula, 8, reptans, Bab. 1. Near Warren Wood, Essendon; pond near Popes, Hatfield, 1856: C. C. p- 6. *Ranunculus floribundus, Bab. 1. Ponds near Hatfield Hyde! 1855: C. C. Bab. p- 9. Aquilegia vulgaris. 9. In a hedge by the Common- side, near Berkhampstead: T. G. L.! + I observe this plant abundant in several fields this year (1857). Is it anything — peculiar in the season? TJ had not seen it since 1851, I think, when it was plentiful. 1857.| HERTS FLORA. 157 p- 16. Corydalis solida. 6. In Puget’s Wood, Totteridge : J. R. M. p. 17. Fumaria parviflora, Vaillantii, and micrantha. *12. Burloes Hill, near Royston, abundant, June 7, 1853: C. C. Bab. p. 17. Fumaria capreolata. *6. Hoddesdon, near the Rye House, 1855. p. 19. Nasturtium amphibium. *1. Brook between Essendon and West End: G. B. Wollaston, 1851. Observed since, spa- ringly. p. 22. Cardamine sylvatica. *9. Near Bourne End: T. G. L.! p- 26. Sisymbrium thahanum. *9. Frequent near Berkhamp- stead: T. G. L. p. 27. Erysimum cheiranthoides. 1. Hatfield railway-station, plentiful near the coal-sheds; near the Brewhouse Farm, be- tween Hatfield wood-side and Wild Hill. *7. Field near Colney Heath, 1855. p. 27. Camelina sativa. 1. With a crop of Linum, opposite the timber-yard, Panshanger, 1855 ; Lawn, Essendon Place, with Grass seeds. p-. 29. Lepidium campestre. 1. By the footpath from Essendon to Hatfield; in a field east of Kibes Green, Essendon. 6. Near the Cicuta station, p. 114, abundant, 1855. p. 29. Brassica campestris. 4. Coles, Westmill: L. S. p. 80. Sinapis alba. *5. Hadham Ford, 1856. p. 34. Viola hirta. *7. Near the Warren toll-gate, N. Mimms, 1856. p- 39. Dianthus deltoides. *6. Totteridge Green, back of Osmond’s barn: J. R. M. p. 89. Saponaria officinalis. 1. Essendon, with Serratula, p. 145: C.C. p-. 42. Sagina procumbens. *4. Coles: L. 8. ! p. 48. *Sagina ciliata. 1. Hatfield Park, north of the house ; Hatfield wood-side, in front of Squire Church’s house. 7. Colney Heath. p. 43. Menchia erecta. 1 and 7. Hatfield wood-side and Grubb’s Lane, 1856. p. 47. Cerastium arvense. *8. On the chalk cutting near Wat- ford Station: S. P.! p- 48. Malva moschata. 4. Wyddial and Coles: L. 8. p. 54. Geranium pusillum. *7. Colney Heath, 1855. 158 HERTS FLORA. [ July, p- 55. Geranium columbinum. *9. In a copse one mile south- east of Bourne End: T. G. L.! 7. Near Colney Heath. p- 56. Erodium cicutarium. *7. Near Warren Gate, N. Mimms: Mr. Irvine, 1856. “ -p. 56. Erodium moschatum. 1. Near the Essendon National Schools, 1855. 6. Plentiful about the Almshouses, Barnet: L. P. p- 59. Owalis Acetosella. 4. Coles: L. 8.! p- 59. *Oxalis stricta. 1. Apparently naturalized in the garden of the old Poor-house, Essendon. p- 62. Genista tinctoria. 4. Near Capons, Wyddial: L. 8S. p- 63. Anthyllis Vulneraria. *4. Roadside between Westmill and Buntingford: L.S.! 9. Near Bourne Grove and Bourne End: T, G. L.! p. 66. Trifolium striatum. 7. The Wash, near Warren Gate, N. Mimms, 1856. 6. Totteridge Lane, with Trifolium fragi- ferum: J. R. M.! p- 66. Trifolium ochroleucum. *4. At West Hill: L. 8.! p- 68. Trifolium subterraneum. *7. The Wash, near Warren Gate, N. Mimms, 1856. 6. 9. *9. Boxmoor: Mr. Irvine. p. 68. Trifolium fragiferum. 4. Westmill: L. S. p- 69. Trifolium filiforme. 7. The Wash, with T. subterraneum. p. 73. Vicia angustifolia. *Bourne End: T. G. L.! p. 73. Ervum gracile. *4, Between Coles and Cherry Green : IDE Se p-. 74. Lathyrus sylvestris. 4. Capons, Wyddial: L. S. p- 75. Lathyrus Nissolii. 8. Hedgerow near Oxtrey: S. P. p. 79. Geum rivale. *9. Meadows by the canal, east of Berk- hampstead: T. G. L.! p- 87. Potentilla argentea. 7. Near the Warren Gate, N. Mimms, 1856. p- 91. Alchemilla vulgaris. 6. Totteridge Park, very large ! Growing in the same place is an abundance of Lilium Martagon, known to have been there more than a hundred years! J. R. M. *7. Potterels, N. Mimms. p- 94. Pyrus Aria. 9. North-east side of Bourne End Grove: TGo hs! p. 94. Pyrus communis. 1. Lane from the Hertford and Hat- field road to the Holwell Woods, 1857. p- 96. Epilobium angustifolium. 1. Below the Essendon Bury chalk-pit: C. C., 1854. 1857.] HERTS FLORA. 159 p- 96. Epilobium angustifolium. 2. Brockett Park: C. C. p. 96. Epilobium roseum. *4, Between Cherry Green and Cotterel: L. S. 5 p- 101. Callitriche pedunculata. *8. River between Watford and Hamper Mill: E. S. p. 109. Rides Grossularia. 4. Coles: L. S. p- 110. Ribes rubrum. *4. Thrift and Milcroft’s woods: L. S.! p- lll. Sazifraga tridactylites. *7. N. Mimms churchyard, 1856. 6. 9. p. 117. Aigopodium Podagraria. 4. Coles: L. 8.! p- 117. Carum Carui. 9. Railway bank near Bourne End: HUG o ae be p. 126. Torilis nodosa. 4. Near Westmill: L. 8.! p- 180. Adova Moschatellina. 1. Near the river in Tewin Water Park, 1857. *4. On the Rib, near Coles: L. S.! p. 183. Sambucus nigra. 1. A variety with white fruit, grows at Essendon, West End, 1855. p. 186. Viscum album. *4. Coles: L. 8.! p. 189. Galium tricorne. 6. Near the Rye House, Hoddesdon, plentiful, 1855. p- 140. Fedia olitoria. *7. Nae Colney Heath, 1855. p. 143. Dipsacus pilosus. 4. Maulcroft’s Wood, Coles; road- side between Buntingford and Wyddial: L. S. p. 148. Scabiosa Columbaria. *8. Chipperfield: E. 8. p- 146. Centaurea Cyanus. *4. Wyddial: L. 8. p. 147. Centaurea solstitialis. 1. Kssendon Glebe, among Lu- cerne, 1852. p- 150. Onopordum Acanthium. 1. Near Bayfordbury Farm, 1856. ° p- 151. Silybum Marianum. 1. Near the Red Lion, Hatfield, 1856. p- 156. Lactuca virosa. *1. Kssendon, opposite the Rectory ; sown; i the plantation behind the cottagers’ allotments, Her- tingfordbury: C. C.! *6. Roadside between Lion’s-down and Kast Barnet: L. P. p. 156. Prenanthes muralis. *4,. Wyddial Hall: L. 8.! p. 158. Crepis biennis. *Near Bourne End: T. G. L. ! p. 159. Hieracium sylvaiicum. 7. Colney Heath, 1855 p. 162. Petasites vulgaris. 4. River Rib, Coles: L. S. p. 165. Conyza squarrosa. *4. Near Buntingford: L. 8.! 160 HERTS FLORA. | July, p. 166. Bidens tripartita. 4. Pond at Wyddial: L. 8. p- 171. Artemisia Absinthium. Stony Hill, between Bengeo and Sacomb, 1851. p- 172. Tanacetum vulgare. 1. Tewin Lower Green, 1851. 2. Between Foxley’s Farm and Ayott Green. p. 861. Filago spathulata. 1. Near Letty Green, Hertingford- bury. *6. Hoddesdon, near the Rye House, 1855. p. 176. Campanula glomerata. 2. Brockett Park: C.C. 5. Near Hadham Ford: Master T. Webb, 1856. 7. 3. p-. 176. Jasione montana. *7. Field near Colney Heath! J. Church, Jun. p. 178. Campanula Rapunculus. 8. Crossley Green: S. P.! p- 179. Campanula hybrida. 1. Bedwell Park Farm. 10. Corn- field east of Batchwood, St. Albans: C. H.! p- 182. Monotropa Hypopitys. *4. Thriftwood, Westmill: L. 8.!) *8. Wood at Buxhill, near Watford: E.S.! 9. Abun- dantly in the Hare’s-foot Woods towards Harratt’s End: T. G. L. ! p. 186. *Villarsia nympheoides. 6. Ponds on Totteridge Green! with Hottonia and Menyanthes: L. P. p. 187. Chlora perfoliata. 1. Essendon West End, in a field called Lower Braddles, plentiful, 1856! C. C. p- 189. Erythrea Centaurium. 4. Wyddial: L. 8. p- 191. Polemonium ceruleum. *8. Near the Colne, in a mea- dow between Holywell and Brightwell’s Farm: E. 8.! p- 193. Cuscuta Trifolit. 1. On Bedwell Park Farm in 1852 and 1856; near How clay-pits, Bayford, 1852. p. 197. *Pulmonaria officinalis (after Echium). 4. Coles: L. 8.! p. 201. Atropa Belladonna. 2. Brockett Park: C. C. p-. 202. Hyoscyamus niger. 1. Hatfield, near the Red Lion, 1856. p- 208. Verbascum Lychnitis. *2. Brockett Park and the borders: C. C. p-. 862, Appendix. Verbascum Blattaria. 1. Essendon Glebe Wood! 1856: C. C. p- 362, Appendix. Verbascum virgatum. *2. Plantations about Brockett Park, 1852: C. C. p. 205. Orobanche minor. *11. Near Hitchin: Prof. Bentley. p- 206. Lathrea Squamaria. 11. Near Chapel Foot, 1853: M. Balls. 1857.] HERTS FLORA. 161 p- 206. Lathrea Squamaria. *1. New Hatfield House, on the London side of the Privy Garden, 1857! Marquis of Salisbury. p- 207. Digitalis purpurea. 1. Var. alb. Essendon Glebe Wood, 1856. p- 209. Linaria repens. 1. Single plant between Essendon and West End, 1854: L. P.! p- 209. Linaria minor. *4.. Wyddial and Westmill: L. S.! p- 217. Veronica officinalis. *4. Dry bank at Coles: L. 8.! p- 217. Veronica Buxbaumii. 10. Field east of Birch Wood, St. Albans: C. H. p. 218. Veronica hederifolia. *9. Bourne End: T. G. L.! 1851. p- 219. Mentha sylvestris. 1. Near the bridge by Holwell Farm: C. C. p- 219. Mentha piperita. *4. Brook End, Westmill: L. S.! p- 221. Lycopus europeus. 4. Wyddial: L. 8. p. 224. Scutellaria galericulata. *4. Wyddial: L. S. p- 228. Galeopsis versicolor. 1. Essendon, in a field called Warren-bushes, on Bedwell Park Farm! 1856: C.C. *4. Wyd- dial, 1848: L. S. p- 229. Marrubium vulgare. *7. Colney Heath, 1855. p. 235. Primula elatior. *4. Coles, and between Westmill and Stonebury: L. 8. p- 235. Hottonia palustris. 6. Ponds on Totteridge Green ! J. R. M. p- 240. Chenopodium hybridum. *2. Welwyn, on the banks of the Maran, 1854. p- 244. Rumex pratensis. 6. Marsh Lane, Hoddesdon, 1855. p. 247. Polygonum Bistorta. 1. Meadows near the Brewhouse Farm, between Hatfield Woodside and Wild Hill, 1851. 6. Chapel Field and Puget’s Wood, Totteridge: J. R. M. p- 250. Daphne Laureola. 4. Hedge between Aspenden Hall and Buttermilk House: L. S. p- 265. Alnus glutinosa. 4. Banks of the Rib, Coles: L. 8.! p- 275. Potamogeton crispus. *4. Coles, in a pond: L. 8.! p. 276. Lemna trisulca. *7. Colney Heath, 1855. p. 284. *Anacharis Alsinastrum. 8. Near Watford. ‘The river is nearly choked in the last three or four years:” E.'S. 1856. p. 285. Orchis mascula. 4. Coles: L. 8. Ne iS. VOL. EL. 16 162 HERTS FLORA. 3 [July, p. 290. Habenaria chlorantha. 1. Plentiful in a wood be- tween Essendon W. End, and Kibes Green, 1855. 4. Coles and Wyddial: L. 8. p- 291. Ophrys apifera. 1. Essendon West End, 1852. 4. Wyddial, 1848: L. S. p- 292. Ophrys muscifera. 9. Wood one mile south-east of Bourne End, 1851: T. G. L.! p. 292. Neottia spiralis. *8. Common Wood near Sarratt and Chipperfield: S. P. p. 294. Listera Nidus-avis. 1. Bedwell Park Belt, near Little Berkhampstead Lane: I. C., jun., 1856. p- 295. Epipactis grandiflora. 9. In the Haresfoot Woods: TGoi.! p. 297. Iris Pseudacorus. 4. At Coles: L. 8. p. 299. Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus. 1. Woolmer’s Park and Letty Green. p- 300. Narcissus biflorus: *6. Davis’s Farm, Totteridge: J. RK. M. p- 800. Galanthus nivalis. *In a hedge at the back of Mr. Mackay’s, Totteridge Green, “as if wild:” J.R. M. *4. In Milcroft’s Wood, Coles: L. 8. p. 801. Paris quadrifolia. 1. Bayford Wood, plentiful, 1855 : C.C. 4. Capons, Wyddial; Thrift, Coles: L. 8. p. 303. Ruscus aculeatus. 6. Roadside between Cooper’s Lane and the Hook, 1857. p. 303. *Lilium Martagon. 6. Totteridge Park. Ascertained to have been there not less than 100 years. 1855! J. R. M. p- 303. *Tulipa sylvestris. 4. In the Grove at Wyddial Hall. ‘The Grove at Wyddial, which is chalky in many places, is in many places covered with it, but this is the only one I could find going to flower.” May 7th, 1856: L. S.! p. 303. Hyacinthus nonscriptus, var. alb. 1, Essendon Copse, W. End, with Habenaria. p-. 804. Ornithogalum umbellatum. *2. Brockett Park, 1852: CoG: p- 805. Allium ursinum. 9. Near Bourne End: T. G. L.! p- 334. Catabrosa aquatica. 9. Near Berkhampstead, and at Boxmoor: T. G. L.! p- 389. Bromus erectus. 9. Near Haxters End Farm; near Berkhampstead: T. G. L.! 1857. ] BRITISH HIERACIA. 163 p. 340. Lolium temulentum. 5. Hadham Ford, 1856. 1. Bed- well Park Farm, 1856: C. C.! p. 341. Triticum caninum. 5. Hadham Ford, 1856. p. 342. KHlymus europeus. 9. Bourne End; and in a copse half a mile from Bourne End, by the Bovingdon Lane: T.G. L.! p. 847. Ophioglossum vulgatum. *9. Meadows between Berk- hampstead and Bourne End: T.G. L.! 4. Coles; Wyddial Hall ; Hammel’s Park: L. 8S. p. 348. Asplenium Trichomanes. 2. Brockett Hall, house and garden walls: C. C. p. 349. Asplentum Ruta-muraria. 2. On the house and garden walls at Brockett, 1852: C. C. p-. 350. Ceterach officmarum. *11. ‘On an old wall at Grave- ley, and, as I believe, spontaneously :” Prof. Bentley. p. 951. Scolopendrium vulgare. 1. Hill End Farm, Essendon W. End, on the walk above the gateway, 1855. 2. 8, multifidum, on Brockett Hall House, single plant: C. C. 4. Two hedges at West Mill: L. S.! 1. South entrance of brook running through Camfield: P. L. p- 352. Aspidium angulare. Essendon W. End, with A. lo- batum, 1855. BRITISH HIURACIA. Remarks on some Species of British Hieracia. By James Bacxnovuse, Jun. < Mieracium cerinthoides.’—This name must, I believe, now be discontinued, as denoting a British species.. At page 39 of my Monograph I stated my suspicion that the plant recognized by Fries as H. cerinthoides would prove distinct from the Pyre- nean plant, and that I then accepted the name on his authority. I was unwilling to adopt a fresh name when there was not strong evidence of difference from the plant already recognized by Con- tinental authors. Professor Fries has however lately informed | me that he concurs in my opinion as to the distinctness of the | two; so that, while leaving others to adopt such name as they | think best, I shall in future regard the 8, anglicum of my Mo- | end nograph as the ¢ypical form, under the name of Hirractum 164 BRITISH HIERACIA. . [July, “ Hieracium stelligerum.’—On the continued and very de- cided opinion of Fries, that our plant, although exhibiting some of the characteristics of H. stelligerum, is unquestionably distinct from that species, I shall for the future adopt the original n name of H. rFLoccuLosuM. TT “ HMieracium rigidum. ’°—Continued observation of this plant only confirms my impression that it is not specifically distinct from H. cor ymbosum (that is, the Braemar plant recognized by Fries as “typical H. corymbosum”’). Though not yet fully pre- pared to discontinue the name, my strong belief is, that our plant is not any form of H. rigidum, Fries, a I doubt being a British species. “ Hieracium Gibsoni.”—In reply to the observations upon this. plant in the ‘ Phytologist’ for April 1857, page 73, I may state by way of explanation, that when using the words “ original dis- coverer,” I did not at all mean to imply that I supposed the late Samuel Gibson to have been the first person who noticed the plant, but the one who first challenged it as a distinct and un- named species. The fact of its having been known long before, first associated with Hypocheris maculata, and afterwards with various species of Hieracium (incorrectly), does not, I apprehend, rightly constitute “discovery” im a scientific sense. Twenty years before Carex paradora was “discovered” as a British plant, my father gathered specimens of it in the vicinity of York, and after having failed fully to satisfy himself that it was a form of C. teretiuscula, preserved specimens of it for his herbarium, referring them to the latter species with a ? attached, not hav- ing then in his possession any work describing the Continental C. paradoxa. Numerous other similar instances might be named ; but no one will, I think, be disposed to regard the first finders of these plants as their “discoverers.” Perhaps it would have been better had I used the words, “ who first detected it as a dis- tinct and unnamed species.” These few remarks will however explain what I wished to convey. Respecting its possible iden- tity with H. pallidum, or H. cesium, it may perhaps be a fitting place just to say that H. cesium is very abundant in the same locality and district, and that H. pallidum also occurs sparingly. The latter (H. pallidum) very frequently has spotted or blotched ‘leaves: but so many plants of this genus exhibit this character ‘more or less, that I believe it is unsafe to allow ourselves to be 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 165 much influenced by it in attempting to determine species, except when combined with other strong distinguishing features, such as are distinctly observable in H. Gibsoni, and which, according to the best of my ability, were clearly defined in my Monograph. York, May, 1857. