Mav 1, 1868.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



99 



they all three run so much one into another as 

 not to be distinguishable with certainty even as 

 varieties." 31. caspitosa is, however, common 

 enough in most districts, and when seen growing 

 with 31. palustris, seems sufficiently distinct from it. 

 2. The Scorpion-Grasses. — Happy must be the 

 botanist who has found on the Breadalbane 

 Mountains, or in favoured Teesdale, the Rock Scor- 

 pion-Grass {31. alpestris). Even in scientific books 

 it receives a tribute of admiration: Babington 

 speaks of it as having "large, handsome blue 

 flowers, • sweet-scented in the evening." Another 

 writer says that they " grow at first in such dense 

 clusters as almost to form heads, though they after- 

 wards become racemed." The extreme rarity of 

 this species adds to its interest, for the preceding 

 localities are all that have been recorded for it. Mr. 

 Bentham unites it with 31. sylvatica ; but Mr. Wat- 

 son says, " I cannot say that the cultivation of it for 

 a few years in my garden has much tended to con- 

 vince me of the accuracy of this view." (Cybele, ii. 

 272-3.)— The Wood Scorpion-Grass {M. sylvatica) 

 is another lovely plant, found in woods in the north, 

 and more rarely in the south of England. Merrett 

 notices it in 1667, and Ray gives a very good figure 

 in the 'Synopsis' (1724); but Withering refers 

 Ray's figure to 31. arvensis "when growing in a 

 damp and shaded situation." There can be little 

 doubt, however, that the true M. sylvatica was 

 known to the earlier writers named. Gardeners 

 have lately employed the Wood Scorpion-Grass with 

 great effect in the " spring gardening " which has 

 now attained such perfection at Cliefden and else- 

 where. In small gardens it is a most useful plant, 

 blossoming freely from April untd June, if the 

 earlier flower-stems be clipped when past blooming : 

 it increases very rapidly by offshoots, and, when per- 

 mitted, seeds abundantly. It is a good plan to pre- 

 serve the young seedlings for the next year's plant- 

 ing out : the old plants, where space is an object, 

 can then be thrown away. The leaves of the.Wood 

 Scorpion-Grass are longer and broader than those 

 of 31. palustris, and are very hairy ; the blossoms 

 are large, of a brilliant blue. The pretty little 

 Omphalodes verna, which has almost heart-shaped 

 leaves, creeping scions, and fewer though more 

 brilliant flowers, is sometimes miscalled a Myosotis ; 

 the blossoms bearing a general resemblance to those 

 of this genus. — The species which we have hitherto 

 considered are perennials .- our next is an annual or 

 biennial plant,— the Mouse-ear Scorpion-Grass 

 (M. arvensis). This is, next to the Forget-me-not, 

 the best-known species, and to it all the land 

 Scorpion-Grasses were formerly -referred. It grows 

 in fields and by roadsides, usually in dry, but some- 

 times in damp places. The flowers are a miniature 

 likeness of those of M. palustris ; the leaves and 

 stems are very soft and hairy ; the former gave rise 

 to the English name of the species, and the Latin 



one of the genus, 3Iyosotis being derived from two 

 Greek words, signifying a mouse's ear. 31. arvensis 

 is a very variable plant, in damp, shady places at- 

 taining a considerable height, and having larger 

 flowers : this form, called by botanists /3. umbrosa, 

 is occasionally mistaken for the Wood Scorpion- 

 Grass by those unacquainted with that plant. The 

 Mouse-ear Scorpion-Grass begins to blossom about 

 the middle of April, and continues in flower until 

 the end of June. 



II. Fugacious.— Annual plants. The Early Scor- 

 pion-Grass (M. collind) is a pretty though not very 

 common species, growing on dry banks, walls, and 

 the roofs of cottages. It is not often that the colour 

 of a flower is considered of sufficient importance to be 

 relied on in distinguishing one species from another ; 

 but we may remark its value in connection with 

 3Iyosotis collina. In most, if not all, of the species 

 in our first section, the buds are more or less tinged 

 with pink ; indeed, in 31. palustris and 3£. arvensis 

 the newly-expanded flowers are often entirely pink. 

 In 31. versicolor (which we have yet to consider) 

 the blossoms, when first open, are yellow ; but in 

 M. collina they are " unchangeably blue," and of a 

 darker shade than those of our other species. The 

 Early Scorpion-Grass may possibly be confounded 

 with 31. arvensis, from which Mr. Bentham hints 

 that it may not be specifically distinct ; but its small 

 size, darker and smaller flowers, and earlier ap- 

 pearance, will help to distinguish it. It is usually 

 past blossoming, and, in dry situations, burnt up 

 altogether, by the time that the blossoms of 

 31. arvensis become conspicuous. When the flowers 

 first open, they appear as though in small round 

 clusters, so embedded are they in the soft, hairy 

 leaves ; but in due time they lengthen into slender 

 one-sided racemes, when we shall notice that one 

 flower grows by itself in the axil of the uppermost 

 leaf. — The Particoloured Scorpion-Grass (M. versi- 

 color) is not uncommon in a variety of situations, — 

 on dry banks and walls, or in damp meadows. It is 

 larger than the preceding, and may be known from 

 it, as from any other British species, by its blossoms, 

 which, when they first expand, are white or yellow, 

 frequently (though not always) becoming blue 

 before they fall off. Like M. sylvatica, this species 

 was known to Merrett and Ray : Withering seems 

 to regard it as a form of M. arvensis, and places it 

 under that plant, observing that " in dry situations 

 the blue border of the blossom is very small, and 

 sometimes is scarcely expanded at all, so that the 

 blossom appears yellow." Miss Pratt says that she 

 has seen it with crimson flowers. The calyx is 

 usually of a purplish hue. The blossoms expand in 

 May, and the plant, when growing in dry places, is 

 frequently withered up by the end of June ; in damp 

 meadows, however, it attains greater luxuriance, 

 and lasts somewhat longer. 



With regard to the drying of the species of 



E 2 



