20 



HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



recognise what they call a variety created by a dis- 

 ciple ignorant of Zoology out of some casual variation, 

 interesting, perhaps, but so insignificant that the 

 name of its describer — who is usually conceited enough 

 to allow it to be printed — is covered with ridicule. 

 An example of ignorance, worse, perhaps, than this, 

 is to be seen in the note next but one before that of 

 Mr. George Roberts, for here its writer says the 

 balance is in favour of according Helix hoj-teitsis 

 generic rank, — Wilfred Mark Webb. 



H. ViRGATA, VAR. Alba. — It may interest Mr. 

 Brockton Tomlin to know that I have specimens of 

 this variety from Dorking, Rusk, co. Dublin, and 

 have lately received two from Mr. Thos. F. Burrows, 

 found at Brading, Isle of Wight. From the Dublin 

 locality I have the same variety of H. Pisana, a still 

 more uncommon shell.—/'. G. Fenn, Islnvorth. 



BOTANY. 



The British Moss-Flora. — All botanists will 

 be glad to hear that Part II. of this remarkable 

 work has just been issued. It is devoted to the 

 important family Grimmiaceffi, and contains eight 

 exquisitely drawn plates showing the characters and 

 microscopical structures of each species. Never 

 before has our native moss-flora been so carefully 

 figured and described, and that by an acknowledged 

 authority on the subject. These parts can only be 

 obtained from the author, Dr. R. Braithwaite, at 

 303 Clapham Road. 



Plants near Clifton.— In Science-Gossip, 

 November, page 259, I gave a list of upwards of fifty 

 wild flowers noticed in a day's ramble in the vicinity 

 of Clifton. In Science-Gossip, December, page 

 279, Mr. James Walter White disputed the identity 

 of six plants in courteous yet authoritative words ; in 

 reply, I beg to state as follows : (i.) Pimpinella 

 jtiagna.- — The specimen I alluded to was not actually 

 from the gorge of the Avon. It was a plant of great 

 size growing in a cutting within a few miles of Clifton 

 Bridge (Somerset side). I stated my reason for 

 applying the specific name, and still maintain the 

 opinion. I was puqDOsely vague with precise habitat 

 in this and other cases ; I have learned that it is 

 necessary, to prevent extermination. (2.) Anthrisciis 

 vulgaris. — I think Mr. White might find this plant 

 next season on the waste grounds beyond Leigh 

 Court. (3.) Calamiiitha nepeta. — Tlie plant I 

 gathered was a distinct variety of C. officinalis, new 

 to me. Having identified the specimen on my own 

 account, I forwarded it to a collector with an exten- 

 sive herbarium. It was new to him ; and he replied, 

 " There is no doubt about your C. nepeta." Perhaps 

 Mr. White will search the quarries he knows so well 



for confirmation of this. It may be a new plant will 

 be added to the local flora. (4.) " Wormwood " was 

 a loose term ; Artemisia vulgaris is what I saw. 

 (5.) Diplotaxis 7nuraUs certainly appears under two 

 distinct forms at Clifton. I am loath to believe the 

 two species named in my notes are not there ; the 

 leaves and stems are so different. If Mr. White, 

 knowing the district well, is quite certain, I will 

 accept the correction. (6.) Thalictrum alpinum was 

 a palpable slip for T. flavum. I cannot account for 

 having written the wrong specific name. It "met 

 the eye " at some distance from Clifton, not on the 

 downs. I deliberately mis-stated precise locality, 

 perhaps wrongly ; for I did not at the time realise 

 that Somerset and Gloucester were divided by the 

 Avon, and that, by transferring plants from one side 

 to the other, the distribution of the two counties' 

 flora was interfered with. With one glaring excep- 

 tion, my notes were, I think, substantially correct. 

 I am obliged to Mr. White for giving me the oppor- 

 tunity of avowing the error. I do not claim great 

 critical knowledge ; the wider my experience, the 

 more profoundly ignorant I feel. " We see through 

 a glass darkly," picking up what grains of learning 

 we may attain. I hope this will be also considered 

 *' bright and chatty." — Wayfarer. 



Folk-lore of Plants. — In some parts of the 

 Principality, a common Welsh name for the fox- 

 gloves (folk's-gloves) is Menyg yr Ellyll (comp. elQ? 

 i.e. the fairies' gloves. — G. Rees, Aberystwyth. 



White Varieties op Plants. — I generally make 

 a note of variations from the normal colour in plants 

 when I see them, and a few remarks on the subject, 

 perhaps, will not be considered out of place. For 

 four years past I have observed a number of white 

 specimens of Stachys palustris, the flowers of the 

 usual size, and pure white in colour. The normal 

 type flourished near, but not in the same clump. A 

 further departure occurred, which would seem almost 

 structural ; the upper lip of the corolla, instead of 

 being entire, as I believe it always is in the coloured 

 Stachys palustris, was deeply cleft. I should be glad 

 to know if this form has been observed elsewhere by 

 field botanists. Veronica charncrdrys sometimes sports 

 to white ; a patch in a meadow near here has shown 

 white flowers for three successive years. The flowers 

 are distinctly smaller than the blue specimens which 

 grow among them, but from different roots. I am 

 inclined to think that cross fertilisation may be the 

 cause here, pollen from some white flower near (not 

 Veronica) affecting the colour ; certainly soil has 

 nothing to do in accounting for the change. Gera- 

 nium niolle, too, 1 have often seen growing with pure 

 white blooms in company with plants of the usual 

 colour. The question is a very interesting one, and 

 needs much fuller investigation. — F. J. Porter, Per- 

 ranai-iuorthal, Cornwall. 



