174 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 1868. 



" Its palate is streaked with numerous anastomos- 

 ing lines, not a few and simple, as in U. vulgaris" — 

 Flora of Essex, p. 247. In Babington's " Manual," 

 however, attention is chiefly directed to the upper 

 lip of .the corolla, which in U. vulgaris about equals, 

 but in U. neglecta is nearly three times as long as 

 the palate. U. neglecta has bladders on both stem 

 and leaves ; in U. vulgaris, these are found only on 

 the leaves. 



The Blue Pimpernel (Anagallis ccerulea) has long 

 been a " bone of contention " among botanists, 

 some urging that it is a mere variety of A. arvensis, 

 others asserting its claims to be ranked as a species. 

 We rather incline to Mr. Borrer's opinion that, 

 although probably distinct, "each varies with red 

 or blue flowers."— {Bab. Man.) We have found 

 A. ccerulea in two localities near Wycombe for two 

 or three years consecutively ; it seems a more wiry 

 plant than A. arvensis, with more erect habit. 

 Some correspondence took place on the subject in 

 " Loudon's Magazine of Natural History," Professor 

 Henslow strongly maintaining the specific identity 

 of the two forms, which, indeed, the result of his 

 experiments certainly tended to show. 



We will now take an illustration from the Or- 

 chidacefc. The Butterfly Orchis, formerly known 

 as Habenaria bifolia, is now shown to present two 

 very distinct forms. And here, again, we have a 



Fig. 170. Viola Reichenbachiana. Fig. 1"1. Viola Riviniana. 



very good opportunity of noticing that, although 

 the botanical distinction between the two may 

 seem slight, it receives additional importance from 

 the wide difference in appearance which exists 

 between them. If we pluck a flower-spike of the 

 common Butterfly Orchis which grows in woods and 

 bushy places, we shall notice in each flower that the 

 anther-cells are " twice as distant at the base as they 

 are at the top" (figs. 1G6, 167) ; this is //. chlorantha. 

 We may perhaps find on a common another But- 

 terfly Orchis, bearing a general resemblance to 

 H. chlorantha, but altogether smaller ; and if wc 

 examine a blossom of this, we shall observe that 

 the anther-cells are parallel ; this is the true //. 

 bifolia (figs. 168, 169). II. chlorantha is usually 

 about a foot or a foot and a half high, with broad 

 root-leaves, and a lax spike ; II. bifolia is shorter, 

 with narrower leaves, and a slender, rather dense, 

 spike of smaller flowers. The latter is only re- 

 corded from one locality in Hertfordshire, and we 



know of but one place in Buckinghamshire where 

 it grows ; it appears to be unfrequent in Essex, and 

 in Cambridgeshire is unknown ; II. chlorantha, on 

 the contrary, if not absolutely common, is at any 

 rate widely distributed throughout these counties. 

 As a general rule, it may be supposed that most of 

 the earlier references to //. bifolia should be trans- 

 ferred to II. chlorantha. 



Fig. 172. Leaves of Water Plantain. 



Our last example is the Water Plantain (fig. 172). 

 The common form of this, as far as our own observa- 

 tion goes, has lanceolate leaves, gradually narrowed 

 into the footstalk («); and this, although usually re- 

 corded as Alisma Plantago, is distinguished from that 

 species by the name of A. lanceolatum. Withering 

 first applied this latter name to a form " not more 

 than an inch or two in height;" but modern 

 botanists have extended its application. In the 

 true A. Plantago, the leaves are shorter, broader (b), 

 and " suddenly contracted, or even heart-shaped at 

 the base." — Flora of Essex, p. 325. In the work 

 quoted, Mr. Newbould gives several other distinc- 

 tions between the two, and intimates that A. lan- 

 ceolatum " may be a good species." The two often 

 grow together. The specimens which first arrested 

 our attention, and from which the accompanying 

 drawings are taken, were collected in the Ouse, at 

 Buckingham. 



Here then, we leave our " splits." Wc have not 

 entered upon their merits; they exist, and it rests 

 with our readers to examine and form their own 

 conclusions. B. 



