Aug. 1, 1807.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



187 



BOTANY. 



"Walking Fern.— I send a specimen of the 

 curious plant Asplenium rhizophyllum or Walking 

 Peru, rare in our neighbourhood. I gathered it at 

 Plat Rock, on the Schuylkill River, about eight 

 miles above Philadelphia. It possesses the curious 

 property of rooting from the end of the leaf, and 

 would soon cover a large space with its matted 

 foliage. Its favourite habitat is rocky woods, or 

 lichen-covered rocks under shady trees. I should 

 be pleased to collect and forward any species of 

 plants growing around here to such of your readers 

 as may think them worth the postage.—*?. W., 

 Philadelphia, U.S. 



Lattice Stinkhorn (Clathrus cancellatus). — 

 On the 14th of June, one of the above-named rare 

 fungi, was brought to me by Mrs. Browne of Ash- 

 field Tor. The species has, I believe, never been 

 found in England, excepting in two localities, in 

 Torquay, and one or two specimens in the Isle of 

 Wight. The first that was found in Torquay was 

 in the grounds of Mrs. Tracey, who gathered it in 

 the egg, or nidus state, and as she carried it into 

 the house, the beautiful lattice-like top suddenly 

 broke through the white upper skin of the cap, and 

 rose into its latticed form. The bars of the lattice 

 work were so like coral, both in colour, and apparent 

 substance, that you might believe them carved out 

 of that substance. The pileus is of the purest 

 snow-white, somewhat reticulated, white veinings. 

 The hollow part at the bottom cap is full of a 

 green slime of the most detestable odour. The 

 late Mrs. Griffiths, the well-known algologist, 

 figured the specimens found by Mrs. Tracey ; 

 Miss Griffiths also brought me several specimens 

 in different stages. It was ten or twelve years 

 ago that I had these specimens from Miss Griffiths, 

 and about two years afterwards, some little girls 

 brought me two or three fine ones from Ashfield, 

 the only place, excepting those in Mrs. Tracey's 

 grounds, where I have heard of their being found. 

 Since that time I have not seen a Clathrus 

 cancellatus, until this one was brought me this 

 month. If any of the readers of Science-Gossip 

 has seen or heard of this fungus at any other place 

 in England than those I have named, I shall feel 

 obliged by information on the subject. The smell of 

 all that I have had has been so offensive that I could 

 not bear them even on a passage table and under a 

 bell glass, and was obliged to keep them out of 

 doors— 31. D. P. 



The Orobanche Picridis.— Picris Broom-rape 

 occurs in Dorset in such quantity that, on my farm 

 between Yeovil and Sherborne, I have estimated 

 that in a field of clover are 11,073 plants to the 

 acre ; and as the parasite when compared with the 



clover, presents the same difference in size, as the 

 cuckoo and the water wagtail, it may be guessed 

 what mischief it does to the crop. I find this 

 species here on several kinds of clovers and their 

 allies, in the fields, Picris heracioides in the hedge- 

 rows, and I found a specimen on a pelargonium in 

 my greenhouse; and to-day I have taken up a 

 parsley root with this species of broom-rape at- 

 tached. It is the only species I have found here, 

 and an examination of it inclines me to think that 

 there is some confusion in th£ nomenclature of our 

 broom-rapes, as I find specimens varying iu size 

 from two or three inches to twenty inches in height. 

 Occasionally too, but very rarely, they are branched, 

 but in all the examples I have examined the fold 

 at the upper lip simulating a notch (see Syme's 

 description, "English Flora," vol .vi.) is very sig- 

 nificant. I confess to having doubts about the 

 difference in species, from our present plant and 

 Orobanche minor.— J. B. 



Varieties or Perns.— I have found wild in the 

 woods here, Lastrcea fili.v-mas, var. cristata, for 

 which Moore, in "Nature-printed Perns," only gives 

 two places in Devonshire. Also, Athyrmm filix- 

 fccjiiiua, var. polydactylum, and Scolopendrium vul- 

 gare, var. multiforme. — W. 2). R., Lonsdale, West- 

 moreland. 



A. Stick without an End.— There may be 

 seen in the churchyard at Shaftesbury, a somewhat 

 remarkable freak of nature. In the language of the 

 foreman at the gas-works, it is " a stick without an 

 end." A branch of a goodly elm has grown into, 

 and become part of another branch of the same 

 tree, in such wise that it has become really " a 

 stick without an end." — //. Poclclington. 



The Oxlip. — It appears to me that a great deal 

 of the uncertainty with regard to this plant, arises 

 from its being so often confused with the variety 

 caulescens, of P. vulgaris, which it somewhat 

 closely resembles. This is very common in many 

 parts of the country, and will be often found to 

 have single primroses on the same plant, P. veris, 

 may have claims to hybridity, but after examining 

 great numbers of individuals, the specific distinc- 

 tions always remain well-defined and clear. The 

 only point upon which I feel misgivings, is that it 

 occurs at wide intervals, and has a very limited 

 distribution in those localities, whereas, it ought 

 to be as abundant, c/Heris paribus, as the prim- 

 rose or cowslip. If your correspondents will con- 

 sult Professor Babington's Manual of Botany, they 

 will find the characters well given. The leaves 

 abruptly contracted below ; the lanceolate-toothed 

 calyx, the points of which arc reflected when the 

 plant is in fruit ; the concave corolla-limb ; and 

 open mouth ; abundantly serve to distinguish P. 

 veris from all others. — L. 



