Jan. 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



11 



and yellow until the end of the season. As the year 

 •went on, these variegated leaves became more re- 

 markable ; so much so that, were I to give a list of 

 all that I have observed, I should enumerate nearly 

 a hundred species. Perhaps the most ornamental 

 was a plant of the Ribwort Plantain {Plantago 

 lanceolate?) which I found near Knutsford : each 

 leaf had a broad lohite — not yellow — border, throw- 

 ing up the green centre with great effect. At 

 Llanfairfechan, North Wales, I found a plant of 

 Silverweed {Potentilla anserina) with the leaflets 

 half yellow and half green. Doubtless many readers 

 will call to mind additional examples. 



Again, the general drought which prevailed in the 

 summer months produced a curious effect upon the 

 autumn vegetation. We shall notice, almost every 

 season, that a few odd plants of certain species will 

 put forth a second crop of blossoms in the autumn ; 

 but I have never observed this second crop so 

 general as it was last year. While in Cheshire, 

 at the end of September, I noticed that the 

 Meadow Crowfoot {Ranunculus acris) was every- 

 where coming into flower ; and on my return 

 to Wycombe the same occurrence was equally 

 conspicuous. The Dogwood (Cormis sanguinea) 

 flowered twice ; how many times the honey- 

 suckle blossomed I am quite unable to say ; certainly 

 three, probably four. The Marsh Marigold {Call ha 

 palustris) and Wood Stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum) 

 were in flower at Mobberley at the end of Sep- 

 tember ; the Garlic Mustard [Alliaria officinalis) 

 blossomed again, in October, at Wycombe ; and a 

 turnip-field near Great Marlow was in the middle 

 of November almost filled with Erysimum cheiran- 

 tho'ides and Penny Cress (Thlaspi arvense), just 

 coming into bloom. These, and many other instances, 

 suggest that a complete second crop was produced, 

 the first having seed sufficiently early to allow of 

 such an occurrence. 



As to monstrosities and malformations, they have 

 been unusually abundant ; but an abler hand than 

 mine has undertaken to describe them. 



Many aquatic plants, deprived of what would 

 seem their natural element, have, contrary to what 

 might have been expected, flourished most 

 luxuriantly. I first noticed this near Aylesbury in 

 July, where the Arrowhead [{Sagittaria sagittifolia) 

 was growing in large masses in the almost dried-up 

 bed of a stream. Water-lilies (Nymphaa alba and 

 Nuphar luted) were similarly benefited by this 

 change of circumstance. Mr. Holland states that 

 Utricularia minor, growing in pools containing but 

 little water, was flowering freely at Oakmere ; this 

 species seldom blossoms in ordinary seasons. The 

 Pillwort (Pilularia globulifera), in the same locality, 

 formed masses, green and luxuriant as grass, many 

 yards in extent. Many bog plants, however, had 

 been seriously affected ; on Lindow Common, 

 Cheshire, the Sundews {Drosera rotundifolia and 



D. anglica), except in a few places, did not put in 

 an appearance ; Andromeda polifolia flowered three, 

 if not four, times.* 



On the road between Mobberley and Knutsford 

 are three or four beech-trees ; these had, apparently, 

 been killed by the heat ; their leaves were in august 

 shrivelled and brown. At the end of September, 

 however, after the showery weather, I observed 

 young green leaves appearing at the ends of several 

 of the branches. 



Mr. Holland has referred (Science-Gossip iii., 

 p. 249) to the growth of fresh shoots from the axils 

 of the leaves on the dead main stem of many plants. 

 Here, at High Wycombe, the same thing has been 

 noticeable. 



In the Field of September 19th a correspondent 

 says that there were two regular swarms of bees on 

 September 1st in a garden in the parish of Shiplake, 

 Henley-on-Thames. The editor thinks that these 

 were cases of desertion of the hive for want of food, 

 and that the correspondent was mistaken. It 

 seems, however, quite likely that the bees were mis- 

 taken in the season, and did swarm, as many plants 

 had put on an appearance of spring. In fact, the 

 bees probably did not swarm before, because of the 

 scarcity of food ; but they did then, because there 

 was a new supply. Bees do not generally desert a 

 hive en masse, but dwindle away, usually leaving a 

 considerable number of dead ones behind. 



Other entomological occurrences— such as the 

 great number of " whites " recorded from many 

 places, the absence of wasps, the appearance of 

 rare moths and butterflies — I leave to be recorded 

 in detail by those who devote themselves to their 

 observation. B. 



POPPY-SEEDS. 



FN continuation of the theme of "Microscopic 

 -■- Seeds," commenced in our November number, 

 we offer figures and descriptions of a few seeds 

 from the Poppy family, known to botanists as the 

 Papaveracea. There is undoubtedly a great simi- 

 larity in the seeds of the true Poppies themselves, 

 or at least in all we have had the opportunity of 

 examining, but the different genera of the order 

 present peculiar types, which will be seen to differ 

 entirely from those of the Poxglove family (Scro- 

 phulariacece) already described. 



The Opium Poppy {Papaver somniferuni) has two 

 varieties of seeds, the one called "white-seeded," 

 with pale buff-coloured seeds, and the other " grey- 

 seeded," with pale slate-coloured seeds. Micro- 

 scopically, there is no difference, save in the colour. 

 The form is kidney-shaped, and the surface reticu- 

 lated, so as to leave shallow hexagonal pits, which 



* See Science-Gossip iii., p. 162. 



