Feb. 1, 1SCG.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



39 



teris (fig. 50) lias the leaves several times pinnatifid, 

 the leaflets more or less united to one another, 

 and the veins reticulated. Among the numerous 



Fig. 51. Sphenopteris arfremixitBfolia. 



species of the period was Sphenopteris artemisicefolia 

 (fig. 51). Sphenopteris has twice or thrice pin- 

 natifid leaves, the leaflets narrow at the base, and 

 the veins generally arranged as if they radiated from 

 the base : the leaflets frequently wedge-shaped. 



BOTANICAL NOTES OF THE YEAR. 



nPvURING 1S65 but few plants new to the 

 -"-^ British Isles have been observed ; at least, as 

 regards the higher orders, though, among the lower, 

 various novelties have been recorded. Perhaps the 

 sole example of a new flowering plant with which 

 1865 has presented as, which can be regarded as an 

 undoubted native, is the sharp-leaved Irish Ivy 

 (Hedera Canariensis), which, first announced as an 

 Irish species by Dr. Seemann, is confirmed as such 

 by Professor Babington, in the December number 

 of the Journal of Botany, that gentleman having 

 observed it, "on old whitethorn trees, in the 

 western part of the Phoenix Park, near Dublin." 

 It appears to have been subsequently recorded from 

 county Wicklow, and more definitely from "Walls, 

 near Merrion," but its origin here seems to be 

 doubtful. The Professor also suggests that, " in 

 all probability, the ivy of Killarney will be found to 

 be H. Canariensis." Another plant, discovered in 

 1861, but first made public in 1865, is Erucastruui 

 Pollichii {E. inodorum of Beichenbach), observed by 



Mr. Joshua Clarke, growing in small quantity on 

 a heap of sand near Saffron Waldcn, Essex, and 

 retaining its ground during the past year. It 

 is, however, a ' questionable native. A new rose 

 {Rosa collina, Jacq.) has been discovered, near Ply- 

 mouth, by that accurate observer, Mr. T. B. A. 

 Biiggs, to whom we were last year indebted for 

 Hypericum uudulatum . 



In the Popular Science Review for January, those 

 botanists who love to compare the plants of past 

 ages with those of more recent formations will 

 find an interesting article by Dr. Seemann, en- 

 titled " Australia and Europe formerly one Con- 

 tinent." The Bev. G. Henslow furnishes a paper 

 on climbing plants, being a resume of Mr. Darwin's 

 admirable treatise on the same subject. 



The Journal of Botany has a valuable article by 

 Mr. Ralph Tate, on the Flora of the Shetland Isles, 

 in which he gives as complete a list as possible of 

 the plants of those islands, collected from other 

 authors, and verified and augmented by his own 

 observations. An editorial note informs us that the 

 supposed Plantago alpina is not really that species, 

 but merely " a broad-leaved variety of P. maritima." 

 Some new British Lichens receive attention in this 

 number. 



Now is the season for " Seed-Catalogues," the 

 authors of which appear to have generally some 

 rather loose ideas regarding the extent of the British 

 Flora : a list of the " plants new to Britain," which 

 are given as natives of that favoured country, would 

 take up considerable space. Our Crowfoot tribe is 

 increased by a new Columbine {Aquilegia glandu- 

 losa) ; our Candytuft receives a companion, under 

 the name of Iberis coronaria ; Dianthus punctatus is 

 ranked with our British pinks ; Impatiens noli-me- 

 tangere finds a brother in /. glandulifera ; and many 

 other examples might be added. The name 

 Lythrum Saticaria is not, we may suppose, suffici- 

 ently grand for our Purple Loosestrife, as this plant 

 is rechristened Lythrum roseum superbum! More 

 than one firm offer for sale a mixture of flower- 

 seeds for woodland walks, shrubberies, railway em- 

 bankments, &c. ; but as botanists we may hope that 

 their customers in this department are few ; for 

 does not Nature herself supply an abundant and 

 beautiful " mixture" of flowers, and grasses, and 

 ferns, in far better taste than we can hope to emu- 

 late, or attempt to improve upon ? There are those 

 who would endeavour to " paint the lily and add 

 perfume to the rose," but no lover of nature will 

 wish to be ranked among them. B. 



Malformation in the Daisy.— On the 9th ult., 

 I gathered, near Wycombe, a specimen of the daisy 

 {Bellis perennis), in which the involucral bracts 

 were transformed into small, curled leaves. — B. 



