HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



181 



Mr. Thomas Baker (Ipswich) sent me a good 

 specimen of an old cabbage rose, in which what 

 ought to have been the pistil was developed into an 

 almost perfect flower-bud. 



J. W. Horn forwarded a few most suggestive 

 specimens of the common garden marigold, all of 

 which were in the condition known in the field daisy 

 as" hen-and-chickens." As I have already pointed 

 out, the hen-and-chickens monstrosity is practically 

 the normal condition of the cud weeds (Gnaphalium), 

 one species of which was described by an old botanist 



Fig. 106. — Abnormal form of Cabbage Leaf. 



as herla impia, because the young shoots shot up 

 above the elders ! 



Next Mr. H. L. Stonham, F.L.S. (being of course 

 interested in this most interesting subject), sends the 

 following : " A few weeks ago I took a specimen of 

 Paris quadrifolia (herb Paris) with six well-developed 

 leaves, the venation being very distinct. As its 

 specific name implies, this plant normally possesses 

 four leaves. One of the four sepals had also become 

 converted into a perfect leaf, in every respect as well 

 marked as the true ones. The other parts of the 

 plant were perfectly normal, both as regards numbers 



and shapes, the connectives being somewhat unusually 

 prolonged. Another plant had sprung up along the 

 rhizome, having four leaves ; but devoid of an 

 inflorescence." 



Mr. Horace Pearce, F.G.S., writes from Stourbridge 

 (and sent some very interesting teratological specimens 

 of Veronica spicata (?) fasciated). It would be 

 advisable to note whether introduced plants are more, 

 liable to monstrosity than native, or old cultivated 

 kinds. 



Mr. P. Jack, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, forwarded 

 two of the most suggestive specimens I have seen — 

 a couple of double-headed dandelions. We are 

 accustomed to their double and even treble-headed 

 first cousins the hawkweeds. Did the dandelions 

 travel to the dandelion stage by that route ? 



I have long held an almost affectionate intercourse. 

 with the ardent " working man botanists " of my 

 native Lancashire. I know their pluck, their 

 independence, and their tempers ! No class of men 

 in the English world of science are more thoroughly 

 scientific, as Mr. Leo Grindon will testify ! So, I 

 hear from John Fletcher, of Westhoughton, Bolton, 

 as follows : " As you invite readers of your paper to 

 note and record any departures from normal types of 

 plant structures, I have taken the liberty of trying 

 to describe a specimen of long-rooted cat's-ear 

 {Hypocharis radicata) found in Westhoughton on 

 June 30th. The peduncle was an inch and a half 

 across, was flattened, and was divided about half way 

 up into two halves. Below and above this division 

 there were many pedicels branching off, each having 

 one flower-head, but the two principal pedicels had 

 each three flower-heads. I also got a specimen of 

 dandelion (Taraxaaim dens-leonis) with a double 

 scape and two flower-heads ; also a specimen of 

 adder's tongue with two fertile fronds." 



J. E. Taylor. 



SOME EAST SUSSEX PLANTS OBSERVED 

 FROM 1884 TO 1890. 



THE following are the names, and as often as 

 possible the localities, of a few East Sussex: 

 plants observed during the last six years, generally 

 with dates of observation ; in the case of two or 

 three species I have to acknowledge the help of 

 another observer. The nomenclature followed is that 

 of " Arnold's Flora of Sussex." 



Glauciiim Luteum, Scop. (Yellow Horned Poppy). 

 Beachy Head, Eastbourne, August 5th, 1889. 



'Malva Mosckata, L. (Musk Mallow). (1.) On. 

 banks of the South Eastern Railway near Ticehurst 

 Road Station, September 16th, 1885. (2.) Roadside 

 between May field and Tidebrook, August 30th, 1887. 

 (3.) Near the High Rocks between Tunbridge Wells 

 and Groombridge, on the Langton side of the 

 Brighton and South-Coast Railway. This was just 



