188 MR. C. BABINGTON ON ISOETES HYSTKIX. 



crimson vetch ; the flowers are not so large as L. latifolius, but of 

 a brighter colour, and more elegant form. Leaflets ovate, tendrils 

 2-leaved, peduncles from 3- to 7-flowered ; root forms large tubes, 

 which run to a considerable depth in the soil. 



It grows abundantly in the hedgerows, and in large quantities 

 on the borders of cultivated fields, and among corn. It appears 

 extended more or less over the parish, and in the adjoining one of 

 Willingate Spain, an extent of about three miles. There is no 

 appearance whatever of its being an introduced plant ; the farmers 

 spoke of it as growing on their lands for fifty years, and one stated 

 he had known it for sixty years. They call it Tine Tare. What 

 appears to me so remarkable is, that so beautiful a plant should 

 not have been observed before. 



There are very large quantities of it in the cultivated fields, and 

 it is very conspicuous as you pass along the road. 



It is a widely distributed continental species. 



Discovery of Isoetes Hystrix in Guernsey, announced in a Letter 

 addressed to the Sectary of the Linnean Society. By 

 Chables C. Babington, M.A., T.R.S., F.L.S. 



[Bead Dec. 20th, I860.] 



Cambridge, 19th Dec. 1860. 

 Deab Sib— I shall be obliged if you will announce at the 

 Linnean meeting to-morrow evening the discovery of Isoetes 

 hystrix, Dur., in Guernsey. It was found in June 1860, by 

 Mr. G. Wolsey, the practical botanist who first noticed the 

 Ophwglossum lusitanicum in that island. The locality is "rather 

 damp spots on L'Ancresse Common." 



This interesting species of Isoetes was first noticed near Algiers 

 by Durieu in 1844, and has since that time been found in Corsica, 

 near Cadiz in Spain, Cannes in Provence, Isle Houat and Belle 

 He off the coast of Morbihan in north-west Trance. Thus Mr. 

 Wolsey's discovery is a slight, but only a slight, northern exten- 

 sion of its range. It seems to prefer a granitic soil, and may be 

 expected to be found in Cornwall. All the specimens found on 

 this side of the Mediterranean Sea seem to be less amply furnished 

 than those of Africa with the curious horned scales left by the 

 decayed leaves as a coating to the conn. My African specimens 

 have much fewer of them than are represented as present on the 



