i88 



HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G SSIF. 



strand is a large bog, close to which grew in plenty 

 Radiola mcUegrana and Samohis VaUranJi, while in 

 the bog most conspicuous were Polygomivi ivnfhihium, 

 Spargamim miuinnts, and Typha latifolia. But a 

 much longer paper than this would not exhaust the 

 list of interesting plants to be seen and gathered here. 

 The naturalist with time and inclination to go through 

 West Cork will find no district more worthy of a 

 visit, for in its very varied flora there is ever to be 

 found something new and worth having. — R. A. 

 Phillips, Cork. 



Botanical Notes. — Looking over the herbarium 

 of Mrs. M. E. Cusack, I find several things of 

 interest. The winter greens we get here are Pyrola 

 seamda and P. rotiindifolia. The latter has leaves 

 orbicular, or nearly so, and flowers dull crimson ; I 

 call it var. intermedia — it is probably what was re- 

 corded from here by Porter and Coulter as uliginosa. 

 Spiranthes Pomauzoffiatia is represented by good 

 specimens, also Epilobium pahistrc (var. albijloritm), 

 Amaraiithus 7-etroJiexus, Mimuhis liiteiis, Gcntiaiia 

 amarella (var. stricta), and other species known to 

 the British botanist. We can also record a new 

 white variety, Geranium eccspitosnm (form albijiorum), 

 with white flowers. The brambles ate Pnlucs stri- 

 gosiis, and not very variable ; but the roses present 

 any number of forms. In this herbarium I find two 

 forms of R. blanda. One I call aciculata, stem 

 prickly ; stipules dilated, entire or slightly toothed 

 at apex ; leaflets five or seven, usually subcordate at 

 base, shortly petiolulate or almost sessile, simply and 

 coarsely toothed, pale beneath ; flowers vivid pink ; 

 sepals entire, hispid. The other may be tenned var, 

 sublesvis, sepals scarcely hispid, pale-margined, some- 

 times with one or two linear lateral lobes, flowers 

 rather small and pale. All the above-mentioned 

 plants were collected in Western Custer Co., Colo- 

 rado. In a note-book I find notes of two varietal 

 forms of English plants, which I may as well record. 

 Rubus riisticaiius (form iticisus), leaves three-parted, 

 with the segments deeply incised. Found at Chisle- 

 hurst : a specimen is in the herbarium of the South 

 London Entomological and Nat. Hist. Society. 

 Centaur ea nigra (form albijiorum), flowers while ; 

 not very unusual ; my specimen was from Sevenoaks, 

 September 1883. This, by the way, is on the chalk. 

 In an interesting list of plants collected at Swanage 

 in 1888, sent me by Miss A. S. Fenn, white-flowered 

 varieties of Origanum vulgare. Prunella vulgaris, and 

 Geranium molle are enumerated. — T. D. A. Cockerell, 

 West Cliff, Colorado. 



LuzuLA ALKiDA IN SUSSEX. — This plant has 

 hitherto occurred only in Surrey and Perthshire. I 

 have now noticed it for two years on an embankment 

 on the border of Sussex and Hampshire, between 

 Emsworth and Thorney Island on the Sussex side. 

 It is a very graceful woodrush of a peculiar shade of 

 light green, which makes it very conspicuous when 



growing in tufts or rather patches in May, but now, 

 June 6th, when overtopped by Fcstuca arundinacea, 

 Aira flexuosa and other grasses, it is not readily 

 discernible. It is ' considered an alien, but grows 

 here a mile from any habitation. Can any one give 

 me information as to its situation when found else- 

 where, and as to the manner of its supposed introduc- 

 tion ? — F. PL Arnold, LL.B., Hermitage, Emszcorth. 



The Bee and the Willow. — In Mr. Bulman's 

 interesting paper on this subject, he seems to assume 

 that the upholders of the insect selection theory 

 consider the willow to be almost entirely fertilised by 

 " the bee " (presumably Apis mellijica). Miiller has 

 observed over eighty-six species of insects on Salix 

 cinerea, S. caprea, and S. aurita, including forty-six 

 Apidce (twenty-eight of which were Andrence), 

 various Ichneumonid;^, etc., eighteen Syrphida;, 

 Vanessa urtica, abundant, etc. etc. Of course I do. 

 not mean to say this shows that Apis mellifica performs 

 only Jgth of the work of cross-fertilisation, or anything 

 like so small a fraction ; but it does show, I think, 

 that the Salices, if entomophilous, are dependent 

 upon a very wide circle of insect visitors, many of 

 which are unspecialised. Mr. Bulman's charge 

 against the upholders of the theory of natural selec- 

 tion is certainly to a certain extent justified, and his 

 citation of Virgil is ingenious, but the foregoing facts 

 entirely account for the maintenance in Salix of a 

 primitive form and primitive colour. It is evidently 

 one of those genera which have found it advantageous 

 to lay itself out for a large circle of insects (cf. 

 Umbelliferoe, many Ranunculacece and Rosacea;;. 

 As to whether Salix is really entomophilous or 

 anemophilous, it would no doubt be a very strong 

 argument for the ) atter hypothesis, if nearly all the 

 species of insects came only to collect pollen, and 

 therefore only to the male plant ; but the fact is 

 exactly the reverse. Of Midler's list forty-two came 

 only for honey (this is omitting fourteen male Andrenrc 

 which came for honey alone) ; thirty-eight for both' 

 honey and pollen (including nearly all the Andrena;), 

 and one only for pollen alone. Besides this, as is well 

 known, lepidopterists visit sallows on spring nights 

 for the NoctUK which frequent them in great abun- 

 dance ; and these are all honey-suckers. With 

 such a list as the foregoing, I leave your readers 

 to judge whether cross-fertilisation would not 

 be amply effected by the insect visitors. I think 

 there is no doubt that Salix is an exception to 

 the very general rule that diclinic entomophilous 

 flowers are descended from hermaphrodite ancestors ; 

 Salix has inherited its dicHnism straight from the 

 primitive anemophilous phanerogams, having simply 

 become entomophilous, without developing a perianth. 

 — A. G. Tansley. 



Artemisia vulgaris in Colorado. — Last year 

 I found an Artemisia growing in some profusion by 

 Brush Creek, Custer Co., Colorado, and although 



