in 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[May 1, 1S67. 



BOTANY. 



Distribution of Plants.— In connection with 

 this subject, it is, I think, quite as interesting and 

 important to notice what species are absent from a 

 district, as it is to record those which occur in it. 

 As an instance of this, I may name the Red Campion 

 {Lychnis diurna), which is at present unknown with- 

 in five miles of High "Wycombe; it is, I believe, 

 scarcely known throughout Cambridgeshire, in 

 which county the Barren Strawberry {Potentilla 

 Pragariastrum) is also said to be very uncommon. 

 In our Wycombe district, well wooded as it is, the 

 Yellow Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense) is found 

 in but a very small portion ; and this is also the 

 case with the Wood Sage {Teucrium Scorodonia). But 

 when we descend to smaller districts, and to even 

 more common plants, we still find the same curious 

 irregularity. In one part of Essex, the Wake- 

 Robin {Arum maculatum) is almost unknown; while 

 a few miles off, every hedge-bottom is filled with it. 

 All who have really, attempted to investigate the 

 botany of any one district in particular, will agree 

 with me that the distribution of plants is in itself 

 a subject of deep interest, and one which deserves 

 far more attention than it has yet obtained. — B. 



A Deodara {Cedrus deodara), in the garden of 

 the Vicarage, Bredwardine, produced two fertile 

 cones last year. On comparing them with cones 

 taken at the same"time[Trom a Cedar of Lebanon in 

 the same garden, the only differences I noticed were, 

 that the cone of the Deodara was smaller and more 

 obtusely' pointed than the Cedar of Lebanon, and 

 was of a looser structure. I have been told that it 

 is by no means uncommon for Deodaras to produce 

 cones in England, but that the trees which do so 

 are generally stunted. This is by no means the case 

 with this one. It is a remarkably well-grown and 

 graceful tree. Its age, as nearly as I can discover, 

 is from 35 to 40 years. — R. B. 



Sensitive Plants. — Your correspondent 

 " J. L. B." will find that the stamens of the Pock 

 Pose {Heliauthemum vidgare) are similarly sensitive 

 to those of the Barberry. The only British species 

 with which I am acquainted which really deserves 

 the name of sensitive plant is the Wood-sorrel 

 {Oxalis acetosellci). If its leaves be roughly han- 

 dled, they will gradually fold up — not in the same 

 wonderfully instantaneous manner as those of the 

 Mimosa, but quite perceptibly, though slowly; 

 but, curiously enough, this property is more evident 

 in some specimens than in others. I first noticed it 

 in some plants of wood-sorrel which I had in culti- 

 vation. The remarkable manner in which the seed 

 is dispersed was also then first brought under my 

 observation. Many plants are sensitive of the 

 approach of rain, but the Oxalis leaves arc the only 

 ones I know which close at the touch. — B. 



Exogens.— When the axe is laid to the roots of 

 the monarch of the woods, and other forest trees, a 

 host of adventitious buds are thrown out from the 

 more -or less remaining stump, which progress, and 

 in some cases bid fair to rival their progenitors. I 

 believe the rule holds good in both deciduous and 

 evergreen Exogens, with the exception of a few 

 genera, from Quercus (the oak) down to the humblest 

 shrub. The Coniferse seem the only kinds, whether 

 young or of more advanced growth, 'that lack the 

 vegetative power in the stump. I have observed the 

 denuded trunk of larch to send forth shoots when 

 laid on the ground, but not one from the former, 

 although'.I have watched closely for a series of years, 

 Have any of your readers observed the same, and can 

 they suggest a cause ? I am aware that if a plant 

 be severed at the junction of radicle, and plumule 

 (termed the neck), it is certain death. Can this be 

 said to apply to trees, such as the larch and pine? — 

 /. Maughan. 



The Mezereon {Daphne Mezereon). — This 

 rare plant is, I am glad to say, not yet extinct in 

 Bucks. I have found it this year in one of its old 

 localities near High Wycombe; and it has been 

 observed also in another wood not far hence. — B. 



The Primrose {Primula vulgaris). — The form 

 of this plant, which is generally known by the name 

 of Oxlip — although the true oxlip {P. elatior, Jacq.) 

 is a widely differing species— is one of the most 

 beautiful and interesting of our spring flowers. A 

 very fine specimen which was brought me the other 

 day had on the same root the umbels elevated on a 

 footstalk, which characterise the oxlip, and the 

 apparently solitary flowers of the primrose. I am 

 inclined to believe that this oxlip is not/as has been 

 asserted, a hybrid between the cowslip and primrose, 

 but rather a development of the latter species. I 

 have found oxlips among primroses frequently, but 

 never among cowslips ; and although they seem to 

 assume a middle position between the two, I fancy 

 the primrose characteristics are always the more 

 defined. Perhaps, after all, Linuseus was in the 

 right when he united all these forms under one 

 species, which he named P. veris. I have been 

 much struck this spring with the curious metamor- 

 phoses which occur in the calyx of the garden 

 polyanthus. In some, this is transformed into a 

 second corolla, under the first; this I have observed 

 in two or three instances, and in widely differing 

 forms. A more curious variation still is that in 

 which the calyx is replaced by leaves, which spread 

 out and far exceed the corolla in size. In some 

 cases these are green, in others green streaked with 

 red, and in texture a curious compound of leaf and 

 petal. This form is very common in our cottage 

 gardens. Perhaps Mr. Holland, who is so well up 

 in monstrosities, may be able to give some ad- 

 ditional examples. — B. 