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. ON THE GROWTH OF THE OPHRYDE®. The fact of the appearance of the Bee Orchis in such abundance in a field recently reclaimed from a subjection of forty years to the plough (see ‘ Phytologist,’ vol. 11. p. 114), may in some degree be explained by the peculiar mode of growth of the Ophrydee, a subject which has lately been investigated by M. Fabre, who gives an account of his observations in the ‘Annales des Sciences Naturelles,’ ser. 4, vol. v. p. 163. It is there shown that the flowering-shoots are only formed after an indefinite period, durmg which the growth or extension of the plant is effected by the formation of terminal tubers or buds, and its multiplication by the production of axillary tubers. ‘‘ After a hitherto indeterminate number of such annual evolutions, the axis, the descendant of that produced by the germination of the seed, is terminated by a leafy shoot, destitute of tuber and of flowers. The axillary tubers are then endowed with the power of reproducing and multiplying the plant and at length of pro- ducing the floral form, after several generations of buds.” Thus is ef- fected a most curious instance of the ‘‘alternation of generations,” and one which certainly contributes to the explanation of the fact noticed by Mr. Oxenden. Maxwe tu T, Masters. CARDAMINE PRATENSIS. “J found (May 28th, 1845) in a moory meadow by the Medina, below Rookley, a solitary specimen of C. pratensis, affording a singular instance of abnormal development. On the lower part of the corymb were several seed-vessels on pedicels changed from their usual linear to an ovate-ellip- tical figure, so as to resemble the short fruit of plants belonging to the siliculose section of this Order. These, on being opened, were found to contain petals of the usual colour, which in the pods above had burst from their confinement, and appeared as semidouble flowers, the valves of the pod answering to the true calyx. At the summit of the stem the flowers had the usual appearance, except that the stamens were changed into petals ; and on opening the ovarium of the highest blossom, no ovules were discoverable amongst the mass of petaloid lamine with which the cavity was filled. The lowermost pedicellate pods had doubtless been at. first surrounded by the regular floral envelopes, but from some cause had not emitted them at the sutures like the rest. From their verticillate arrangement it is evident that these petaloid expansions were not trans- formed seeds, but simply a development of the common axis within the ovary into an abortive whorl of floral organs, besides which there were 166 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [ July, evident rudiments both of stamens and germen in the centre of the bundle.”—Dr. Bromfield’s < Flora Vectensis, pp. 34, 35. BARBAREA PRECOX. ““This species is generally thought to have been introduced to Europe from the New World, whence the names of American or Belleisle Cress (from the Straits of that name between Labrador and Newfoundland). Be that as it may, no plant is more thoroughly naturalized amongst us than the present, and in no part of Britain perhaps does it abound more than in this island. In America, Barbarea precow extends beyond the Arctic Circle. It affords an excellent spring salad, very superior to the ‘ ¢ommon Winter Cress, as was remarked to me by my friend the Rev. William Darwin Fox, who, having been accustomed to the use of the latter im Derbyshire, on coming to reside in this island having unknowingly substituted the former and more abundant species here, though puzzled to account for the difference, was immediately sensible of having made an - exchange for the better. The taste is much more pungent and Cress-like, and Mr. R. Loe of Newchurch tells me it is often substituted by the people of this island for the common Water Cress, being known by the opposite cognomen of Land Cress.” —Zdem. BoTany OF THE LAKES. The results of Mr. Woods’s excursion are that ‘“‘ the mountains about the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland offer by no means a rich har- vest to the botanist ; but it is well,” he adds, “to know what places are unproductive, in order not to lose time in examining what has been already examined in vain. The points to which I would direct the attention of the future tourist are some micaceous rocks on the north side of Skiddaw, at about half the ascent. . . . Next to these in point of interest is the district about Helvellyn, and to the south and south-east of that moun- tain lying between the roads from Wythburn to Ambleside and from Am- bleside to Patterdale. . . . Perhaps the mountains above Coniston might be visited with advantage, and also those to the right of the road over Kirkstone from Ambleside to Patterdale. . . . I would recommend any botanist who wishes to ascend Cross Fell to take the little Gill which sepa- rates Cross Fell from Dun Fell, and Cumberland from Westmoreland.” “< Geranium pyrenaicum is a plant which occurs in several places in the neighbourhood of towns, especially in a light but fertile soil, and it seems to be increasing, but I doubt if it be anywhere an original plant of the country.” —Jos. Woops, F.L.S., in Com. Bot. Mag. vol. i. p. 295. This extract, though not from a very recent publication, may be xew to some of our readers. We publish it for the benefit of Lake tourists, to whom it may be useful; and we also venture to hint that if they find any novelties in the botanical department, we hope they will not forget the * Phytologist.’ Hickory. “The Indians of Florida hold in great esteem all kinds of sweet Hickory- nuts. They crack the nuts and beat them in mortars, then boil in water e 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 167 and save the oil. But the most favourite dish the Indians have among them is corn-drink seasoned with Hickory-nut oil. They pick out the kernels, beat them to a paste, and boil with Indian Corn-flour, which being seasoned with a lixivium made of pea-straw ashes, gives it a consistence something like cream or rich new milk, and is called by the traders Hickory-milk.”—Bartram, M.8., Gard. Chron. 18517, p. 56. LAMIUM ALBUM. Dr. Bromfield, in ‘ Flora Vectensis,’ describes the roots of Lamium album as ‘emitting rhizomata in al! directions, which again take root at the joits and send up fresh stems annually.” Yet the same accurate ob- server places the sign of an annual (©) after the description of the time of its inflorescence ;—a printer’s blunder? “‘ With a wide distribution, LL. album is yet a somewhat local species; nor is it by any means univer- sally diffused over the Isle of Wight. At Great Yarmouth, as I learn from Mr. Dawson Turner, it is amongst the rarest plants.”—//. Vect. HERNIARIA GLABRA. “ By a strange misquotation in the ‘English Flora,’ poor Hudson is represented as making our Glave a variety of Herniaria glabra, a blunder the latter is wholly guiltless of, having fully described that plant, G. maritima, in its proper place. The synonyms and references to Ray and Petiver relate to H. ciliata of Babington.”—Dr. BrRoMFIELp, in Fl. Vect, Lone PURPLEs. The flower called by Shakespeare ‘‘ Long Purples,” and which formed part of Ophelia’s garland (see Hamlet, Act V.), I understand to be the Orchis mascula. Can any of your readers inform me if the name “ Long Purples” is mentioned in any, and which, of the Herbals of Shakespeare’s time? and is the same flower also called Dead Men’s Fingers? S. B. RoWAN-TREE. (Pyrus Aucuparia.) Can you refer me to any old work on trees which mentions this as a charm against witches? ‘Some writers say it is customary in Wales to plant the tree in churchvards. Are there any churchyards in England in which the Rowan-tree is planted? The common people in parts of Oxford- shire speak of the Wych Elm as a charm against witches, and that a person under the spell of witchcraft will be cured if struck nine times with a branch of this tree. Does any work which describes this Elm mention this property ? S. B. SCUTELLARIA MINOR. Dr. Bromfield, in his excellent ‘ Flora Vectensis,’ states that the height of this plant seldom exceeds 4-10 inches, “except when drawn up amongst herbage to almost twice that height.” In a wet grassy part of Parkhurst Forest this plant was observed, in August 1853, one or two yards high, of, a branched, straggling habit. It was no variety, but a genuine form of Scutellaria minor; taller however than any example of S. galericulata ever noticed by, Mr. Editor, your humble servant, A. M. 168 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [July. Puants collected near Parson’s Green, October 14th, 1856, by A. L, Chelsea :— Melissa officinalis between Little Chelsea and Parson’s Green. Anagallis arvensis, var. rubra. Hyoscyamus niger. Verbascum Thapsus. Medicago denti- culata. Mercurialis ambigua, Linn. fil. A variety of M. annua: Dr. Brom- field, in ‘Flora Vectensis,’ remarks that this “is a common form in the south of Europe, and has been noticed growing plentifully in the Channel Islands by Messrs. Babington and Christy. The younger Linneus consi- dered it a distinct species; but though very different in appearance, in some respects, it is certainly, as De Candolle remarks, but a variety—and not a very permanent one either—of WM. annua.” Reseda Luteola. R. alba occurs here and there about Brompton and Chelsea. Potentilla hirta, a foreign species, is spreading in a waste part, where rubbish is laid down at Parson’s Green. SCABIOSA SUCCISA. The first appearance of this plant in flower is the earliest but surest token that, whilst nature wears yet an aspect green and fair, the noontide prime of the year has departed, and that ere long the “sere and yellow leaf’ will give true but timely warning of the ‘dim, declining days ” that must ‘succeed its fall, ete—Dr. BROMFIELD, im Fl. Vect. CARDUUS LANCEOLATUS. To none of the genus is the motto ‘* Nemo me impune lacessit ” more applicable than to this species, from the extreme pungency of its long and formidable prickles —Dr. BRoMFIELD, im FV. Vect. VIBURNUM OPULUS. “Torrey and Gray reduce the North American Viburnum edule and V. Oxycoccus to varieties of our European /. Opulus, yet it seems hardly credible that the same species should produce in one country an agreeably- flavoured, and in another a nauseously-tasting fruit.” (Dr. Bromfield, in ‘Flora Vectensis.’) Botanists believe that the Crab and the Ribstone Pippin are produced on trees of the same species; but the latter is deli- cious, the former uneatable. CENSOR. Communications have been recewed from Maxwell T. Masters; S. W.; G.; Rev. W. L. Williams; R. K.; Ignoramus ; James Backhouse, jun.; B. G. B.; Geo. B. Wollaston ; James Forbes Young, F.L.S8.; W. P.; George Hunt; William Mitten, A.L.S.; M. T. M.; Sydney Beisly; George Jordan; R. M. Stark; J. F. Y.; Geo. Lawson, F.B.S.E. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Stark’s Management of the Marine Aquarium. Moore’s Indea Filicum, Part IIT. ERRATUM. ‘Phytologist,’ vol. ii. new series, p. 124, line 6 from bottom, omit ‘inches long.’ [| August, 1857.] 169 OBSERVATIONS ON THALICTRUM MINUS and tts Allies, which inhabit Britain. By J. G. Baker. Upon studying carefully the plants given in the ‘ Supplement to the Yorkshire Flora,’ under Thalictrum flexuosum, I find that they represent, not_only the true flewuosum_of authors, but also, two_other.species, which appear to possess well-marked and per- manent characteristics, viz. T. eminens and T. calcareum_of Jor-. dan, They are both elaborately passed under review in the fifth fragment of Jordan’s ‘ Plantes Nouvelles, Rares, ou Critiques ;’ and forcible descriptions of the other British species, with apicu- late anthers, may be found in various works of recent authors, especially the ‘Summa Vegetabilium Scandinavie’ of Fries; but as it is probable that a large proportion of the readers of the ‘ Phytologist’ have not access to these, and as the allies of minus are only imperfectly understood by many of our botanists, it may not be deemed a work of supererogation to attempt here a cursory sketch of the series. The genuine T. minus is common enough amongst the sand- hills along the coast-line of most of the counties from Sutherland southward, to’the central part of England; inland it inhabits the chalk district, and various hilly tracts of more or less calca- reous nature ; but probably it should be considered as a doubtful point whether many or most of the more elevated stations which have been reported, really produce the true plant. In a wild state the stem seldom exceeds a foot in height, which is consider- ably shorter than in any of the others. On the sandhills it is strong, stout, deeply striated, flexuose, and much branched; else- where erect or suberect, and usually more slender and graceful ; the leaves do not descend to the base of the stem, and mostly become much diminished before they reach the panicle. On the coast they are full green on the upper surface, glaucous and glan- dular beneath; the auricles of the stipules are spreading, not inflexed, in my specimens; when it attains a fair degree of deve- lopment, the lower branches of the panicle spread from the stem at an angle of ninety degrees or more; the carpels are oblong- fusiform in shape, somewhat compressed, slightly oblique, larger im size than in any of the others. T. flecuosum is apparently a plant of stream-sides and damp N.S. VOL. II. Z 170 OBSERVATIONS ON THALICTRUM MINUS. [ August, fields. The British specimens preserved in my collection are from the following localities, viz.:—Perthshire: banks of Loch Tay, Mr. Scott. Fifeshire: North Queensferry, John T. Syme. Dumfriesshire: banks of the Nith, near Dumfries, Mr. Cruick- shanks. Lake District: shores of Ulswater, and several other places, D. Oliver, etc. Durham: about the Tees in several places. Yorkshire: by the Tees at Holwick, and lower down, and on the south side of the Wharfe at Thorp Arch. Doubtless this is the plant which most of the stations, recorded for 7. majus, produce: the stem attains a height of from 13 to 3 feet, and is erect or suberect in habit, firm, usually glabrous, mode- rately flexuose, and prominently striated; the leaves descend to the base of the stem, and ascend amongst the lower branches of the panicle; the lower leaves are large, broad, and wide-spread- ing, their segments blunt, pointed, and often heart-shaped at the base ; the auricles of the lower stipules embrace the stem, those of the upper, spread as in the preceding; the panicle is ample, and much elongated, the lower branches moderately flexuose, spread- ing from the stem at an angle of about forty-five degrees; the carpels are more oblique, broader below, and much smaller than in the preceding. The only British stations for TJ. eminens with which I am ac- quainted, are both in West Yorkshire: Malham Cove, in the val- ley of the Aire, and Bolton Woods, in the valley of the Wharfe. This species much resembles 7. flecuosum in habit of growth, but may be known by the following characters:—The stem is more slender, and somewhat shorter; the leaves are smaller in general outline, not ascending so much into the panicle as in the other, and their segments are narrower and sharper; the branches of the panicle are unusually flexuose, peculiarly irregular, diffuse, and few-flowered ; the pedicels are arched at flowering-time; the carpels are equally compressed and oblique, but rather smaller and narrower. T. calcareum was found several years ago by Mr. Ball, on Ben Bulben, in Sligo (vide Bot. Gazette), and the specimens of that gentleman were seen and authenticated by M. Jordan. To the courtesy of Mr. G. 8. Brady I have been indebted for a speci- men of the Ben Bulben plant; and have what appears to be the same, from Honister Crag, in Cumberland (coll. D. Oliver) ; Malham Cove, West Yorkshire (J. Dugdale); and also from 1857.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 171 amongst limestone rocks at Gordale. Scar, near Malham, gathered by myself in the autumn of 1855. The stem is erect, firm, flexuose, and striated, rather longer than in the slender, erect form of minus, but shorter than in any of the others, with the leaves, as in minus, not descending to its base, and also becoming much diminished before they reach the panicle; in substance the segments of the leaves are thicker than in the others, in shape moderately broad and blunt in the lower leaves, narrower and sharper in the upper; the auricles of the stipules are short and adpressed ; the panicle is moderate in size, its branches in fruit comparatively short and stiff, the lower spreading from the stem at an angle of about forty-five degrees; the carpels are small, in shape about twice as long as broad, slightly compressed and ob- lique. In some of my British specimens the leaves are glandular on the under surface; in an example collected by M. Bourgeau on the Sierra Nevada, labelled 7. pubescens, Schreb., the stem and leaves are thickly covered with glands. With 7. saxatile I have not had the good fortune to make an acquaintance, except through the medium of descriptions; but these stamp it as a plant which there is not much risk of con- fusing with any of the others; its tall, rigid, scarcely striated stem, leafy to the base, and short-ovate, equally rounded carpels, furnish excellent diagnostic characteristics. BOTANICAL SKETCHES. To the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist.’ As I believe short accounts of botanical trips are generally ac- ceptable to the ‘ Phytologist,’ I have thought that although my excursions did not extend far last year, yet as I met with some interesting plants, the present brief sketch might be not alto- gether without interest. SUNNINGHILL, EGHAM, ETC. In the beginning of July last I passed a few days at Egham Hill, Surrey, where, in company with Mr. Whale, the florist, of Egham, and a young friend, I made an excursion to Sunning hill Bog. On leaving the Ascot Station, which is situated on the bog, we turned to the right, where, amidst elegant plumes 172 BOTANICAL SKETCHES. [ August, of Eriophorum angustifolium and clusters of our three common Heaths, we soon found the exquisite little pmk bells and round leaves of Anagallis tenella, with abundance of Drosera rotundi- folia and longifolia. Here and there were the solitary flowers of Cnicus pratensis, and more frequently the brilliant orange spikes of Narthecium ossifragum, while further on we were well pleased to find the scented flowers of Habenaria bifolia in pretty tole- rable abundance. In a rill which appeared to be strongly im- pregnated with iron, we found plenty of Veronica scutellata and of Hypericum Elodes, the more special objects of our excursions, together with Potamogeton natans, etc. After crossing the bog we walked by the side of the railway, and found an elegant specimen of Corydalis claviculata. Genista anglica, Senecio sylvaticus, and a few Junci (J. squarrosus, acuti- florus, and glaucus) completed our day’s collection. In another excursion (to the meads near Egham) we found at the edge of a large pond plenty of Utricularia vulgaris, Hydro- charis Morsus-rane, Sagittaria sagittifolia, etc.,—the pond itself being covered with white and yellow Water-liles, and fringed with Sedges, Rushes, etc., the handsome flowers of Butomus um- bellatus being conspicuous among them. In hedges near we gathered Rhamnus catharticus and Hypericum hirsutum, and Mr. Whale assured me that Lathyrus Nissolia and Papaver du- bium are found in the neighbourhood. On the 28th of July I went to Dartford, and walked thence, by the old Roman road, to Greenhithe. In the course of this walk I gathered Senecio viscosus, Onopordum Acanthium, Poten- tilla argentea, near Dartford; and nearer to Greenhithe, Pa- paver somniferum, hybridum, Argemone, and Rheas, growing close together in a corner of a field; Anagallis cerulea, Gera- nium columbinum, Nepeta Cataria, Poa rigida, etc.; and close by the entrance of a wood, Astragalus Glycyphyllos and Listera Nidus-avis. On the following day I took train to Cuxton Station, and thence walked across, by Bush, to Cobham Park, hoping to find Salvia pratensis and Althea hirsuta, but was quite unable to meet with either. I gathered however Orchis pyramidalis, Adonis autumnalis, Linaria Elatine and minor, Dianthus Armeria, etc.; and on a subsequent visit to Cobham, though equally un- successful with respect to Salvia and Althea, 1 found Lithosper- 1857. ] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 173 mum arvense, Polygonum Fagopyrum, Galeopsis Ladanum, and Papaver hybridum. SOUTHEND, ETC. Towards the end of August I went for a week or two to Southend, whose botanical attractions are far greater than I had expected. : On the sandy beach to the east of the town, I found abun- dance of Salsola Kali, Eryngium maritimum, Arenaria peploides, Glaucium luteum, ete. ete., as well as of several Atriplices and Chenopodia; while the ditches a little removed from the beach abounded in Ulva and Enteromorpha, and were fringed with Statice Limonium, Atriplex portulacoides, Artemisia maritima, Bupleurum tenuissimum, Scirpus maritimus, etc. In one of the ditches also I found a fine specimen of Triglochin palustre, and, nearer the town, the banks of a large muddy ditch were covered with Aster Tripolium, most of whose flowers how- ever wanted the florets of the ray. The marshes themselves yielded Dianthus Armeria, Silaus pratensis, Trifolium fragiferum, etc. etc.; and both the marshes and the grass between them and the beach were covered with tufts of Juncus maritimus. It was in these tufts that I had the pleasure of finding, on the last morning of my stay ener Gey elegant_specimens of Neotiza spiralis, “On the “bushy. cliffs See of the town, I found Lath, yrus Nis- solia and Lathyrus Aphaca, Lactuca, abundance of Feniculum vulgare, and, best of all, of Linum angustifolium. In the parish of Southchurch, not far from Southend, I found Veronica Buxbaumii growing so abundantly that I wondered how any doubt could be entertained of its being a native. I also met with Trifolium fragiferum in a hedge near Southchurch. CLIFTON. In concluding my summer rambles by a visit, at the end of October, to Clifton, I found some plants of Chlora perfoliata on the Somersetshire side of the Avon, on the muddy shores of which I noticed Salicornia herbacea and Apium graveolens. On St. Vincent’s Rocks I found Veronica spicata, Geranium — sanguineum (off flower), and plants of Grammitis Ceterach, which, with Asplenium Trichomanes and Ruta-muraria, abounds on walls 174 GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF PLANTS. [ August, in the neighbourhood. A. Adiantum-nigrum, though found, is much less abundant. On the Ivy, both on the cliffs and walls, I had the great plea- sure of finding Orobanche Hedere, etc. M. H. Witxin.° Hampstead, London. : GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF PLANTS. An Attempt to Classify the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Britain according to their Geognostic Relations. By J. G. Baxer. I. Fundamental Generalities. 1. In regulating the distribution of species and modifying specific types, the subjacent geological formations, principally by reason of their mechanical properties, exercise an influence which, taken as a whole, is secondary only to that of climate, which it modifies and by which it is modified perpetually. 2. With reference to the facility with which they yield to dis- integration, and to their hygroscopicity and porosity, strata are essentially separable into two principal classes—dysgeogenous and eugeogenous. 3. Dysgeogenous formations are those which are disintegrated with difficulty, and yield only a feeble detritus. Ona grand scale they absorb moisture readily, and furnish stations characterized by their comparative dryness. Rocks of this class mostly contain a large proportion of carbonate of lime in their composition. 4. Eugeogenous formations are those which abrade easily and furnish an abundant superficial detritus, which may be either of a sandy or a clayey nature. They are comparatively imperme- able and consequently hygroscopic upon a grand scale, furnishing damper stations than the rocks of the opposite category, espe- cially when the detritus is clayey. 5. Every species possesses essentially its characteristic special range of lithological adaptability, in the same way that each pos- sesses its characteristic special range of climatic adaptability. Under equal climatic conditions some species are restricted to more or less distinctly marked dysgeogenous situations, and others to more or less distinctly marked eugeogenous situations ; but a greater number can adapt themselves more or less deci- dedly to stations of either class. 1857. | GEOLOGICAL, RELATIONS OF PLANTS. 175 6. In proportion as we advance from an austral to a boreal, and from a continental to an insular climate, the proportion in number which the restricted (i.e. dysgeogenous and eugeogenous) bear to the ubiquitous species lessens, principally through reason of many of the eugeogenous species being able, under more hu- mid conditions of climate, to adapt themselves also to dysgeoge- nous situations. Il. The field of study lithologically viewed. For phytostatic purposes the field of study may be conveni- ently considered as subdivided into six lithological zones, viz. :— 1. Psammo-eugeogenous ; including the endogenous and meta- morphic rocks of the Scotch Highlands, and sedimentary strata that surround them. 2. Mixed ; including the Silurian, Devonian, and accompany- ing strata of the southern part of Scotland and of Wales, and the west of England. 3. Primary dysgeogenous ; including the carboniferous forma- tions of the Penine chain and Permian limestones, enclosing the - coal-pits of Durham and West Yorkshire. 4, Hugeogenous ; including the new red sandstone strata of the centre of England. 5. Secondary dysgeogenous ; including the liassic, oolitic, weal- den, and cretaceous strata of the south-eastern half of England. 6. Subeugeogenous ; including the fen-country and London and Hampshire tertiary basins. These are occasionally interrupted by intervals of less typical or exceptional nature. IT. Summary of Species. Class. No. of Species. Percentage. A. Dysgeogenous . : : 92 7+ AB. Subdysgeogenous : ; 75 6— B. Ubiquitous . : : . 699 53+ CB. Subeugeogenous . : : 89 Wenn C1. Eugeogenous austral . : 65 5— C2. Eugeogenous boreal. : 79 6+ We mee.) cmiaslian alinat OO 7— E. Hibernian or Sarnian . ; 37 B= F. Local or dubious : : 89 i= 1815 176 [ August, FOREST HILL PLANTS. List of Plants found on Forest Hill, 1830 and 1831. The lapse of a quarter of a century has so completely changed the character of this once rural spot (known to Ray, Hudson, and others as the Oak of Honour Woods), that J. F. Y. has thought a list of the plants—many of them indeed common enough—which have been noticed there by him at the above date may not be altogether without interest. Acer campestre. /&thusa Cynapium. Agrimonia Eupatoria. Agrostis Spica-venti. Alisma Plantago. Alopecurus pratensis. Alopecurus geniculatus. Arenaria serpyllifoha. Arundo Calamagrostis. Bunium flexuosum. Calluna vulgaris. Campanula rotundifolia. Circea lutetiana. Conium maculatum. Convolvulus arvensis. Cynosurus cristatus. Conopodium flexuosum. Daucus Carota. Erica cinerea. Erica vulgaris. Epilobium hirsutum. Hpilobium montanum. Epilobium villosum. Festuca pratensis. Fragaria sterilis. Fragaria vesca. Galium Mollugo. Helosciadium nodiflorum, Heracleum Sphondylium. Holcus lanatus. Juncus articulatus. Juncus bufonius. Juncus effusus. Juncus squarrosus. Linum usitatissimum. Lychnis Flos-cuculi. Lycopus europeeus. Lythrum Salicaria. Lysimachia nemorum. Lysimachia Nummularia. Melica uniflora. Milium effusum. (Enanthe Phellandrium. Parietaria officinalis. Poa aquatica. Poa distans. Petroselinum segetum. Phellandrium aquaticum. Potentilla anserina. Potentilla reptans. Primula veris. Prunella vulgaris. Pyrus torminalis. Ranunculus Flammula. Ranunculus repens. Ranunculus sceleratus. Reseda lutea. Reseda Luteola. Sanicula europeea. Sambucus nigra, Silaus pratensis. Sium nodifiorum. Spergula nodosa. Stellaria media. Torilis Anthriscus. Veronica officinalis. Veronica Beccabunga, Viola canina. Achillea Millefolium. Achillea Ptarmica. Anthemis nobilis. Antirrhinum majus. Artemisia vulgaris. Betonica officinalis. Bryonia dioica. Carex czespitosa. Carex riparia. Chrysanth. Leucanthemum. Cnicus acaulis. Digitalis purpurea. Ervum tetraspermum. Euphorbia exigua. Geranium dissectum. Geranium molle. Gnaphalium uliginosum. Hypericum Androsemum. Hypericum hirsutum. Hypericum pulchrum. Hypericum quadrangulum, Lathyrus pratensis. Lathyrus sylvestris. Lotus corniculatus. Lotus major. Malva sylvestris. Matricaria Chamomilla, Medicago lupulina. Melamp7jrum pratense. Mentha sylvestris. Orobus tuberosus. Orobus tuberosus, var, Orchis maculata. Polygala vulgaris. Sagittaria sagittifolia. Senecio Jacobeea. Sisymbrium Nasturtium, 1857. | RARE OR SCARCE MOSSES. 177 Sisymbrium terrestre. Stachys Betonica. Typha angustifolia. Sonchus arvensis. Tamus communis, Vicia Cracca. Sparganium ramosum. Teucrium Scorodonia. Vicia sativa. Stachys sylvatica. Trifolium repens. Vicia sepium. RARE OR SCARCE MOSSES. A few Notes on some New or Rare British Mosses. By W. Mirten, A.L.S. I beg to offer to the consideration of bryologists the following few notes, in the hope that, in some small way, they may tend to the advancement of the study of these beautiful plants, and add to the detection of new, or identification of overlooked, species. Hypnum hians, Hedwig, Sp. Muse. t. 70. f. 11, 12, 18, 14.— A very common Moss about Hurstpierpoint, and probably else- where; rare in fruit, which is produced in winter. This species grows generally amongst grass, and is very luxuriant on reten- tive clayey soils. It is not a little curious that this fine Moss has never yet been enumerated in any European Flora, but has been supposed to be an American species; it exists probably throughout the con- tinent of Europe. Specimens are in my herbarium from diffe- rent localities; and very good ones, with perfect fruit, were in- serted as H. prelongum in Spruce’s beautiful ‘ Musci Pyrenaici.’ Hypnum hians differs from H. Swartzii in its wide, cordate, shining leaves, which are not at all acuminate, and not much altered in drying; it is not to be compared with ZH. prelongum, which is H. Stokesi of ‘ Bryologia Europea,’ and without doubt of Turner as well; for in this the cauline leaves are always much acuminate, and the whole appearance of the leaf is different. Hypnum campestre, Bruch, Bryologia Europea, Brachythe- cium, t. xi—Common in Sussex, in pastures, and, with the pre- ceding, luxuriating im clayey poor lands; fruit not very abun- dant; produced in winter. The great similarity of this species to some states of H. ruta- bulum rust account for its having been so long overlooked ; it may however be always known by its leaves being much nar- rower, and the seta smooth or nearly so. Mnium orthorynchum, Brid., Bryol. Europ. Mnium, t. 5.— N. S. VOL. II. 2A RARE OR SCARCE MOSSES. | August, The discovery of this pretty species is Mr. Nowell’s. Having myself observed the male plants stuck down on the same sheet with British specimens of M. serratum in the herbarium of Sir W. Hooker, but unfortunately without a locality, I had urged Mr. Nowell to search for it, and in a yery short time he was so successful as to find it on shady limestone rocks, Arncliffe, Craven, with perfect fruit. I suppose it to affect montane and subalpine situations. M. orthorynchum is distinguished from M. serratum by its di- oicous inflorescence and much firmer cell-structure ; it is there- fore a more rigid Moss. The present is perfectly distinct from the M. orthorynchum of Wilson, Bryol. Brit., excepting so far that the foreign fertile plant therein delineated may belong to it. Mnium riparium, Mitten.—M. orthorynchum, Wilson, Bryol. Brit., so far as concerns the British specimens, also formerly distributed by me as M. heterophyllum, Hook. Besides the localities already indicated I have no others to offer, excepting that some probably Irish specimens exist amongst the residue of Drummond’s Mosses, without locality. That this moss was distinct from M. orthorynchum LI have al- ways maintained ; for a comparison of the leaves shows the cells to be about three times larger than in that species; in this par- ticular it resembles M. serratum, but in that the inflorescence is synoicous, whilst male plants only of M. riparium are known to erow in Britain. The characters therefore to be ascribed to M. riparium are,—habit and size that of M. serratum, inflores- cence dioicous, cells thrice as large as those of M. orthorynchum. About two years ago I sent this Moss to M. Schimper, with the present name, M. riparium, Mitten, MSS., and he stated in reply, that he had received the same species, in fruit, from Mr. Sullivant, United States, and proposed to name it M. Sullivantiz. Nothing however has since transpired respecting this; it is not noticed in the Corollarium, ‘ Bryologia Europzea,’ nor is there any notice of such a species in Sullivant’s beautiful ‘Musci and Hepaticee of the United States,’ recently published. I have however examined several specimens of WM. serratum, sent by Mr. Sullivant, which have a very great external resemblance to M. riparium, which nevertheless disappears when the plants have been carefully examined. This Moss is to be sought by the sides 1857. | RARE OR SCARCE MOSSES. 179 of rivulets, on roots, stumps, and on the earth itself where occa- sional floods bring down and deposit upon them a fine mud; it appears to shun the light. Dicranum longifolium, Maiden Bower Crag, Dumfries (Mr. Wilson), intermixed with Grimmia patens, out of which I have picked a few stems, without any doubt belonging to this long doubtful British species. : Dicranum (Thysanomitrium) uncinatum, Harvey. LD. circina- tum, Wils. Bryol. Brit. p. 76.—This species will probably be found to be much less rare than supposed; it has been gathered, intermixed with Jungermannia Doniana in Clova, by Dr. ‘J. D. Hooker ; it was also gathered in Switzerland by Sir W. Hooker ; and I have seen it intermixed with a specimen of Jungermannia Doniana sent by Myr. Croall to Mr. A. O. Black. The fructification, not yet observed in Europe, is that of a Campylopus, and might be readily passed ever except by an ex- perienced eye. Hypnum Berthelotianum, Mont. Hist. d. Isles Canaries, t. i. f. 2. Leucodon Lagurus, Bryol. Brit.—I have but little doubt of the above being the name this pretty Moss should bear: ex- actly similar specimens were collected in the Azores and kindly given to me by Mr. H. C. Watson. They were accompanied by some stems with more serrated leaves, corresponding with an au- thentie specimen from Dr. Montagne himself. I do not think it very like Leucodon Lagurus. The occurrence of this Azoric species so far north prompts the query, Why should we not find some other species which are at least as likely to be found here as H. Berthelotianum? Of these one is Hypnum spinosum, Mitten, MSS., a Moss so very closely resembling H. hispidum, Hook. fil. et Wils. Crypt. Antarct. t. 61. f. 2, that for some time I thought them identical. It has stems three or four inches high, dark or obscure, yellowish-green, simple or pinnately branched, its erecto-patent leaves very rigid, gradually attenuated from an ovate base, the nerve percurrent, scarcely altered in drying, giv- ing the plants a peculiar rigid spinous appearance ; it would pro- bably occur on stones or on roots by the sides, or in, rivulets. I hope shortly to be in a position to give a full description of this Moss, having as yet seen only the base of a seta on speci- mens found in Madeira by Mr. Johnson. Trichostomum flavo-virens, Bruch, Bryol. Europ. Trichosto- 180 FAVERSHAM PLANTS. | August, mum, t. 3.—A common Moss, on the sea-shore near Brighton, and probably elsewhere. I have specimens I suppose to have been collected near Dublin by Drummond. This is distinguished from 7. mutabile by its more flaccid greener leaves, composed of longer cells, the lower ones pale and pellucid. Ephemerum tenerum, Hampe, Bryol. Europ. Phascum, t. 1. Haward’s Heath and Pond-leigh, near Hurstpierpoint, Sussex.