64 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



reason has been assigned for tliis peculiar pheno- 

 menon, which does not exist only in this species, 

 bat may be seen in several buttercups. The changes 

 going on in the petals of the Alkanet, Evening 

 Primrose, &c., are different to the Pilewort. In the 

 Evening Primrose the corolla does not suffer the 

 loss of colour ; it is only more intense, as from light 

 yellow often to bright pink, or purple; on the 

 contrary, the Alkanet changes from blue to pink. 

 May not the following be assigned as one reason for 

 this change ?— at all events it is in harmony with 

 first principles. At the season when the Pilewort 

 begins to bloom, very few flowers are to be met 

 with. The brilliant petals may then be designed to 

 attract the honey-bee, so as to bring about more 

 effectually the fertilization of the ovules : this 

 being a accomplished, the corolla begins at once to 

 exhibit the white blotches. After the whitened 

 and withered-looking petals appear, the bee never 

 visits the flower. I speak now from my own 

 limited observation, which may not be in strict 

 accordance with the observations of other botanists. 

 The carpels are but loosely placed on the receptacle, 

 and are easily displaced. If they fall before they 

 are fully matured, of course germination cannot 

 take place : thus the speckled petals may be pro- 

 duced solely to repel bees and other insects. The 

 petals vary much, both in number and size ; this 

 may depend to a great extent on the richness or 

 fertility of the soil in which they are growing. The 

 R. ficaria of Linnaeus is now divided into two 

 very distinct varieties, recognized chiefly by the 

 variation in the leaf {see Syme's " English Botany ")• 

 The botanical reader will do well to keep a look- 

 out this spring, as their distribution does not seem 

 to be well ascertained. The one named R. divercjer.s, 

 E. Schultz, appears the most frequent ; whereas, so 

 far as I am informed, the R. incumbeus is rare in 

 our northern counties.— /c/zwes F. Rohinson. 



Abnormal Ericas. — Mr. Britten draws atten- 

 tion, in the Journal of Botany, to an anandrous 

 variety of Ulrica ciiierea, from Wiltshire, which 

 has year after year brought forth similar blossoms. 

 Their appearance is very remarkable, and due to 

 the fact that both corolla and stamens were want- 

 ing. The specimens are interesting on account of 

 their apparent permanence. 



Hymenophyllum Tuni?ridgexse.~I beg to say 

 that I know a locality for this fern not far from 

 Llanberis. It grows, in company with 11. JFilsoni, 

 in a somewhat dangerous "place, but was procured 

 for me by a native about eighteen months ago. — 

 R. M. Middle ion. 



Belfast Naturalists' Pield Club.— The eightli 

 annual report of this flourishing club has just been 

 issued. Among other interesting material there 

 are given several localities for some of the more in- 



teresting plants of the district ; among others, — 

 Carex strigosa, C. districha, Arenaria trinervis, 

 Tortida recurviflora, Orthotrichum leiocarpum, and 

 many others, some of which have not been before 

 recorded. 



The Elora of Berkshire. — Mr. James Britten, 

 of th3 British Museum, has just published what he 

 modestly terms "Contributions" to the flora of the 

 above county, but which is a most valuable sum- 

 mary of the botanical knowledge of that part of 

 Eaglaud. It takes the form of a list, showing how 

 much is known, and how much more remains to be 

 known, of the distribution of the species found 

 within its limits. Altogether the enumeration of 

 the species may be looked upon as a record of the 

 pknts known to exist in Berkshire in, or pre- 

 viously to, 1871. The county has been divided into 

 five districts, for the purposes of floral distribution. 

 The authorities quoted, from old GerarJe down- 

 wards, are very numerous, and Mr. Britten may be 

 congratulated for having successfully accomplished 

 a very difficult and onerous task. The list contains 

 no fewer than SM species. 



Mosses of the London District. — Mr. T. 

 Howse asks in the January number of Science- 

 GossiT for habitats of mosses near London. The 

 following list contains some tliat I found while re- 

 siding in London five or six years ago. In com- 

 municating them, I must express the hope that the 

 rapacity of collectors will not exterminate those that 

 the inevitable encroachments of bricks and mortar 

 have hitherto spared. I would reccommend col- 

 lectors to explore Ilampstead Heath well, espe- 

 cially a bog in the farther part ; also the banks and 

 walls bordering the road from Hampstead to High- 

 gate. A walk from Mill Hill through the lanes 

 by Sheuley to St. Albans also yielded mc many 

 species. Another good day's walk was from Barnes 

 Common (where many rare plants are to be found) 

 up the lane leading to Iloehampton ; thence across 

 Wimbledon Common to Combe Wood : Sphagnum 

 acutifoliim, Ilampstead Heath ; ^S". ojmhifolium, 

 Wimbledon ; S. squarrosum, Walthamstow ; Phas- 

 cum subulatum, Stanmore Heath; Weissia contro- 

 versa, banks of road from Hampstead to Highgate ; 

 IF. cirrhata, on old paling in lane from Barnes Com- 

 mon to Iloehampton ; Dicranum scoparium, Hamp- 

 stead ; I). hetcromallHm, Clapham Common ; Pottia 

 truncata. Old Oak Common ; Didymodon rubellus, 

 Highgate; Tortula muralis, Kilburn; T. subidiita, 

 Elstree; Atrichum undulatum, Combe Wood, Shen- 

 ley ; Pogonutum naniim, Hampstead Heath ; Poly' 

 trichum commune, Barnes and AVimbledon Commons ; 

 P. juniperinnm, Barnes Common; Aulacomniuni 

 palustre, Hampstead and Roeliampton ; A. androgy- 

 «//»/, Barnes and St. Albans; Bryum nutans, Wimble- 

 don Common ; B. capillare, Mitcham ; B. argentenm, 

 Kilburn ; Milium hormim,, Highgate ; Funaria hygro- 



