258 



HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE . G OS SIP. 



or four wings to the fruit. It may, perhaps, suggest 

 an explanation of this phenomenon that this year 

 has been an unusually fruitful one for several other 

 plants. The white Beam-tree [Pyriis Aria), which 

 last year did not, I believe, flower at all with us, was 

 this season loaded with blossoms. The common Nut, 

 the Hornbeam, and also the wild Plum and Cherry, 

 have borne much above the average. It is a common 

 notion that a fruitful year is followed by a certain 

 number of less fruitful ones in a regular series. Is 

 this really the case ? May not the mildness of last 

 winter account for the vigorous growth of the recent 

 season ? — IVm. E. Green. 



Hybrid Primula. — As far as I can judge from 

 his description, your correspondent B. W. Hant's 

 "oxlip" or "hybrid" is a "common occurrence," 

 but neither an oxlip nor a hybrid. The true Oxlip 

 {Primula elaiior), according to Hooker's " Student's 

 Flora," occurs in Suffolk, Cambridge, and Essex; 

 differs from the primrose {Primula vulgaris) in having 

 inodorous flowers, a less inflated calyx, and a capsule 

 longer than the calyx-tube ; and from hybrids be- 

 tween the Primrose and Cowslip {Primula vcris) in 

 having a more downy calyx, paler flowers, and the 

 mouth of the corolla-tube wide, and without the 

 thickened folds seen in the Primrose. B. W. Hant's 

 specimen seems to have been a simple primrose, but 

 it is difficult to understand from his words, "the 

 oxlip had a large thick stalk and flower," whether it 

 was a case of " fasciation " or fusion of several flower- 

 stalks, a phenomenon familiar to us in the Cockscomb 

 {Celosia crista ta), in which case several flowers would 

 be also fused, or whether it was, as I expect, only a 

 prolongation of the common flower-stalk or peduncle. 

 This last I have often seen in the Primrose, wild and 

 in gardens. It must not be wondered at, seeing that 

 the inflorescence of the species is as truly an umbel 

 as that of the Cowslip, the individual flower-stalks 

 being only pedicels. The only difference in inflo- 

 rescence between Primrose and Cowslip is that the 

 umbel of the former is usually sub-sessile, not pe- 

 duncled. In the Chinese and Japanese primulas we 

 have further pedunculation, producing the tier-on-tier 

 arrangement of the flowers.— G^. S. Boitlger. 



Malvern Forest and Chase.— A deeply inter- 

 esting little book has just been written by Mr. Edwin 

 Lees, F.L.S., on "The Forest and Chase of Mal- 

 vern, its Present and Ancient State" — botanical, 

 archaeological, and historical. We have been delighted 

 with its perusal, and with the accounts of the re- 

 markable old trees still to be found within the con- 

 fines of the Chase. Most of these trees have been 

 artistically and vigorously sketched by Mr. Lees, and 

 now illustrate his work. The pamphlet is a re]irint 

 from the " Transactions of the Malvern Naturalists' 

 Field Club." 



Botanical Notes in the Neighbourhood 

 OF Cader Idris. — In replying to the comments of 



Dr. Lees upon my Notes, I would observe: i. 

 Hypericum ??iontanum ; this plant has smce been 

 recorded as also found by Mr. Robert Holland in 

 the same locality. 2. Epilobium tdragoniun ; possibly 

 another species, but certainly not angiistifoUuin, 

 Avhich grows plentifully near here. 3. Alliitm 

 Ampeloprasiim J should manifestly have been nrsi' 

 num, by an oversight. 4. Drosera intermedia; 

 such I still consider were the plants found, as deter- 

 mined with the aid of three authorities, and not the 

 larger anglica. Most of the two species of Droserce 

 I found were from the boggy shores of Llyn Creigenen, 

 a lake of moderate altitude, although but a short 

 distance removed from the precipitous face of Cader 

 Idris. I kept, for about six weeks, a number of 

 both kinds alive at home, for observation with 

 Darwin's work on Insectivorous Plants, after which 

 time they slowly died. 5. Aspletihim septentrionale ; 

 on the 24th of August I forwarded to Dr. Lees three 

 pieces of this rare fern, in a living state, which Pugh 

 of Dolgelly had then sent me from Cader Idris. 

 6. Saxifraga nivalis ; one specimen only is men- 

 tioned, which fuay have been a small form of stellaris, 

 a species it much resembles. 7. Linaria Cymbalaria ; 

 the locality among the mountains was sufficiently 

 wild, nevertheless this plant may not be truly indige- 

 nces in this country. Babington, in his seventh 

 edition, 1874, is silent upon this ■p'^mi.- -Horace 

 Pearce, F.L.S. 



Cotoneaster vulgaris. — Mr. Colebrook, in 

 September number of Science-Gossip ,says that the 

 above plant is extinct on the Great Ormes Head. 

 This is not the case. Mr. Thomas Shortt, in the 

 Gardener's Chronicle, 13th Januar>', 1877, says : "In 

 company with a friend, a few days back, I saw it 

 growing in two distinct places. It is much relished 

 by sheep, which devour eveiy leaf they can obtain, 

 which makes the plant now difficult to find. There 

 is one plant growing in the centre of a Whitethorn 

 bush, very 'healthy.'" — M. King. 



GEOLOGY. 



American Palaeontology. — Students of Ameri- 

 can Palreontology will find the work recently written 

 by Mr. S. A. Miller on "American Palceozoic 

 Fossils " exceedingly valuable. It contains a laboured 

 catalogue of all the genera and species, together with 

 names of authors, dates, places of publication, groups 

 of rocks in which the fossils have been found, and 

 the etymology of the words employed in nomen- 

 clature. Prefacing the catalogue of fossils is a capital 

 introductory chapter on the stratigraphy of the 

 American Paleozoic rocks. This work is published 

 in London by Triibner &; Co. 



The Geology of Leicestershire and Rutland. 

 — We have received a copy of a short, Jjut compact 

 and well- written brochure on the geology of the above 