— Distinguished from E. serratum and E. coherens by its entire leaves, which spread out from the fruit in a patulous manner. No locality has until now been given for this species but the one where it was originally discovered, “prope Neisky Lausativ,” by Breutel. Hurstpierpoint, June 1857. FAVERSHAM PLANTS. Plante rariores Favershamienses ; communicated by the Rev. H. A. Stowe 1. (Continued from page 156.) Triglochin maritimum, frequent, and T. palustre more sparingly, in Ham marshes. Potamogeton densus and crispus. In marsh dykes; the former the more general. Potamogeton natans. In dykes, Graveney marshes. Zannichellia palustris. In the brook near Stone Bridge. Ham marshes. Zostera marina. Margin of the Swale at Harty Ferry. Lemna trisulca. Dykes in Ham and Graveney marshes. Sparganium simplex. am marshes; but sparingly. Typha latifoha and T. angustifolia. Ham and Graveney marshes. Juncus glaucus. In the marshes; plentiful. Juncus maritimus. Margins of the crecks. Juncus lamprocarpus. About Oare Bridge. Between Graveney and Seasalter. Juncus obtusiflorus. Davington Osiers. Juncus cenosus. On and about the sea-walls of the creeks. Juncus bufonius. Path-sides in Bysing and Hemhill woods. Luzula sylvatica. Perry Wood. 1857.] FAVERSHAM PLANTS. 181 Luzula pilosa and Forsteri. Bysing, Syndale, and Cockset woods. Blysmus compressus. Brent’s marshes. Behind Seasalter Coast- guard Station. Scirpus lacustris and glaucus. Wam and Graveney marshes; the latter rarely. Scirpus palustris and multicaulis. Ham marshes; the latter less frequent. Scirpus cespitosus. Swampy ground in Hemhill Wood. Eriophorum angustifolium. Davington Osiers. Carex stellulata. Swampy ground below Perry Wood. Border of the wood near Dully Wood. Carex ovalis. Swampy ground at Waterham, and in Hemhill Wood. Carex intermedia. Davington Osiers. Carex arenaria. About the sea-walls by the creeks, and in Clapgate marshes. Carex muricata. In the marsh dykes; plentiful. Carex curta. Borders of Bysing and Dully woods. On Beacon Hall. Carex divulsa. Borders of Bysing Wood. Roadside near Scur- tington Farm. Carex vulpina. Ditch near the old Parish Poor-house, Lud- denham. Carex teretiuscula. Dykes uear the sea-wall, Ham marshes. Carex paniculata. Davington QOsiers. Ham and Graveney marshes. Carex vulgaris. Davington Osiers. By a stream in Hemhill Wood. Carex acuta. Davington Osiers. Carex distans. Below the sea-wall near Hollyshore, Ham marshes. Carex binervis. Perry Wood. Carex panicea. Swampy ground in Hemhill Wood and below Perry Wood. Carex sylvatica. In all our woods; plentiful. Carex pendula. In a ditch near the road at Waterham ; rarely. Carex glauca. On chalky banks. Edge of Dully and Badging woods. Lees Court Park. In the gravel-pit, Cockset Wood. Woods about Belmont. 182 FAVERSHAM PLANTS. | August, Carex paludosa. Davington Osiers. Carex riparia. In the marsh dykes; plentiful. Spartina stricta. Near Oare Bridge, and at Harty Ferry; but rare. Phalaris arundinacea. By the stream in Hemhill Wood. Phalaris canariensis. Borders of fields near Sheldwick and Throwley ; sparingly. Alopecurus geniculatus and fulvus. In Ham marshes; the latter rarely near Hollyshore. Alopecurus agrestis. Cornfields about Davington and Luddenham. Milium effusum. Bysing, Syndale, Cockset, and Sandbanks woods. Aira caryophyllea. Syndale Wood. Woods about Belmont. Aira flexuosa and cespitosa. Bysing, Syndale, Cockset, Sand- banks, and Perry woods. Aira precoz. Perry Wood. Lees Court Park. Avena fatua. Between Porter’s Lane and Badging Wood. Avena pubescens. Syndale Park. Porter’s Lane. Whitehill. About Selling. Avena flavescens. Frequent in dry pastures and woods, espe- cially about Badging and Belmont. Melica uniflora. In aliiost all our woods. Catabrosa aquatica. Ditches about the rope-walk. Glyceria aquatica. In the Abbey marshes, and at Graveney ; but sparingly. Glyceria fluitans. In the Abbey marshes. Swampy ground about Bysing and Hemhill woods. Glyceria maritima. Beside the creeks. Glyceria distans. Margin of Faversham Creek. Glyceria Borrert. Margin of Faversham Creek; but very spa- ringly. a. Glyceria procumbens. On the sea-wall near Oare Bridge. Glyceria rigida. On old walls at Faversham and Rodmersham > churchyards, and about Davington. Poa nemoralis. Bysing and Sandbanks woods. Festuca Pseudo-Myurus. On Faversham churchyard-wall. Festuca duriuscula. On the sea-walls and in old chalk-pits. Festuca elatior. Badging Wood. Woods about Belmont. Festuca pratensis. Fields between Ospringe church and White- hill. 1857. ] REVIEWS. 183 Bromus asper. In almost all our woods. Bromus sterilis. Roadsides about the town; plentiful. Bromus erectus. Syndale, Cockset, and Badging woods. Woods about Belmont. Brachypodium sylvaticum. In almost every wood about. Brachypodium pinnatum. Whitehill. Badging Wood. Woods about Belmont. Lees Court Park. Hordeum pratense. In the marshes; plentiful. Hordeum murinum. Roadsides about the town. Hordeum maritimum. On the sea-walls. Lepturus filiformis. Upon and below the sea-walls on both sides of Faversham creek. Aspidium aculeatum. Hedge-banks, and borders of woods; fre- quent. Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum. Bank below Ospringe church, on the road to the Oaks. Oare and Rodmersham churches. Asplenium Ruta-muraria. Wall behind Preston Street. Gra- veney churchyard wall. Scolopendrium vulgare. Roadside near Lord’s, and at Hemhill. Blechnum boreale. In Perry Wood. Equisetum sylvaticum. Myr. Giraud’s Wood at Cades. Any additions which I may be able to make to our Flora next year shall be duly reported, with the Editor’s kind permission, in the ‘ Phytologist.’ 3 Wchiews. The Natural History Review: a Quarterly Journal of Zoology, Botany, Geology, and Paleontology. April. Dublin: Hodges, Smith, and Co. London: Willams and Norgate. The first article in this number is a review of ‘Géographie Bo- tanique’ (Geography of Plants or Geographical Botany), by M. Alphonse De Candolle (we usually find the author’s name writ- ten thus, Decandolle). De Candolle, the illustrious father of an equally illustrious son, wrote (or caused to be printed) his name as above: the present author adopts a somewhat different mode. The false views popularly entertained in reference to the re- striction of plants to certain zones or climates, an erroneous view 184 REVIEWS. [ dugust, by no means general among people of any considerable botanical knowledge, or observation and reflection, is well met by the author. Another view, still more extensively spread, is that or- ganic remains of certain plants are a positive indication of the changes which climate has undergone in the lapse of ages. For example: because some tropical or extratropical forms of vegeta- tion have been discovered in England, therefore England must, at some time or other, have had a tropical or extratropical cli- mate. We have met with many who maintained this latter view, but few who maintain the restriction of living forms of plants in general to limited areas. The facts that are constantly appearing of the progressive spreading of species in certain places and the disappearance of other forms in the same and similar places, are evidence that the views above noticed need no very elaborate refutation. This great work, on the distribution of plants (which is not before us, only a review of it, which it would be uncourteous to review), is divided into two parts or sections, which the author distinguishes by the names of Geographic Bo- tany and Botanical Geography. Very like “a distinction with- out a difference.” It is very possible, however, that distinctions may exist where there are no differences; and therefore the learned author no doubt properly distinguishes Geographic Bo- tany and Botanical Geography, although they may appear to some like “ six of the one and half-a-dozen of the other.” “ By the first of these expressions he understands the consideration of species, genera, and families of plants in a geographic point of view ; and by the latter the consideration of different regions of the earth with respect to the vegetation which clothes them.” We wish rather than expect that this will throw any considerable amount of light on the subject. It is however to be borne in mind that we are only giving these statements at second-hand ; we have only a review of the work before us. We give the fol- lowing statement of facts in extenso, N. H. R., p. 48 (1857). “The next chapter discusses what the author calls the form of the habitat of species, namely the differences in the diameters of the area occupied by different species when the line is drawn east and west, or north and south, or in some intermediate directions. Some curious facts are noted on this subject, and obviously this chapter deserves to be more extensively worked out. The author has limited his observations to the species contained in the 1357.) REVIEWS. 185 eighth, ninth, and tenth volumes of the ‘ Prodromus,’ as offering sufficient illustration of his subject, and finds that, of the 8495 species contained in these three volumes, there are only 116 which present any very marked differences (four times at least) between the lengths of the opposite diameters of their areas. The remaining 8372 species appear to occupy more or less circu- lar areas,—a remarkable fact. It must be observed however that this examination refers exclusively to certain orders of the Corol- liflore, whose distribution can hardly be taken as fairly represen- tative of that of phanerogamous plants in general. Of the 116 species selected by M. de Candolle (sic) 68 extend east and west, and 48 in a narrow line north and south. One should hardly have @ priori anticipated so nearly equal a division of the num- ber; it seems so much more natural that a species should extend along the parallels of latitude, or at least in the isothermal lines, than along those of longitude. We are thus taught that other causes than those of annual temperature powerfully influence the natural dispersion of plants. The most potent, probably, are moisture and exposure to certain winds. Of the 48 species enu- merated as having a north and south distribution, only two are natives of Britain, viz. Pinguicula lusitanica, which extends along the Atlantic shores from Portugal to the north of Scotland, but which is not found anywhere far from a western coast, and Ery- threa latifolia, likewise a coast species, found from Norway to Portugal. The distribution of individuals in the areas occupied by the species is next discussed with considerable detail, showing how local causes modify the frequency or non-frequency or the luxu- riant development of each species. The nature of the soil, ex- posure, supply of moisture, and other obvious modifying causes are indicated, and a list is given, after Mohl, of species which are characteristic of primitive rocks, and of those which only occur in calcareous soil. M. De Candolle seems to think also that something like a “rotation of crops” exists naturally among wild plants, and that a species shifts its soil (especially an annual one) from year to year, from causes similar to those that force the farmer to vary his crops when cultivating the same soil. “One cannot doubt,” he says, “that the existence of a species, and especially its prolonged existence, becomes a cause unfavour- able to the life of that same species, or of analogous species, in N.S: VOL. BI. 2B 186 REVIEWS. {| August, the same soil. The well-known fact that when a natural forest is cut down, trees of different species commonly spring up in the room of those destroyed, is adduced in proof of the necessity of rotation ; and the hypothesis of the elder De Candolle, that roots discharge excretory matter, so as to poison the soil for them- selves, is dwelt upon as an established fact.” Some may be inclined to doubt the facts assumed, and to aver that they are other than well-known or established. But the fol- lowing facts are indisputable, viz. that “in the hands of some writers who establish new species ‘on every local race, if it differ by a hair’s breadth from their “typical” form,’ a chapter like the present (on the area or space on the surface of the globe over which a species extends) would only lead to confusion. Fortu- nately for science M. de Candolle is content to call ‘ Ranunculus aquatilis’ by its single name, and consequently finds it to extend over the northern hemisphere, from Lapland to Abyssinia, and from the 68th parallel of north latitude in America to California. Had he chosen the opposite course, he might easily have treated us to a crowd of ‘ representative species,’ each peculiar to its own pond or ditch over the same extent of surface.” On this passage and on this fact we leave our readers to make their own com- ments. We have not room for the fifty regions of the earth, each one supposed to indicate a more or less marked flora. To this sub- ject the attention of our readers will be called in subsequent articles on this interesting subject. The following facts are suf- ficiently remarkable to merit notice at this time and in this place. It is well known that only one plant in 800 is common to both Australia and Europe; it is not however so generally known that upwards of a sixth part of the plants of New Zealand are _ also European species. In Australia in 1814 the plants of New Holland were reckoned at 3700 flowering species, of which 45, just =i, part, were also Europeans. In the smaller island of New Zealand the numbers in 1856 were 730; and 60, nearly one-twelfth, were also European plants. The following facts are still more remarkable. Of the 113 Norfolk Island plants 61 are peculiar to that locality, or are found nowhere else. Tristan da Cunha contains 32 species of flowering plants, of which 26 are peculiar to that small isle. Another series of facts illustrated by this indefatigable observer 1857.] REVIEWS. 187 will upset another of our time-hallowed fictions, viz. that winged seeds are more dispersable or occupy larger tracts than seeds un- provided with these singular appendages. “Among the Compo- site the proportion is as 4°5 to 2°9 per cent. in favour of naked seeds (seeds without down or wings), and hence the Daisy is twice as diffusable as the Dandelion and the Thistle.” There are however other causes which contribute to the distribution of plants over and above the media by which they are conveyable from the places where they grow to remote localities. One of the most important of these is the mechanical condition of the soil as pulverized or not, and another is atmospheric; but there is not room to illustrate these causes here. The rapid dissemination of American plants in Europe and even in England, and the spread of European and other plants in the agrarial and even pastoral districts of Britain, has often been noticed. At the same time but little or at most less atten- tion has been paid to the transmission of our own familiar spe- cies to other lands. “Our author informs us that the Great or Horse Daisy is common in America, and a more troublesome weed than it is here. The Thistles of Europe are so formidable in Australia that the legislature has been mduced to impose pe- nalties on their non-extirpation Ulex europeus, the common Whin, has emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land and St. Helena, where it abundantly increases. We are indebted to America for one at least of our Balsams, Impatiens fulva, for Erigeron cana- densis, Anacharis Alsinastrum, Mimulus luteus, Ginothera bien- nis, etc. etc., and we repay our obligations by the export of our Thistles and other agrarial plants. We have not much confidence in the fact observed, it is said, by one of the moderns, that Wheat is derived from Algilops, and that Rye and Oats are only different or accidental states of the same species. ‘These facts, if facts they be, might easily be veri- fied by thousands of moderns who are all, more or less, cupid rerum novarum, “fond of novelty.” The fact that the widely dispersed species may owe their extended range to their having an earlier date in creation is not so capable of proof. The readers of the ‘ Phytologist,’ such of them as have not seen the elaborate work in question, are indebted to the editors of the ‘Natural History Review’ for this extended notice, which 1s exclusively borrowed from their April number (1857). But as 188 REVIEWS. | August, soon as we conveniently can, we pledge ourselves to give them an extended notice of this valuable work, not derived at second- hand, but drawn fresh from the fountain-head. Index Filicum: a Synopsis, with Characters of the Genera, and an Enumeration of the Species of Ferns, with Synonyms, Re- ferences, etc. By Tuomas Moors, Author of the ‘ Handbook of British Ferns,’ ‘The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland, Nature-printed,’ ete. etc. It will be seen from the above title, that this is not a mere catalogue of Ferns, though even this might be a very useful work, but a careful digest of almost all that is known about this beautiful and popular order of plants. The first part contains © the author’s classification, or the orders, tribes, and sections under which he arranges the extensive materials of his subject. He briefly defines the families and the subordinate groups of genera. The latter are somewhat elaborately described: the identification of the common genera, such as Lomaria, Pteris, and Asplenium, occupies from five to seven lines, containing from twelve to twenty synonyms, under which the genus, at some period or other of its history, was recognized and deseribed. It is not the author’s intention, as we learn from his title, to pub- lish a Species Filicum, or, in plain English, to describe the spe- cies. But it may be presumed that this portion of the work will be as carefully prepared as those parts which treat of the orders and genera. Thus it may be regarded as a condensed view of all that is at present known about Ferns, and a complete index to ull that has ever been written on the subject. Hence it will very materially abridge the labours of all future students of this interesting family. : But it will perhaps be more satisfactory to let the author ex- plain his object and his plan in his own terms. “ Free use has been made of the statements, critical or otherwise, of those bo- tanists who have devoted attention to the subject, the whole being blended with such personal information as the author has been able to bring to bear on the subject. The work is conse- quently to be regarded mainly as a compilation. It has however been the endeavour both of the author and the publisher to ren- der it, as such, not only useful and readily available, but as free 1857.