CHARACTERS OF BRITISH PLANTS, 63 
Notes on the Specific Characters and Varieties of some British 
Plants. By Hewerr C. Watson, Esq. 
(Continued from page 623.) 
The following notes will refer to the characters and 
specific distinction of several plants as they exist in nature, 
or are given in the two most recent works which describe the 
plants of Britain; namely, the fifth edition of the British 
Flora, by Sir W. J. Hooker, and the Manual of British 
Botany, by Mr. C. C. Babington. We are informed by 
their respective authors, and almost in the same terms, that 
these two works have been founded upon *an examination 
of the plants themselves;” and no doubt such is the fact. 
Yet in many instances the two Floras do not at all corres- 
pond, either as relates to the distinction in species and varie- 
ties, or as regards the characters used for specific discrimina- 
tion. The existence of these differences clearly proves that 
there is still something to be ascertained and settled; still 
something to be learned by direct inquiry from nature. Lately, 
indeed, much has been said about the necessity of consulting 
more frequently the works of continental botanists, as if that 
were the one essential course for constructing a Flora of 
Britain. If the question were one respecting accuracy and 
uniformity of nomenclature, the propriety of such consulta- 
tion would be evident enough; but there appears little occa- 
sion to consult continental works when the matter before us 
is simply a question, whether the species of British plants 
are correctly distinguished and described in the works of 
British Botanists. Here the appeal must be to nature's own 
works in the form of living plants or dried specimens. 
Accordingly, I do not go out of my way to ascertain whether 
the views of this or that continental botanist may chance to 
correspond more closely with those set forth in the British 
Flora, or with those which appear in the Manual of British 
Botany. My object here is simply to put on record certain 
facts observed in the plants of Britain, which,more or less 
