232 



HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Oct. I, 1866. 



BOTANY. 



Pink-flowered Pimpernel. — A few years ago 

 I met with a plentiful supply of the scarlet, pink, 

 and Hue Pimpernel in a fallow-field at Bucklands, 

 near Betchworth ; specimens of which I sent to 

 my late friend Sir William Hooker, and several 

 other botanists— W. T. Iliff. 



The Clove-pink.— We learn from Chaucer, the 

 father of the English poets, that the Clove Gilly- 

 flower was cultivated in this country as early as the 

 reign of Edward the Third, and that it was used to 

 give a spicy flavour to ale and wine, and from thence 

 it was called, Top-in-wine. — Flora Historica. 



Four-leaved Shamrock ?— I do not know 

 whether the common Dutch Clover {Trifolium 

 repens) is still considered by any to be the true 

 " Shamrock of Erin ; " but if such be the case, the 

 poet who so enthusiastically declared his readiness to 



" Seek a four-leaved shamrock 

 In all the fairy dells," 



might perhaps have employed his time to more 

 purpose by seeking it in other and less romantic 

 localities. A lady friend has recently sent me 

 specimens, not only of four-leaved White Clover, 

 but also some with five, and six leaflets ! They 

 were gathered on a lawn in Chelsea, several examples 

 being found, growing witli the ordinary trifoliate 

 form. — B. 



Variations in British Plants.— Besides those 

 previously recorded, the following have been met 

 with in the neighbourhood of Wycombe during the 

 past season : — Windflower {Anemone nemorosa) with 

 double flowers; Evening Campion {Lychnis vesjiertina) 

 with pink flowers ; also white-flowered varieties of 

 the Wild Thyme {Thymus SerpyUum), common 

 Vetch (J'icia sativa), small Hemp-nettle {Galeopsis 

 Ladanum), and Bugle {Ajuga reptans). The Chicory 



{Cichorium Inlybus) has been found with pink, and 

 white flowers ; the Viper's Bugioss {Echium vulgare) 

 with red, and white flowers; and the Eyebrigkt 



{Euphrasia officinalis) with bluish-purple flowers. 

 — B 



The P^eony owes its name to Pseon, a famous 

 physician of antiquity, who is said to have cured 

 the wounds which the gods received during the 

 Trojan war with the aid of this plant, and from him 

 skilful physicians are sometimes called Paonii ; 

 and on the same account those herbs which are 

 serviceable in medicine, Pceoniai herba\ — Flora 

 Historica. 



"Five-leaved Grass." — This, the Potentilla 

 repduns, or Creeping Cinquefoil, is subject to great 

 variation in the number of its leaflets. These are 



usually but five ; but specimens with as many as 

 eleven leaflets are occasionally met with. To seven- 

 leaved examples a magic power attaches, as an old 

 charm assures us that "a five-leaved grass with 

 seven leaves on," placed under the pillow at night, 

 will insure to the sleeper dreams of his, or her, 

 future partner ! We have tried the experiment 

 ourselves, but are bound to state that the result was 

 highly unsatisfactory. — B. 



Heather {Erica vagans and Erica Mackaiana). — 

 These two rare and beautiful plants grow at Tad- 

 marson Heath, about four miles to the west of 

 Banbury. The former, the Cornish Heath, is found 

 more plentifully there than Mackay's Heath, which 

 is rather scarce. Bentham, in his Handbook of 

 British Elora, gives Cornwall and the South of 

 Ireland as localities for both, and says of the Erica 

 vagans that it never penetrates very far inland. I 

 have several duplicates of each gathered on Tuesday, 

 September 11th, 1866, which I shall be pleased to 

 exchange for other rare British plants. — E. W., 21, 

 West Street, Banbury. 



Tertiary Elora of Brognon. — M. Saporta 

 communicated recently to the Geological Society of 

 France a paper on the flora of a small tertiary basin, 

 at Brognon, north-east of Dijon, in the Department 

 de la Cote d'Or, the following abstract of which is 

 from EInstitut of July 25 :— " The vegetable re- 

 mains are referable to 13 species of 12 genera, which 

 are Flabellaria Quercus (2), Migrica, Ficus, Cinna- 

 momurn, Andromeda, Acer, Ilex, Zizyphus, Xantho- 

 xylon, Cercis, Pecopteris. The last genus is allied 

 to two ferns, living in the Brazils and at the Cape ; 

 the two oaks have their analogues in Louisiana and 

 Guatemala ; the fig has its in Eastern India and in 

 Java, Cercis and Cinnamomum ally this flora to that 

 of Japan; the jujube to that of Timor; and the 

 Andromeda to that of the Isle Maurice. The maple 

 and the holly still live in the Mediterranean region. 

 Floras of a like character are found preserved 

 at Armissan, Manosque, Monod, (Eningen, in the 

 ' gypses d'Aix,' and in the Swiss ' Molasses.' ' 



The author concludes as follows : — 



" 1st. That during the period when the flora of 

 Brognon flourished, there was in this locality a fresh 

 water lake, very rich in calcareous sediments by the 

 agency of which the remains of plants living on the 

 margins of the lake have been preserved. 



" 2nd. That the age of the lake may be de- 

 termined by comparison with analogous deposits ; 

 it should probably be placed in the Lower Miocene. 



" 3rd. That this flora consists of a mixture of 

 tropical and temperate forms, and such that charac- 

 terize the plateaus of Mexico and Central America ; 

 and that the temperature of Europe, during the 

 Miocene epoch, was similar k to these regions." — 

 Communicated by B. Tate. 