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 189 from error as possible. To this end the greater number of the references given have (has) been actually examined; a few only of those made to less accessible works have been taken on trust.” “In the prefixed Synopsis of the Genera the author has sketched out what appears to him the most intelligible arrange- ~ ment, as well as endeavoured to simplify the definitions of the generic groups. As regards the genera themselves, it has been an endeavour to hold a middle course between the excessive sub- division and the equally inconvenient non-division of the older genera.” From what we have seen of this work it may be inferred that the work will be faithfully completed, and that it will be credi- table to both author and publisher. BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. PLANTS IN CHURCHYARDS. A remarkable custom prevailed in North Wales at the period of Mr. Evans’s visit to that interesting land at the end of the last century, now sixty years ago, viz. of planting the graves of departed relatives and friends with evergreens and flowers. Box, thrift, and other plants fit for edging, are planted round in the shape of the grave for a border, so that the taste of the living may here be known by the manner of embellishing these mansions of the dead. The Snowdrop, Violet, and Primrose, harbingers of Spring, denote the infant dust, that lies below; the Rocket, Rose, and D3? Woodbine show maturer years; while Tansy, Rue, and Starwort mark declining life. Shakespeare alludes to this custom in his ‘ Cymbeline’ :— “ With fairest flowers, lass, T’ll sweeten thy sad grave; thou shalt not lack The flower that’s like thy face, pale primrose, nor The azure harebell, like thy veins. No, nor The leaf of eglantine, which, not to slander, Outsweetened not thy breath.” “Still when the hours of solemn rites return The village train in sad procession mourn ; Pluck every weed that might the spot disgrace, And plant the fairest field-flowers in their place. Around no noxious plant nor flow’ret grows, But the first daffodil and earliest rose, The snowdrop spreads its whitest blossom here, And golden cowslips grace the vernal year: Here the pale primrose takes a fairer hue, And every violet boasts a brighter blue.” Evans's ‘ North Wales, p. 18, note. 190 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [August, Pyrus AUCUPARIA. A drink called in Wales diodgriafel is made from the berries of the Mountain Ash (Roan-tree), abundant in most parts of Wales, by pouring water over them, and setting the infusion by to ferment. When kept for some time this is by no means an unpleasant liquor; but necessity some- times obliges the children of penury to use it before the fermentative pro- cess has commenced. In Scotland a spirituous liquor is obtained by dis- tillation; and Gmelin informs us the same use is made of them by the natives of Kamtschatka. In Wales this tree is held in high veneration by the superstitious. A small part of it is carried about as a defence against enchantment. A branch of the Roan (Rowan) is considered infallible in protecting cattle from witcheraft.—Hvans’s ‘ North Wales, 162. SUPERSTITIOUS Uszs oF PLANTS. (Pyrus Aucuparia.) The Witches’ Bane.—If a branch of Pyrus Aucuparia is kept in the | house, brought in on Good Friday, no witch can do any mischief there ; but it must be annually replaced by a fresh branch before the other is taken out. And if a branch is put into the churn and cheese-vat, it will surely keep the witch from her machinations against the butter and cheese. A branch of Pyrus Aucuparia in the bed during the night will keep the hag-riding elf away,—a troublesome bed-fellow. This hag-riding, which causes so much trouble to the superstitious, is nothing more than (incubus) nightmare. TORMENTILLA REPTANS.—Potentilla Tormentilla, vay. reptans. A correspondent writes, in a letter to the Editor, “that there is an idea that Tormentilla reptans and Potentilla reptans are identical, and that some botanist of note identifies them.” He further says that he is “‘ con- tinually reminded of this idea by the very great resemblance in the aspect and habit of the two plants, and especially in the similarity of their flowers, - which obliges me always to count the petals, in order to know to which species a given plant should be referred.” Another correspondent sends us the following on the same plant. “The tetramerous condition of Potentilla reptans is by no means a con- stant character as far as | have seen. I remember some time ago gather- ing some specimens of what I took to be Potentilla reptans; but I was told by one more deeply versed in British botany than myself that the specimen in question was Tormentilla reptans, with 10 sepals and 5 petals. When I get the chance I will examine the plants more minutely. Is there any difference in the carpels of the two plants ?” RANUNCULUS BULBOSUS, OR R. HIRSUTUS. A correspondent asks the following question :—Has Ranunculus bulbosus always the bulb? The marshes of Plumstead are full of a hairy Ranun- culus, with reflexed sepals and fibrous roots, but without the tubercles on the carpels, always ascribed to A. hirsutus. We shall be obliged to any correspondent for an answer to the above. ee 1857. | BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 191 The question will probably be answered affirmatively. In R. hirsutus the tubercles may be always ascribed, but they may not always be there. WISTARIA (OR GLYCINE) SINENSIS. _ A magnificent specimen of this plant, 180 feet long, and covering about 1800 square feet of wall, has been for some time an object of great in- terest in the garden of the Horticultural Society, where hundreds of per- sons have visited it and admired its piles of lilac-coloured fragrant flowers. The following little calculation will serve to show how wonderful is the evidence afforded by this single specimen of the creative power of Nature. The number of branches was about 9000, and of flowers 675,000. Hach flower consisting of 5 petals, the number of those parts was 3,375,000. Hach flower contained 10 stamens, or the whole mass of flowers 6,750,000. Each ovary contained about 7 ovules, so that preparation was ‘made for the production of 4,050,000 seeds, for the “purpose of fertilizing which the anthers, if perfect, would have contained about 27,000,000,000 pollen- grains. Had all the petals been placed end to end they would have ex- tended to the distance of more than thirty-four miles. MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA (Lnglish Buckbean). A correspondent asks why this beautiful plant is named Buchkbean. Miller, he observes, tells us that it should be Bogdean, but he believes that Buck is correct. Can any of our readers say why it is so called? OxForD PLANTs. The following has come to hand from the ingenious author of the paper on Oxford plants.—Since the paper was written I regret to have to add another to the list of defunct species in the case of Lastrea Oreo- pteris, which has recently been uprooted and the site of its growth ploughed up, and thus another of the Shotover rarieties has disappeared. Should the petition (now in course of signature in Oxford) against the disafforest- ing of Stow Wood not be successful, there is reason to fear that further additions, including Yur7itis glabra and others, will have to be made to the list of extinct species by the next census-taker. DorRKING PULANTs. Have you determined the Borkhausia? or is it a Crepis? I observed the plant Crepis taraxacifolia? growing in profusion last week in the Dorking chalk-quarries. Helleborus fetidus,—I found several fine plants in Sir Lucas Pepys’ wood at Mickleham. In the same locality I observed N. Nidus-avis plentifully. In one locality I counted seven specimens within the circumference of a yard, rather an unusual number to be in such close proximity. J. D. SALMON. [A fresh plant of the Crepis would oblige the Editor. ] AlLISMA PLANTAGO AND Mr. RUSKIN, THE CELEBRATED Art CritTIc. In a review of the Royal Academy Exhibition for this year (1857) 192 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [ August, there is the following, which is extracted for the sake of directing such of our readers as are connoisseurs to a somewhat singular fact. ‘With characteristic eccentricity he (Mr. Ruskin) chose out a work by another painter of the school (pre-Raphaelite) ... for his special laudation, and praised it for the botanical truth with which his favourite plant, the Alisma Plantago or Great Water Plantain, was there delineated, when, in fact, extraordinary as it may seem, there was not one leaf of that plant in the picture, though there was another water-flower which Mr. Ruskin seems to have mistaken for the Water Plantain. The picture to which we allude was that of a nun, in white garments, standing by a pool and contemplating a flower, by C. Collins.” The reviewer adds: ‘We have never seen the picture since it was exhibited, and know not where it is now ; but we are well assured that our assertion will be confirmed by any bota- nist who has the opportunity of inspecting it.” We wish some botanist may have an opportunity of inspecting the said picture; and further, that he or she will be so obliging as to tell us what the plant is which the eminent author above mentioned mistook for the Great Water Plantain. VERONICA BECCABUNGA. V. Beccabunga, a corruption of the German Bachbohne or Bachbunge, Waterbean. Please what is the meaning of synoicous, ‘ Phytologist,’ p. 142 (inflo- rescence synoicous)—ovy and otkos ? What is the term Brooklime derived from ? Non-Cipipus. We are obliged to a correspondent for examples of several states of Cen- taurea nigra. Webeg further to state that it is examples of C. Jacea that we want. Diagnostics of the two reputed species C. migra and C. Jacea would be also esteemed a favour. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Our kind distant friend is thanked who sent us two numbers of the ‘Wellington (New Zealand) Independent’ newspaper. Mr. John Lloyd has also our best thanks for several interestmg and rare plants collected in Somersetshire. Communications have been received from J. G. Baker; J. S. Mill; Censor; A. I.; Isaac Carroll; A. M.; Rev. T. F. Ravenshaw; Miss Hutton; Rev. W. T. Bree; Wm. Borrer, F.R.S. ; Rev. W. H. Lucas; Rev. R. H. Webb; C. Barter (Sierra Leone); Ed- ward Edwards; 8. B.; Wm. Sacheriandl: Henry Groves; R. Bentley, - F.L.S.; David aWoore. i 1S. a. Po Wallean Mar shall; John Barton. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Irvine’s British Plants; Part the First. De Candolle’s Organography ; translated by Kingdon, 2 vols., Second (re- duced price) Edition. age. [ September, 1857.] 193 GLADIOLUS COMMUNIS. To the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist.’ Allesley Rectory, July 4, 1857. Sir,—Allow me to ask whether botanists are aware that Gla- — diolus communis has any pretensions to be considered a native, or, to say the least, a naturalized species in Britain? I have lately been informed, on authority which I cannot doubt, that the Cornflag occurs plentifully in several spots in the New Forest, in the neighbourhood of Lyndhurst, and that it is apparently wild there,—I mean sufficiently remote from any dwelling to obviate the suspicion of its being a mere stray from the garden, I hope ere long to hear more on the subject. If the Gladiolus be really a native, or if it has for any length of time been natu- ralized in the above locality, it certainly is strange that so hand- some and conspicuous a plant should not have attracted the no- tice of botanists before. W. T. BREE. To the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist.’ Henfield, July 9, 1857. Sir,—I think you will like to make public the occurrence of a Gladiolus (G. imbricatus, Linn., I believe), as a British plant. It was observed last year in the New Forest, Hants, by the Rev. W. H. Lucas, under whose guidance I had the pleasure of seeing it in its native places in the middle of the last month, but about a week too early for the flowers. I will copy for you Mr. Lucas’s account of the stations, and will only add that the plant has all the appearance of being truly wild, and that I expect it will be found in other parts of the Forest, if looked for among the Brakes, which overtop it when in flower. Your obedient servant, W. Borger. “The Gladiolus grows in considerable numbers on both sides of the road from Bolderwood to Lyndhurst, about a mile from ‘the latter place; also along a green path extending south-east from the turnpike on the road from Lyndhurst to Christchurch (two miles from the former), towards a new enclosure near Rhine- N.S. VOL. II. 2C 194. THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED. [ September, field. Along this path it is met with at intervals of a quarter of amile. It grows in dry situations among the Brakes. “These two stations are upwards of two miles apart, and both of them are a mile from any house. “W. H. Lucas.” THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED. Anacharis Alsinastrum. To the Editor of the ‘ Phytologist.’ Sir,—In your last volume (i. N.s. p. 361) a correspondent throws some doubt on my suggestions as to the apprehended mischief to arise from this plant to navigation and drainage, and he says, “he cannot see how it can obstruct the drainage of the Fens, because it will not lie close enough together for even capillary attraction to act so as to keep as great a bulk of water as itself together.” If your correspondent lived in a fen country, as I do, he would soon know how weeds may and do impede the drainage of rivers where, for many miles together, the fall is pro- bably not more than four inches to a mile; and when the ques- tion is of navigation in such sluggish waters, he would soon see that the Anacharis would increase in them almost as rapidly as in a lake or pond. When I wrote some account of the Anacharis in 1852,* it was then but newly introduced into the Isle of Ely, and the question then was, “ How is it to be got rid of?” I ventured then to answer that question with an emphatic “not at all,” and subse- quent experience has fully confirmed that prediction. Doubtless it has gained a permanent footing with us, and can never be era- dicated. Smothering our native water-plants, it takes exclusive possession of ditches ayd drains, fillimg them completely with a black-green mass, which gives quite a novel character to the ditches in the Fens. I moreover ventured at that time to say that all we could do would be to keep it down by raking it out upon the shore; and I warned commissioners of drainage against letting fresh water from the rivers into their districts, for if they * ‘The New Water-weed (Anacharis Alsinastrum) ; some account of it. By William Marshall, Esq., of Ely, Cambridgeshire. London: William Pamplin, 45, Frith Street, Soho Square. 