5o 



HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G O SSI P. 



sativum. The seven species of Viola include J'. 

 faluslris and V. canina, var. sylvestris. Cerastium 

 alpinum (var. behringianuni) and C. arvensc occur, 

 as well as Arenaria verna. Hypericum, so prominent 

 in England, is represented by only a single species, 

 II. scouleri. Astragalus is a huge genus, with forty- 

 six species, including alpinus and hypoglottis. Fra- 

 garia vesca is abundant. Six species of Saxifraga, 

 hirculus, caespitosa, cernua, rivularis, stellaris (var. 

 comosa), and nivalis are also British (Saxifraga is an 

 essentially boreal genus. Lieut. Greely found S. 

 rivularis (var. hyperbored), S. cernua, S. oppositifolia, 

 S. nivalis, and S. c<rspitosa in the Arctic region of 

 Grinnel Land). The six species of Epilobium include 

 angustifolium, alpinum, and palustre (var. lineare). 

 F. angustifolium is excessively abundant ; on Sept. 

 5th, I passed through a burnt-up spruce-forest on 

 Pottery Pass,* between Wheeler and Red Cliff, and 

 the charred trunks no longer shading the ground, a 

 dense growth of this species had sprung up, together 

 with species of Aster, &c, completely covering the 

 soil. Adoxa moschatdlina is found, and Linntza 

 borcalis and Galium borcale (this last I found on the 

 Grand Mesa, at an elevation of about S900 feet). 

 Erigeron is a large genus, and includes E. acris. 



Senecio has 16 species, but none are British ; the 

 genus is probably boreal, but the species are unstable, 

 and soon vary under new conditions. Hieracium, a 

 large English genus, has only three species and a 

 variety in Colorado ; but H. umbellatum is given as 

 "from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains." 

 Taraxacum officinale has the varieties alpinum and 

 scopulorum, and I found an ordinary-looking dande- 

 lion by Swift Creek, Custer Co. The three species 

 of Primula are farinosa, parryi, and angustifolia. 

 Parryi I found abundant on the Sangre de Cristo 

 Range. Gentiana is represented by ten species — as 

 might be expected of such a typically Alpine genus. 

 Polemonium has four species, including cseruleum. 

 Myosotis sylvatica appears as the var. alpestris, a 

 forget-me-not of the most vivid blue, which I found 

 growing in little compact bunches on the top of the 

 Sangre de Cristo Range on August 4th, right above 

 timber line, with Tarnassius (near to Apollo) and an 

 Alpine Colias to keep it company. Chenopodium 

 hybridum, glaucum and rubrum are found — I picked 

 the last near Surface Creek, Delta Co. Poly- 

 gonum has several species, but the only two British 

 ones, P. aviculare (Pikeview, El Paso Co., July 13th) 

 and P. convolvulus (Salida, Chaffee Co., Oct. 19th), 

 are probably not indigenous. Humulus lupulus is 

 common. The only species of Orchid common to 

 Britain are Corallorhiza innata and Spiran/lies roman- 

 zoviana (this last an example of the migration of 

 boreal species into Ireland). The Juncaceae include 

 Luzula campestris and spicata, and Juncus Jiliformis, 



* Tliis pass has no name on the map ; we named it so, 

 because we found some fragmen's of ancient pottery and a stone 

 arrow-head there. 



triglumis, castaueus, and tenuis var. congestus. The 

 three Naiadaceae are Zannichellia palustris, Pofamo- 

 geton rufescens (a Middlesex and Surrey F plant) and 

 P. marinus var. occidentalis. The representatives of 

 Scirpus are ccespitostts, lacustris var. occidentalis, and 

 sylvaticus var. digynus. Carex has forty-nine species, 

 mostly European, or allied thereto, and includes C. 

 pyrcndica, rupestris, capillaris, ampultacca, vulgaris, 

 atrata, alpina, muricata, fcctida, vuipinoidea, disfidia, 

 echinata, &c. The Graminese are to some extent 

 peculiar, but the list includes Atopecurus alpinus, 

 Calamagrostis stricla, Festuca ovina, &c. The twenty- 

 two Pteridophyta have the following common to 

 Britain -.—Isoetes lacustris (var. paupercula), Lycopo- 

 dium annotinum, Botrychium lunaria (and also the 

 doubtfully British B. lanceotatum), Asplenium septen- 

 trionale, Phegopteris dryopteris, Lastrcea filix-mas (var. 

 incisa, Mett.) Equisetum pratense and E. variegatum. 

 The fungi have not yet been worked out, but there is 

 no doubt that most of the species are also European. 

 I have myself found Agaricus (Psaliota) campestris in 

 more than one locality. Cases of poisoning, sup- 

 posed to be due to Ergot {Claviceps purpurea) are 

 reported by Professor Wm, Trelease. 



Farther north, the evidences of the boreal fauna 

 and flora become even more apparent. I was much 

 interested in examining the collection of the Ento- 

 mological Society of Ontario, Canada,* and noticed 

 therein specimens of the following British species 

 from the immediate ^neighbourhood of London, 

 Ontario : — Syritta pipicns, Apis mellifica, Metrocampa 

 margaritata, Ennomos alniaria, Euplexia lucipara, 

 Noctua ptecta, A T . c-nigrum, Agrotis saucia, Chelonia 

 caia (var.), Nomophila noctuella (this a migratory 

 species), Galleria cereana, Eupithecia absynthiata, 

 Vanessa antiopa, V. cardui (this species is said to have 

 occurred in millions in some parts of Canada in 18S5), 

 Danais plexippus, Ptinus fur, and Chrywmela 

 [Gastrophysa) polygon!. It is very probable that 

 some of these species were introduced by human 

 agency, but some are doubtless boreal. One feature 

 in the collection was the presence of no less than 

 twelve species of Plusia, none of them British. In 

 the extreme north, where all the species are boreal, 

 the proportion of species common to Europe becomes 

 overwhelming. Greely gives a list of species found 

 on the expedition to Grinnel Land ; of the nine birds 

 eight are British, and of the twenty-five flowering- 

 plants, sixteen belong to British species. 1 1 is list of 

 Cryptogamia also includes Equisetum variegatum, E. 

 arvense, Barbula alpina and Cladonia rangiferina. 



So much for the boreal fauna and flora of Britain. 

 I will not now deal with the Eastern and Western 

 groups, nor the Asiatic distribution of certain species. 

 As regards Africa, it may be said that the portion 

 south of the Sahara has no relation to the British 

 fauna, and, perhaps with a few exceptions, alt the 



* Exhibited at the Colonial Exhibition; South Kensington. 