1857. ] THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED. 195 did so, “‘the weed would inevitably enter with the water, and blockade the ditches” (p. 16). Well, just what I predicted has happened. The water has been let in, and the ditches are block- aded; the consequence is, that a considerable sum of money has now to be annually expended in clearing them. That it is a nuisance elsewhere than in the Fens is evident from a letter I received from a gentleman at Trentham, in Staffordshire, so lately as the 6th inst., asking my opinion of the best mode of getting rid of it in the lake there. He says:—‘‘ The American weed (Anacharis Alsinastrum) is causing a great amount of anxiety here on account of its amazing growth, and the tenacity with which it clings to those spots where it once takes possession. There is a beautiful sheet of water, of about eighty acres, through which the river Trent passed previous to the year 1853, when its channel was diverted, but there are still places where the connec- tion is maintained, although but slightly so. About three years ago the Anacharis first made its appearance in the river, a short distance above the lake; it had previously taken possession of the Trent and Mersey Canal, with which there are means of com- munication, and a month afterwards it was visible in the lake. Both last year and the previous one it had increased so rapidly as to require removal -by manual labour: but the more it was disturbed the faster it grew. ‘This year it covers the entire sur- face, and in so dense and wonderful a manner that no amount of labour seems capable of removing it, or even keeping it under. It actually grows faster than it can be cleared off, the mode of which is, first by cutting, and then drawing it together by means of long rafts, collecting it on the shore, and either carting it away or placing it in heaps for decomposition. The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland are much concerned on the subject. I told Mr. Heming, the gardener here, that I would write to you, and I doubt not you will favour me with any information your greater experience suggests. Do you know whether the weed still causes the annoyance to traffic on the canals and places it did at the time you wrote, or whether there are any chances of its exhaust- ing itself by natural means? If there was any probability of the latter being the case, the matter would become simply one of time ; if not, the expense of keeping so large a surface as the lake clear, even in an ordinary way, would be a serious consideration, because ti would be an annual one. If you know of any plan by 196 THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED. [ September, which it might be subdued or eradicated in sheets of ornamental water, I shall be sincerely glad if you will favour me with the suggestion, or if you can refer me to any one likely to assist me I shall be equally thankful.” I see no symptoms in this part of the country of the Anacharis exhausting itself. Wherever there is water, there will it be. Cut it, and clear it out, and in a few weeks it will be seen dot- ting the bottom with new individuals, each separately rooted. Cold weather checks its growth, while hot encourages it to an extraordinary degree. Drought kills it immediately, and so I believe does frost, and these two facts suggest the laying dry the bottom of ornamental waters, either in summer or in the depth of winter, in order that drought and frost may act upon it. The drought however must be complete, otherwise vitality is retamed in the little eyes or “gems” which nestle in the axils of some of the leaves, and these germinate like the axillary buds of some Lilies. I may remark, now I am upon the subject, that it flowers in our still waters in the greatest profusion, covering the surface with its tiny blush-coloured flowers and silky threads, but I have never found any but females. From the peculiar character of the female flower (by which I mean the fact that although there are no perfect stamens present, yet the filaments are always there, wanting only anthers to surmount them to make the flowers per- fectly hermaphrodite), I had expected ere this to hear of the plant having perfected seed, owing to some few of the myriad millions of flowers which have been developed by it in this coun- try having become hermaphrodite by sporting; but, although I have carefully examined thousands of flowers in this locality, I have never yet found one of the filaments bearmg an anther on its summit. The seed-vessel is there, and there are seeds lying within it; the botanist therefore need not be told how slight a further development of the female flower would render it a per- fect one, and enable the now unhappy denizen to enjoy that con- nubial happiness which has been wanting to it ever since it made its first entrance into this unsocial region. _ Cases are recorded of the female flowers of some dicecious plants (e.g. Hemp, Hops, etc.) producing perfect seeds in the absence of the male. Perhaps then, either by the mode already suggested, or independently of it, perfect seeds may occur, which, 1857.] HERTS FLORA. 197 generating in this country, will at length give us both male and female plants ; after which we shall be able to solve the problem whether, when its natural and normal state is thus restored, its present apparently abnormal vigour of increase may not abate, and we may not see it take its place among our uliginous aqua- tics, dividing with them the empire of the waters, instead of, as now, challenging and all but achieving the exclusive dominion. I would therefore suggest to my brother botanists throughout England to have an eye to the Anacharis during its period of flowering, in order to see whether a sport of the kind indicated may not be found in some of its very numerous habitats. Yours obediently, W. MarsdHaAt.u. Ely, July 14, 1857. HERTS FLORA. Additions to the ‘Additional Supplement to the Flora Hertfordi- ensis’ (Vide ‘ Phytologist,’ n.s. vol. ii. p. 156, etc.) By Epwarp Epwarps. P. 8. Helleborus viridis. Dowdell’s Wood, Ayott St. Peter. p. 9. Aguilegia vulgaris. Ayott St. Lawrence. p- 14. Papaver Argemone and dubium. Hill-end Farm, near No-man’s Land, Sandridge. p- 15. Papaver somniferum. About the environs of St. Al- ban’s. p. 16. Corydalis lutea. Old wall, Codicote. p- 20. Barbarea precox. Occasionally about Marford, Wheat- hamstead. p. 22. Cardamine sylvatica. Under hedges by the field-path from Marford Bridge to Water-end Farm, plentiful. Berry green. Wheathamstead. p. 27. Erysimum chetranthoides. About the environs of St. Alban’s. pao. Camelina sativa. Borders of fields on Hill-end Farm, Sandridge, plentiful, 1856. p- 29. Lepidium campestre. Sandridgebury Farm. p- 36. Parnassia palustris. Marshy meadow near Marford Bridge, abundant, 1856. p. 38. Dianthus Armeria. Among the Broom between Mar- 198 HERTS FLORA. | September, ford Bridge and Water-end Farm. North bank of the Lea, plentiful. p- 40. Silene inflata, var. with stems and leaves very rough. Pasture outside the great entrance to Brockett Park. Footway to Lemsford Mills. p. 43. Spergula arvensis. Cromer Hyde, near Brockett Park. p. 47. Cerastium aquaticum. Near Marford Bridge.* p. 50. Hypericum calycinum. Naturalized near the ruined villa, Marford Bridge. . 55. Geranium columbinum. Ayott St. Lawrence, frequent. 67. Trifolium medium. Sandridge. 71. Ornithopus perpusillus. No-man’s Land. 73. Vicia angustifolia. Sheep-pen Lane, Marford Bridge. . Ervum tetraspermum. Ayott. Wheathamstead. 76. Orobus tuberosus. Dowdell’s Wood. 86. Fragaria elatior. Yn several woods about the Ayotts. 91. Alchemilla vulgaris. Frequent about Wheathamstead. . 96. Epilobium angustifolium. Dowdell’s Wood, rare. . 110. Ribes Grossularia. Bridehall Farm, Sandridge. . 110. Ribes rubrum. In a dell-hole between Water-end Farm and Dowdell’s Wood. p. 110. Ribes nigrum. Banks of the Lea. Marford. p. 112. Saxifraga granulata. Marford, plentiful. p. 114. Petroselinum sativum. Gurstead Wood Common. p. 117. Agopodium Podagraria. A weed about Marford. Brockett Park. p. 126. Torilis nodosa. Wheathamstead. p. 180. Adoxa Moschatellina. Plentiful near the Flint Bridge, Brockett Park. Gray’s Wood, near Marford. p. 182. (Additional species.) Lonicera perfolatum. Norfolk’s Woods, near Ayott St. Lawrence, rare. p. 183. Sambucus Ebulus, with pale fruit. Hedge near Sand- ridge. p. 186. Viscum album. On Thorns, Lamer Park. p. 188. Galium cruciatum. Between the rectory- gate, Ayott Sees Se eS ee ~D oe * T once found in Dowdell’s Wood a very curious form of Cerastiwm glomeratum. Instead of the usual pair of opposite bracts at the base of the head of flowers, there was a whorl of six or eight bracts spreading round the heads of flowers, almost like an inyoluere, the flowers being apetalous and abortive, so that altogether it looked very unlike the customary plant. 1857. ] HERTS FLORA. 199 St. Lawrence, and the lodge-gate of Lamer Park, and in one or two adjoining fields, plentiful. p. 1389. (Additional species.) Galiwm anglicum. Old wall of Brockett Park, above Lemsford Mills. p. 189. Galium tricorne. Fields near Ayott St. Lawrence. p. 142. Dipsacus pilosus. Footway behind the Flint Bridge, Brockett Park. p. 146. Centaurea [nigra?], var. radiata. Hill-end Farm, Sandridge. Mackery-end Fields, Wheathamstead. Bride Hall, near Ayott.—My own idea of this is, that it is a hybrid between C. scabiosa and C. nigra, and I never saw it but in companion- ship with those species. Plants from the above three stations agree pretty well with specimens I possess, labelled ‘“ Centaurea nigrescens, Malvern, Mr. Roby” (vide ‘ Phytologist,’ 0.s., vol. ii. p. 924). p- 149. Crecus acaulis. Plentiful on No-man’s Land, common. p. 154. Tragopogon porrifolus. Haull-end, Sandridge, rare. p. 160. Hieracium sylvaticum, with H. boreale. Dowdell’s Wood. p. 168. Anthemis arvensis. Hull-end Farm, Sandridge, plen- tiful, 1856. p- 170. (Additional species.) Achillea serrata. A few plants of this about Ayott Green and neighbourhood, flowering freely, 1856. p. 170. Artemisia Absinithium. Between Water-end and Brockett Park. p. 176. Campanula glomerata. Abundant and very fine in the churchyard, Ayott St. Peter. p. 185. Vinca minor. Wheathamstead Hill. p. 186. Menyanthes trifoliata. Near. Marford Bridge, flower- ing plentifully, 1857. p- 187. Gentiana ? The Messrs. Thrale, of No-man’s Land, lately informed me that they found a Gentian with very large blue flowers growing on Bower Heath some years ago: could this have been G. Pnewmonanthe ? They did not preserve their specimens, nor have I yet been able to go in search of it. p. 187. Gentiana Amarella. Chalk-pit between Abbot’s Hay Farm and Codicote Bottom. p. 187. Gentiana campestris. This flowered in the No-man’s Land station in 1856. 200 HERTS FLORA. [ September, p- 191. Polemonium ceruleum. Several plants in the lane from Water-end Farm to Ayott Green, 1856. p- 193. Cuscuta Trifoli. Sandridgebury Farm, on Clover, in frightful profusion, 1856. p- 197. Pulmonaria officinalis. Gurstead Wood Common, scarce. p- 201. Atropa Belladonna. In the great Warren-dell, Bride Hall Farm, near Ayott, plentiful, 1857. p. 203. Verbascum Lychnitis. About Marford, rare. p- 205. Orobanche major. On Broom, between Marford and Water-end, both sides of the river, plentiful, 1856. p- 206. Orobanche minor. Roadside, Brockett Park, near Cromer Hyde, scarce, 1856. p- 206. Digitalis purpurea, var. alba. About Marford. Prior’s » Wood, Ayott. p- 208. Antirrhinum Orontium. Hill-end, Sandridge. p. 209. Linaria Cymbalaria. Wheathamstead. p-. 213. Rhinanthus Crista-galli. Pastures near Marford. Wheathamstead. p. 217. Veronica polita, var. grandiflora. Fields on Sandridge Moat Farm, plentiful, 1857. p. 219. Mentha sylvestris. Leasey Bridge, Wheathamstead. p. 219. Mentha rotundifolia. Near the waste, Hatfield Wood- side. p- 223. Calamintha Nepeta? Fine and plentiful under the old walls of Brockett Park, between Lemsford Mills and Digs- well Hill. p. 224. (Additional species.) Melissa officinalis. Naturalized near Upper Beech Hyde Farm, Sandridge, 1856. p. 234. Primula vulgaris, 8, caulescens (Bab.). Dell near Water-end Farm (with Rides rubrum). Sheep-pen Lane, Mar- ford Bridge. Bride Hall fields, near Ayott. p. 237. Anagallis arvensis, var. with flowers green, edged or tinged with purple. Upper Beech Hyde fields, Sandridge. p. 246. Polygonum dumetorum. Ayott St. Peter. p. 246. Polygonum amphibium. Marford Bridge. p- 250. Daphne Laureola. Wheathamstead. p. 258. Euphorbia platyphylla. Fields over which the footpath passes from the London road, Hatfield, towards Welham Green, plentiful, 1856. (Identical with the Offley-holes plant.) 1857. | HERTS FLORA. 201 p. 254. Huphorbia Peplus. Common about Wheathamstead. p. 255. Mercurialis perennis. This plant is called “ Adder’s meat” by the Herts peasantry. p. 260. Salix Hoffmanniana. Lea, between Marford and Brockett. p- 270. Juniperus communis. Chalk-dell south of Lamer Park. p- 280. Sparganium simplex. Ditches in the water-meadows near Marford Bridge. p- 284. Anacharis Alsinastrum. In the Ver, behind the Ab- bey Church, St. Alban’s, towards St. Michael’s, flowering (female flowers only), 1855. p- 285. Orchis Morio. Lamer Park, very fine, 1856. Pas- tures near the Lea, Water-end Farm, 1857, scarce. On the open waste near Oak Farm, south-east of Sandridge, plentiful, 1857. p- 285. Orchis [mascula]. Some very large plants, with se- pals and petals very acute, and the leaves unspotted, possibly the O. speciosa of Host. (vide Bab. Man. ed. 4. p. 316), occurred in the Moat or Slad near Upper Beech Hyde Farm, Sandridge, in 1856. O.mascula is by far the most common of the tribe in the Wheathamstead district. p- 287. Orchis latifolia and angustifolia. Stanborough, 1856, Near Marford Bridge. p. 287. Gymnadenia conopsea. Lamer Park, 1856. Marsh near Marford Bridge, 1855. p- 290. Habenaria chlorantha. Great Warren Dell, near Nor- folk’s Woods, 1857. p- 291. Ophrys apifera. Lamer Park (Mr. Dorrington). p. 293. Neottia Nidus-avis. Lamer Park, 1856. p- 294. Epipactis latifolia. Sandridgebury Wood. Mackery- end Wood. Near the western entrance to Dowdell’s Wood. p. 299. Narcissus [Pseudo-Narcissus]. The double-flowered variety occurs in profusion in some fields in Sandridge parish. p. 300. Narcissus biflorus. Upper Beech Hyde. p- 800. Galanthus nivalis. Single-flowered and wild, but uot indigenous about Marford. North bank of the Lea, towards Water-end Farm. p. 302. Convallaria multiflora. Naturalized about Marford. p. 303. Hyacinthus, var. alba. Ayott Woods. Brockett Park. p. 304. Ornithogalum umbellatum. Near Wheathamstead. p. 304. (Additional species.) Ornithogalum nutans. Among the N. 8. VOL. II. 2D 202 HERTS FLORA. [ September, grass in Stagenhoe Park. St. Paul’s, Walden, with O. umbel- latum (Mr. M. Balls). p- 805. Allium vineale. Hillcott’s field, near Marford Bridge. p. 812. Scirpus lacustris. Near Marford Bridge, and flower- ing in 1856. p- 814. Carex stellulata. Stanborough marshes. p- 827. Agrostis Spica-venti. Cornfield on Bride Hall Farm, sparingly, 1856. p- 383. Poa rigida. Warren Dell, near Norfolk’s Woods. p. 334. Catabrosa aquatica. Marford and Water-end, very fine and abundant. p. 385. Cynosurus cristatus, var. vivipara. This curious form occurred on No-man’s Land, Wheathamstead, in the autumn of 1856. None of our handbooks that I have looked into notice such a variety. My plant closely resembles a specimen I have, found in Norfolk, date 1806, by the late Mr. Mosely, of Shraw- ley, Worcestershire. p. 338. Bromus commutatus. Sandridge. p-. 340. Lolium multiflorum. Digswell. Ayott. Wheatham- stead, ete. p- 341. Triticum repens, glaucous var. In hedges near the Rectory, Ayott St. Lawrence. p. 846. EHquisetum limosum. Wheathamstead. p. 847. Ophioglossum vulgatum. Pasture at Marford. p. 348. Asplenium Trichomanes. On Wheathamstead church (Mrs. Snell). At the corner of the lane leading from Ayott St. Peter to Welwyn. p. 349. Asplenium Adiantum -nigrum. Devil’s- dyke, near Wheathamstead. Roadside at Stanborough. p. 350. Athyrium Filix-feemina. Dowdell’s Wood. p. 351. Ceterach officinarum. On the dilapidated garden- walls. St. Paul’s, Waldenbury, abundant and certainly sponta- neous.—Scolopendrium occurs with the Ceterach, but sparingly. p- 353. Aspidium Filix-mas, var. affinis of Newman (British Ferns, ed. 3).—Plants approaching this occur in the lane between Ayott St. Peter and Water-end Farm. p- 353. Aspidium dilatatum. On hassocks of Carex panicu- lata. Stanborough Marsh. p. 354. Aspidium spinulosum. Dowdell’s Wood, 1857.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 203 BOTANICAL SKETCHES. Mr. Editor,—I herewith send the first of a series of Botanical Sketches, which I will continue if they are liked by your readers. I am, etc.,—I. A. YARMOUTH, ISLE OF WIGHT. Yarmouth is situated on the eastern side of the Yar, and is built at the extremity of a narrow peninsula or tongue of land, which is bounded by the Solent on the north, the Yar on the west, and a small brook on the south. The formation of all the northern shore and side of the island from Yarmouth, easterly, is the ter- tiary. To the west of the Yar, about and beyond Sconce Point, towards the Needles, there is a repetition of the famous Under- cliff, only in miniature. The sea soaks the foundation, and the shelving declivitous soil slides down, leaving the ground much broken. ‘Terraces, though only of small dimensions, are formed through the subsidence of the bluish marl on which the upper stratum rests. At Sconce Point a fortress and barracks for the garrison are now erecting, and it is proposed to build another fort about a mile further west; these two batteries, with the op- posite one of Hurst Castle, will completely protect the entrance to the Solent, which here is not above a mile or two in width. The botany of Yarmouth and its neighbourhood is more than usually interesting. The following are a few vegetable rarities. Spartina stricta grows on both sides of the Yar, wherever there is mud; it is the only grass of that dismal swamp, and it grows luxuriantly, much larger than in North Kent. On the sand- bank between the sea and the west side of the ferry, there grow Eryngium maritimum (Sea Holly), common Fennel (Faeniculum officinale), Psamma arenaria (Marram, or Sea Reed), a valuable erass for binding the sand, Asparagus officinalis, Cakile maritima (Sea Rocket), Althea officinalis (Marsh Mallow), and Convolvulus Soldanella (Sea Bindweed); and on the Downs about Sconce Point, Ginanthe Lachenalii, Hyoscyamus officinalis (Henbane), Erythrea pulchella, and a pretty variety of Gentiana Amarella, ; « with four segments to the calyx and four lobes to the corolla. The typical form, with five segments in the calyx and corolla, appears to be very rare, if not entirely absent, in this locality. 204 BOTANICAL SKETCHES. | September, Dozens of specimens were examined, collected on all parts of the Downs between the beacon and the lighthouse, and from thence to Sconce Point, and all had these organs four-parted. Spiranthes autumnalis is very rare on the Downs, and is probably so because eaten by the sheep. Tamarix gallica grows by the mill not far from Yarmouth, but it has the appearance of having been planted there, or of having sprung from a cultivated plant. Campanula glomerata on the Downs is scarcely an inch high, and abounds. The vegetation of the Downs is dwarfish, exceedingly minute, but very nutritious, and the mutton of this part of the island is deservedly celebrated. This part of the island is exposed to every wind that blows, and even in summer the wind here is both brisk and keen; hence the plants are very much stunted in their growth. Borago officinalis is found by a roadside close - to the town of Yarmouth, and Iris fetidissima im lanes both on the west and east of the Yar. These two rare plants are characteristic of the botany of Yarmouth. The Madder (Rubia peregrina) abounds on the western side of the river Yar, and the Gladwin Iris on the eastern. The late Dr. Bromfield met with a few specimens of this Iris in which the flowers were of a uniform lemon-yellow colour, verging upon white in the segments of the perianth, without any purple co- louring except a few faint veins of a somewhat deeper colour than the ground-colour. ‘This variety was discovered in a wood near Yarmouth. The Madder (Rubia peregrina) is also a very scarce plant in the south-eastern counties of England. The Isle of Wight, Dr. Bromfield remarks, is its eastern limit; it is found in abundance nowhere in the south of England beyond this. It. is plentiful in the west of England about Bristol; it grows most abundantly in woods and hedges on the west of the Yar, by the way from Yarmouth to Freshwater. Chlora perfoliata grows sparingly on the shelving steep bank which skirts Totland Bay, and Crambe maritima at its base. To a stout pedestrian the walk over the Downs from Freshwater Gate, by the beacon, on- wards to the lighthouse at the extremity of the Needles, is pecu- harly exhilarating and healthful. The Downs are covered with the closest and shortest vegeta- tion; being partly saline it is cropped to the very earth by the sheep which graze here. Excepting Furze, which grows on the inland side of the Downs, there is no species of plant that 1857.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 205 reaches an inch in height. The wild Carrot, which is a tall plant in most situations, flowers here close to the turf, and its little root is six times as long as its stem and umbel of flowers. Also the walk along the cliffs from the Warren which occupies the declivities on one side of Alum Bay, to the town of Yar- mouth, is very beautiful. The view embraces all the western half of the island, Portsdown Hill, Lymington, Christchurch, and all the New Forest: the spire of Salisbury is rarely seen. To view the rocks or cliffs a boat is necessary. Distant views only are obtainable from land, and the approach to the very edge of these cliffs, almost overhanging the surgy ocean, is perilous even to those who possess strong nerves, for the wind is almost always high, and the turf, though apparently firm, may have been undermined by the action of the weather on the gravelly chalk. The sections of the variously-coloured sands of Alum Bay are very striking, and with a few adjuncts, such as a vessel or boat, which artists can introduce with effect, a view of the sands of Alum Bay from the Downs on which the lighthouse is built, would make a very beautiful picture. The various headlands along the cliff from Alum Bay to Yarmouth are furnished each with a flagstaff, and a cottage is always contiguous; these add much to the interest of the walk along the path, which is mostly ou the outskirts of the Downs which bound all the western por- tion of this coast. From Yarmouth eastward, the coast is low and shelving, and possesses little to attract the tourist. The ob- jects of interest and beauty are to be sought for on the south and west, and the tourist, especially if a good pedestrian, will not have to search for them in vain. The botanizing on the eastern side of Yarmouth is not so in- teresting as that on the western or Sconce Point side, yet there are a few interesting plants between Yarmouth and New Town. The pastures (it was late in the season when I botanized there) afford Spiranthes autumnalis. There a curious fact was noticed in connection with this plant: on the cow-pastures it was found, not very abundant, it is true; on the sheep-pasture adjoining, and as likely to produce the plant, not a single plant was to be seen. Do the sheep of the Isle of Wight like this as a piquant relish to their food? On Riddle Downs, in Surrey, near Croy- don, this plant is plentiful, and all these Downs are pastured 206 WEST HIGHLAND PLANTS. [ September, with sheep. Do the Surrey sheep reject this plant, or is there abundance of herbage there which they like better? In the island the pastures are very bare, and perchance necessity com- pels the sheep to eat it there. The botany of Yarmouth itself—that is, of the town and gar- dens therein—is more striking to one accustomed to the common aspect of vegetation in towns and villages in the interior. The Hydrangeas, the Fuchsias, the Geraniums, and several other plants which are difficult to keep during the winter in mland situations, are here seen in the utmost possible luxuriance and beauty, and preserved for years without any trouble whatever, except merely setting them in the ground in sheltered parts. The lemon-scented plant, Aloysia citriodora, especially attracted notice. Coronilla varia, Linaria purpurea, and several exotics, | had established themselves as weeds in the rich, friable, ight mould of the gardens of the townsfolk,—a proof of the mildness of the winters as well as of the moistness of the climate. WEST HIGHLAND PLANTS. A List of some Plants found in the West Highlands, chiefly in the vicinity of Loca Morpart, Inverness-shire, 1856. By the Rev. T. F. RavensHaw, M.A. ? Thahctrum minus: Sminisary. T. alpinum: Roshven. Trol- lus europeus: Scuir Dghonaldgh. . Nymphea alba: Aharri- chal; Killchoan. Corydalis claviculata: Sminisary. Cochlearia officinalis: Moidart; Canna; Hig. C.anglica: Arasaig. Cakile _ maritima: Hig. Cardamine hirsuta: Moidart. Arabis hirsuta: - Killechoan. Viola tricolor: Corran Ferry; Moidart. Drosera rotundifolia: Moidart. D. longifolia: hills near Moidart. Par- nassia palusiris: Moidart. Silene maritima: Strontian; Hig; Canna. S. acaulis: Roshven. S. inflata: Borodale. Spergula nodosa: Sminisary. Stellaria uliginosa: Moidart. Arenaria pe- ploides: Moidart. Spergularia marina: Moidart. Hypericum Androsemum, H. pulchrum, H. humifusum, H. perforatum : Moi- dart. H. quadrangulum: Hig. Geranium molle, G. columbinum, G. Robertianum: Moidart. G. dissectum: Canna. G. sylvati- cum: Salen. G.sanguineum: Borodale. Hrodium cicutarium : Sminisary. —See ‘ Phytologist,’ vol. ii. p. 114, where Professor Buckland is erroneously entered for Professor Buckman. Communications have been received from J. Van Voorst: John F. Fowler; Professor Bentley; J. Barton; Geo. B. Wollaston; Z.; H. Stock: Rev. W. T. Bree, F.L.S.; W. P.; C. C. Babington, F.R.S.; B.; Huddersfield; A. G. More, F.L.8.; Sydney Beisly; W. F. Buist; Joseph Woods, F.L.S.; Censor. BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Natural History Review for January, 1858. The Atlantis, or Register of Literature and Science, for January, 1858. Sowerby’s Grasses; Parts 4 and 5. ERRATA. Page 281, line 16, for “ Mona-ma”’ read “ Mona-rua.” Page 344, line 9, for “trigonum” read “ trigynum.” Page 344, line 2 from bottom, for “ Loch Flagan” read “ Loch Etagan.” [ April, 1858. ] 385 ON THE BOTANY OF THE CLENT HILLS. It may be that the very name of Clent is as utterly un- known to the majority of the readers of this periodical as it . was to ourselves only a few months ago. Yet within sight of these hills, and even within a moderate distance of their sum- mits, there are places famed in the political and literary history of our nation. There are connected with this district, associa- tions and events which have a fame as wide as the world; or at least, their reputation is as extensive as the language and litera- ture of England. But our intention is not to write on such grand subjects as these; we are content with a humbler theme. The praise of statesmen and orators, of historians and poets, who have contributed to the renown of their country and of this their natal soil, or who have honoured it by their notice, is neither to be said nor sung by us. We have something to say, in an easy way, about the vegetation, the soil (geological formation), pic- turesque interest, antiquities, and present state of this remote and original corner of old England. The Clent Hills are an ‘isolated group on the left of the high-road between Stourbridge and Bromsgrove, in Worcester- shire. They are nearly equidistant from Birmingham, Dudley, Kidderminster, Droitwich, and Bromsgrove. From London they may be reached by the London and North-western or by the Great Western Railway, either wd Birmingham, Dudley, and Stourbridge, or by Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton, leaving the rail either at Churchill or at Stourbridge station. From the latter station the ride or drive along the base of the south-western side of the Clent Hills is very attractive. They rise rather abruptly mm some places, and their sides and summits are beautifully fringed or crowned with handsome trees. Clent church is four miles from Stourbridge, through Old Swineford, Pedmore, Hagley, and Holycross. From Churchill station the distance is about three miles and a half, over a flat tract, which is terminated by the hills of Clent. To such tourists as are _ gifted with a pair of sturdy legs, and are not encumbered with much luggage, we would recommend walking from Dudley through Hales Owen. This would afford an opportunity of seeing the country to a great distance, for Dudley is situated on a con- N. 8S. VOL. II. 3D 386 ON THE BOTANY OF [ April, siderable elevation, and in clear weather commands an extensive view. Birmingham is said to be the highest or most elevated town in England. Dudley is scarcely, if at all, inferior. The distance from this town to Hales Owen is about five miles, and the road passes close to the Leasowes, one of the most cele- brated: seats in England. From this latter town the road to Clent is easily found. The two Holly-trees on the summit of Walton (Waldon) Hills are the landmark, and seen for miles on all sides. The way passes through Ufimore Forest, and close by St. Kenelm’s church, and either through the pass, Clatterbatch, or along the ridge of the Walton Hills. The distance is about four miles from Hales Owen, or about nine miles from Dudley. From Birmingham the walk or ride is eleven miles, and the traveller should leave the road at the Bromsgrove Lickey, and strike across the country to the right for Clent, keeping the two Hollies above mentioned a little on his right-hand. The distance from the Bromsgrove Lickey is about four miles, and the lanes and country here are very beautiful. The Clent, with the Lickey and other hills, enclose a portion of the great basin of the Severn. They are about due north of the Cotswold, and at least fifty miles distant from the latter. They are also north of the Malvern Hills and a point or two east, or, aS a seaman would say, north-and-by-east, or between that and north-north-east, and they are distant from the latter, the Malverns, above thirty miles. They are north-east of the Aberley and almost east of the Clee Hills, and are distant from these about twenty and fifteen miles respectively. In clear wea- ther ail these hills or series of hills are visible from any part of the Clent Hills. At sunrise the white houses of Malvern at the base of the hill are distinctly visible when the atmo- sphere is clear, and especially when the sun is shining on that lovely spot. As it is intended to write a brief account of the geological formation of these hills and their adjacent valleys and plains, as well as of their native productions, we will commence systema- tically, that is, begin at the beginning. As there is a necessary relation between the soil and the plants which the soil produces, so there is a necessary relation between the soil and the subjacent (underlying) rocks. These constitute everywhere the substratum or the bases of the earth on which both plants and animals grow 1858. | t THE CLENT HILLS. 387 and live. The Clent Hills, from Stourbridge, or rather, from Old Swineford, through Pedmore, Hagley, and Belbroughton, are composed of Red Sandstone. Some geologists say, of the New series, and some say, of the Old: “ Who shall decide when doctors disagree?” This rock “crops out,’ as they say, or comes to the surface, at the end of Stourbridge, the Wolverhampton end, and the cutting for the road, towards Brettel Lane, has exposed many yards of this rock, which appears to consist of a solid mass, as sandstone rock usually appears. The same kind of rock crops out here and there all along the road from Stourbridge to Belbroughton, and there are several cuttings, especially a rather deep one, near Holycross. Be the name of the rock what it may, or rather what it may please geologists to say it is, the soil itself gives unmis- takable traces and proofs of its origin; it is as red as a brick, and in rather depressed parts, after much dry weather, it is nearly as hard. On the north side of the hills, that is, to- wards Hales Owen and Dudley, there is much stiff land, espe- cially where the limestone crops out or approaches the surface. On the Lickeys the grit is the underlying rock, and the soil, consequently, is of a more friable nature than that which owes its origin to the New or Old Red. Thus far for the geology. The external features of the country. at and about Clent are very picturesque. The hills in the direction of Stourbridge skirt and overhang Hagley Park, which adjoins Clent Hall Park and Clent Castle, as it is called. The hills in the direction of St. Kenelm’s, Hales Owen, Dudley, etc., extend from the ehurch of Clent.in a direction which is nearly south-west and north-east, and the distance from these two extremities is be- tween two and three miles. The parish church is at the south-west end of the pass or glen or valley which separates the Clent from the Walton Hills. This valley is very deep and narrow, with an inconsiderable stream of water, which, however, is often swollen into an impetuous torrent by heavy rains that fall on the hills. The Clent Hills are rather higher than the Walton, and the views from the former are preferred by lovers of the picturesque. From their centre there is ob- tained a close, almost a bird’s-eye view, of Hagley Hall, groves, woods, park, village, rectory, and cottages, on the one hand, and on the other side the Clatterbatch or Clent valley, with 388 ON THE BOTANY OF — [ April, its church, mill, farm-houses, and cottages. These are the proxi- mate views. The Walton Hills, as already noticed, lie on the other side of this narrow vale, and almost exactly parallel to the Clent Hills. The spire of Hales Owen Church, the woods of Dudley, always enveloped in a smoky cloud, the Leasowes, or Shenstone, as it is called here, lie to the right of the latter place. In a southern direction, when the weather is fine or when the atmosphere is clear, are seen the Cotswold Hills, at least fifty miles distant, and on the observer’s right, and nearly in the same direction, lie the Malvern and the Aberley and Clee Hills in succession. The tract of country, the broad vale of the Severn, lymg between the observer and the hills above mentioned, is very clearly seen. But he wants the assistance of some person acquainted with the situation of places to be able to make out the towns of Evesham, Stourport, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, and Bewdley, which, with the city of Worcester, are all situated between the hills on the right bank of the Severn and that chain of hills on the left bank of which the Clent Hills form a considerable part. The Walton Hills afford charming views on the north and north-west, viz. of Belbroughton, Fairfield, etc., and especially of the beautiful vale between the Waltons and Fairfield hanging woods, and Fairfield Heath or Common. One of the most striking scenes is the furnaces, of which there are many between and about Dudley, Stourbridge and Kidderminster. In broad daylight these are, to the lovers of Nature and of her productions, smoking nuisances. ‘To the for- tunate children of Mammon, and to the sons and daughters of toil, they appear under another aspect. When murky shades surround the hills, and darkness assumes the ascendant, these furnaces flare up, enlightening the country for miles round, tinging the clouds with their unnatural ruddy glare. This scene from the Walton Hills, in a fine, clear, moonlight — night (it is not comfortable nor very safe walking on the Waltons in pitchy dark nights), is not without interest to a visitant or stranger, aud is, besides, suggestive of various reflections of a mixed character, but these had better be retained than divulged. Reflections of a mental or moral nature are apt to be tinged by the medium through which they pass or from which they are 1858. | THE CLENT HILLS. 389 reflected, and our business now is with facts, not with feelings. But if these terrific fires do not remind the reader of classical English poetry of that dismal place where the palace of Pande- monium was erected, we do not know anything or any place on earth that will. There are gleams and flickers from the heaps of coal burning into coke, blazes and sparks from the tall and from the stumpy chimneys, and a steady red glare from the furnaces themselves. In broad daylight these are not noticed, except when in proximity to the fiery objects. Clent itself is singularly free from all these necessary nuisances. A single manufactory of scythe-blades at Belbroughton, two or three miles distant, is the only place which reminds one of Vulcan’s sons, or of the grand workshop of the world. Before concluding this, the picturesque part of our theme, we venture to quote a few lines from the elegant and amiable poet of the ‘Seasons.’ That it refers to the Clent Hills and their views and scenic beauties there is ample proof, both from the beginning of this eloquent address to the noble and courteous occupant and owner of Hagley Hall, as well as from the descrip- tion of the scene :— “O Lyttelton, the friend! thy passions thus And ineditations vary, as at large, Courting the Muse, thro’ Hagley Park thou stray’ st, The British Tempe! There, along the dale, With woods o’erhung, and shage’d with mossy rocks, Etc. ete. (A poetic embellishment.) Meantime you gain the height from whose fair brow The bursting prospect spreads immense around ; And snatch’d o’er hill and dale, and wood and lawn And verdant field and darkening heath between ; And villages embosom’d soft in trees, And spiry towns by surging columns marked Of household smoke, your eye excursive roams, Wide stretching from the Hall in whose kind haunt The hospitable genius lingers still, To where the broken lanskip, by degrees Ascending, roughens into rigid hills ; O’er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.” If any readers of Thomson will compare this brief description of the mossy rocks, Clent-hill views, British Tempe and all, with 390 : ON THE BOTANY OF | April, the same poet’s description of the scene from “ delightful Shene,” including Richmond, lofty Harrow, majestic Windsor, Haim/’s embowering walks, matchless vale of Thames, Clermont’s terraced height, Esher’s groves, Twitnam’s bowers, etc. etc., with the concluding noble apostrophe to the whole, commencing with—~ “* Heavens, what a goodly prospect spreads around!” ete., he will be struck with the inferiority of that portion quoted, not absolutely, but relatively to a description of scenery with which the poet was well acquainted. The views from Richmond Ter- race and Shene Hill are extensive, rich, and varied; but they are not equal to the views from the hills of Clent, either in extent, variety, or picturesque beauty. (See Thomson’s ‘Seasons,’ Summer, line 1400, and the same author’s Spring, - o) Py] p E line 901.) To our taste the following very brief description, from a rural and nameless poet, is more graphic than that copied from one whose name has been long enrolled among the most ingenious of Britain’s distinguished sons and panegyrists. The observer is supposed to be on the very summit of Clent Hill, properly so called, whence— “* The eye now roves o’er Hagley’s towers And Dudley’s clouds of smoke, ° To Shenstone’s walks and sylvan bowers And Uffmore’s groves of oak.” This may not be very poetical, but it is very true. These are among the most contiguous and prominent objects in the picture. We may presume that upwards of one hundred years ago, for it is more than a century since the death of the great poet of the ‘Seasons,’ Dudley was not crowned with smoke as it is now, and that Shenstone’s walks and sylvan bowers, if in existence, had not reached the celebrity they now enjoy. But there is a want of reality about Thomson’s description of Hagley and Clent which no amount of genius will be able to supply. The eminence of Sir Walter Scott, as a descriptive poet, is perhaps mainly due to his minute acquaintance with the indivi- dual scenes whose descriptions so often delight the readers of his poetry, and which have conferred immortality on simple legen- dary or traditionary stories. There are only four lines in the last quotation, and there are just as many objects briefly described. Hagley Hall is flanked by a tower at each corner of the ample quadrangle of which it 1858. ] THE CLENT HILLS. 391 consists. The ancient town of Dudley is enveloped in a cloud of smoke, and neither its woods nor its ruins are visible; Shen- stone’s walks and bowers form, with its white cottage-lke mansion and its amphitheatre of hills, a very pleasing portion of the landscape. Uffmore’s groves are celebrated in the simple verse of Shenstone, from whom the Leasowes have borrowed the poet’s name; and, what is less creditable to posterity, is that the place is still more famous than its very author, who was both a landscape artist and a poet. The following quotation from the poet of the Leasowes is simple enough, e. g.:— “ Born near the scene for Kenelm’s fate renowned, I take my plaintive reed, and range the grove ; And raise the lay, and bid the rocks resound The savage force of empire and of love. Fast by the centre of yon various wild, Where spreading oaks embower a Gothic fane, Kendrida’s arts a brother’s youth beguiled ; There Nature urged her tenderest ties in vain.” Happily for Shenstone’s fame, his poetical reputation is founded on better lays than that from which the above is quoted. The renown of being the tragical scene on which poor Kenelm’s fate was decided might inspire a lay of a loftier nature than that raised; but it would be like the “lay, loud as the surge which lashes Lapland’s rocky shore,’ which we remember reading about in the ‘English Bards’ of Lord Byron, if it “bid the rocks resound the savage force,” etc. The rocks are far distant from Uffmore’s groves. If the lay ' was loud enough to be heard by the rocks, the rocks could not reasonably be expected to render back the lay in any audible sound, much less in articulate word. The oaks that embowered the sacred fane have long disappeared, and their place is now supplied by meadows and cornfields. The vegetation of this portion of the country—we mean its natural plants, not the cereals, nor agricultural produce, nor the productions of its orchards and gardens, but its wild native growth—is not very striking, neither in itself, nor as charac- teristic of the soil cn which it grows. The species are neither very numerous nor very interesting to the botanist: to the mere economist they have no interest at all. 392 ON THE BOTANY OF [ April, Their chief interest is that they belong to a district which has never been botanically investigated (pace Mr. Lees). If any botanist has ever visited these parts of Worcester-, Stafford-, and Shropshires, he has not recorded the results of his investigations, whatever these may have been. As we have no intention of permitting any of our labours in ~ the behalf of science to descend into oblivion, if we can prevent this undesirable consummation, we record them for the benefit of our contemporaries and of posterity. We visited Clent late in the year, viz. September, and resided there during the greater part of that month, and left before the middle of October, hence we are unable to say anything about the spring flowers. Many of the summer flowering plants were observed with the entire autumnal vegetation of the district; but, as a systematic cata- logue or a scientific description of species would be unreadable, | the most prominent plants will alone be noticed, and they will be arranged rather by the places where they grow, or by their habitats, as our ancient botanists would say, than by any modern classification: thus, first, the vegetation of the hills; second, that of the woods ; third, that of the fields (the cultivated ground) ; and, fourth, that of the bogs, marshes, and watery places. The most remarkable plant of the Clent Hills is the Fox- glove (Digitalis purpurea). ‘The Latin or scientific name is en- closed in a parenthesis, or it is italicized: our scientific readers know that this is necessary, because the scientific or Latin name is recognised by all who are acquainted with the science; the vulgar, or popular, or English name, is variable. This may not be the case with the Foxglove, though it has more names than one, but it is so with several plants which have to be entered in this list. The Foxglove grows everywhere in this island where the soil is more or less gritty or sandy. On these hills it luxu- riates ; wherever the turf is pared off, or the Furze burnt, there a colony of Foxgloves immediately springs up; and, as they are biennials, z.e. plants of two years’ duration, the seedlings flourish on the bare soil when the turf is broken, or they germinate among the ashes of the burnt Furze. We have seen tall plants of this species here and there, but we never saw any so gigantic as in plantations on the Lickey Hills. Their average height was two yards, and, consequently, many were higher than that esti- mate. The Moth Mullein, two species (Verbascum Thapsus and 1858. | THE CLENT HILLS. 393 V. nigrum), are also very plentiful on all the hills, but especially the black Moth Mullein. Jn most parts of the country this is the rarer plant of the two, but about Clent it is more plentifully dispersed than the one which is more common elsewhere. These plants have the same habit or mode of growth as the Foxglove has, but they differ very considerably in the shape and colour of the blossoms. The flower of the Foxglove is tubular and inflated, not much unlike the finger of a glove, hence its name. FF ox- glove, it is believed, was once called Our Lady’s Glove; Our Lady is a synonym of Mary, or the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of our Lorp. The flowers of the Mulleins are all more or less flat, or the limb is round and expanded, having five rounded lobes, and a very short and narrow tube. The colours of the Mulleins are either yellow or cream-colour, or sometimes with a tinge of purple. The Foxglove has a red blossom, curiously dappled in the inside with white. The white-flowered variety of the common Foxglove is very rare in a wild or uncultivated state. To the same family of plants, viz. Scrophulariacee, or the Fig- wort family, belongs the Knobby-rooted Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa), a plant which agrees with the Foxglove and the Mulleins in their straight, upright, taper, rod-like stems, and in the shape and position of their leaves; they, however, differ materially in their mconspicuous, green, purple-tipped flowers. This plant is not so common on the hills as the former-men- tioned, but it is occasionally met with on elevated places, espe- cially on banks of hedges and similar situations. The showy Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) also grows abundantly on the hills, where it is not always confined to hedges, but is occasionally found on pastures. The stem of this plant is stout and erect, like the former, but its flowers resemble those of the garden flower Snapdragon, in having a lip which closes the mouth cr throat of its blossom (corolla). This form of flower is termed by botanists the personate, from persona, a mask, because of its fancied resemblance to this apparatus. The garden Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) and Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Linaria Cymba- laria) occur on old walls about Hagley, but they are not very common. The Water Figwort grows plentifully in the vicinity of water, in low moist places. There is also another small plant (Linaria Elatine), of the same natural order, found here and there in cornfields, but it is not so common on the hilly fields Nos.) VOL, 11, 3x 394. ON THE BOTANY OF [ April, - as it is on less elevated cultivated places. Many of these plants differ much in habit and external appearance from the Foxglove, the Mullein, the Figwort, and the common Toadflax, but they all agree in the shape and nature of their seed-vessels, and in the multitude and minuteness of their seeds. The fruit, or seed- vessel, is ovate (egg-shaped), having two cells and two small holes at the apex, which serve for the emission of the seeds. Another conspicuous plant of the Clent Hills is the Dwarf Gorse (Ulex nana). 'The common Gorse of the south of England is not the plant which grows on these hills, although the more common form of the Gorse (Ulex europeus) is not altogether absent in these parts. The plant of the Clent Hills is of a humbler and more compact growth, and always flowers late in summer, or in the autumn. The common Gorse flowers in spring. Wandsworth | or Clapham Common is now gay with the flowers of the Dwarf Gorse: in October and November it is in perfection. The hedges about the fields on these hills abound with the Wild Rose, of which there are several species, the common Dog Rose (Rosa canina), the Woolly Rose (R. villosa), etc. These, of course, were all in fruit when we were at Clent. The Crab-tree (Pyrus Malus) is also plentiful, and bears large crops of apples, many of these being but little inferior to the cultivated sorts in beauty, but their flavour was very ungrateful. One of the handsomest plants of these uplands is the Musk Mallow (Malva moschata). The flowers of this species are pink, rarely white, nearly as large and handsome as the flowers of the famed domestic Geranium, the inmate of our greenhouses and parlours. This is the most common plant of the Order in these parts; the other two common sorts, the Wild and the Round-leaved Mallows (M. sylvestris and M. rotundifolia), are less abundant about Clent than the Musk Mallow, which is the least common in the south of England. The plants of the Mallow Family are furnished with a very tenacious fibrous bark, which would probably be available in constituting a material for the fabrication of paper. The fruit consists of a series of one-seeded carpels (small fruits), arranged circularly around a central axis. This is vulgarly called, by children and others, cheese, and the plant is called the cheese- plant. It resembles cheese only in its form; it need scarcely be stated that it has not a trace of cheesy flavour. Geraniums, which abound on limestone soils, are not common here. The 1858. | THE CLENT HILLS. 395 Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (Geranium molle), the Dissected-leaved Crane’s-bill (G. dissectum and G. pusillum), were almost the only representatives of the Order met with in this district. But we met with one interesting plant of this family, viz. Erodium maritimum, the maritime or seacoast Stork’s-bill. This plant, which, like several species, is restricted to maritime localities, was noticed in this inland county not less than sixty miles from the estuary of the Severn, and more than this dis- tance from any seacoast. When this fact was stated in the hearing of certain natives, and when it was explained m con- nection with the saline springs of Worcestershire, the question was asked if it would be a prudent speculation to dig in hopes of finding a salt spring on the spot where the Sea Stork’s-bill was seen growing. We enforced our view by stating that the salt springs of Droitwich, the richest in England, were distant only about ten miles from the Clatterbatch, where this plant grew, but of course declined to become sponsor to the opinion that a salt spring existed between the church and hills of Clent in the centre of Clatterbatch. Yet it is not improbable that such a spring might be discovered at Clent if a well of suffi- cient depth were dug. It would be hazardous to say how deep this digging should be. The most considerable and profitable vegetation of the Clent Hills is doubtless the grass with which they are covered. Their turf is perhaps the finest that was ever seen. The turf on our South and North Downs approach it, but on these latter sheep-pastures there grow many plants or herbs which are not grass. On the hills of Clent the turf is almost entirely com- posed of a very few grasses, mixed with some Wild Thyme, and a few aromatic herbs, where the ants have raised slight eleva- ~ tions on the surface. ; The common grass here is the Yestuca ovina, the Sheep’s Fescue grass, the finest possible grass for a lawn. Of this we had ample proof, for the lawn of the cottage where we were domiciled for the period of our sojourn here, was covered with turf from these hills, and though it had been neglected (unmown) for two months, the grass was indeed rank, but not coarse. This is one of the best pasture grasses for dry upland pastures. It has many succulent narrow root-leaves with a very small bent, which never is suffered to be developed when the pasture is kept 396 ON THE BOTANY OF [ April, closely cropped. These pastures about Clent might be improved by grubbing up the Furze, the only plant which covers any con- siderable part of the surface; for the Foxglove is not able to maintain its place in the thick grassy sward. 4 . Gin re se ys = Ui We Hn My AYA