March 1, 1S70.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



07 



BOTANY. 



Eragrant Butterbur.— It may interest some 

 of your readers to know that they need not go so 

 far as Torquay to find the Sweet-scented Coltsfoot 

 (Petasites fragrans). It grows in a lane called 

 Coombe Lane, about a mile from Croydon. Here 

 it seems to be much later than at Torquay, flower- 

 ing about February or March. I have also found 

 Bianthus Armeria by the side of a cornfield not far 

 from the same spot. — W. U. Beehj. 



Adiantum Capilltts-Veneris.— As this beautiful 

 fern seems to be gradually extending itself to other 

 counties than Cornwall and Devon, in which only 

 (in England) it has been generally supposed to 

 grow, I think it would be interesting to learn in 

 what other localities it occurs. Your correspondent 

 Mr. Grattann speaks of finding it near Clifton (St. 

 Vincent's Bocks) ; I may add that it also grows at 

 Portland, which, I believe, is a habitat not yet re- 

 corded, though it has flourished there for some few 

 years. I have a specimen given me by a friend 

 there in 1S64, and last summer I found it in the 

 same place, growing in a fissure of rocks by no means 

 easy of access, and therefore not likely to be much 

 disturbed, or nearly eradicated, as has been the case 

 in some parts of Devon.— S. 31. P. 



Violets. — In Jemier's "Elora of Tunbridge 

 Wells," it is stated that Viola flavicornis (Smith, 

 273G E.B.S.) occurs on the Common; but this plate 

 is rightly referred to in Babington's "Manual" 

 (5th edition) as giving V. flavicornis (Foster). I 

 obtained in May, 1S69, several specimens from the 

 Common, where the plant was in abundance, think, 

 ing they were V. lactea. I am assured on competent 

 authority that my plant is typical canina; an ex- 

 amination of the living plant in situ (it grows in the 

 portion between the road to the High Rocks and 

 that to Basthall) would at once decide the point. 

 I did not diagnose my specimens on the spot, nor 

 examine them till some little time had elapsed after 

 gathering them. The flowers are almost a pure 

 white and scentless. — R. T., 31. A. 



Foxglove (p. 43). — Mr. Britten's remarks under 

 this head are very interesting. In the 2nd edition 

 (1736) of N. Bailey's English Dictionary (assisted 

 in the botauical part by P. Miller) the word is given 

 as = Eolag-glovan, i.e. folks-gloves; but in the 2-ith 

 edition (1782), by E. Harwood, as=Eox-gloves. I 

 wish now, however, merely to give two other names 

 for the flower, which may be of use to him in the 

 preparation of his paper on plant-names. In Pol- 

 linius's "Elora Veronensis," vol. ii. p. 328, it is 

 called Cornocopio, and in Jussieu's " Genera Plan- 

 tarum," p. 135 (edit. 1791) Fingerhd. The former 

 writer gives as Italian names for the Bellis perennis, 

 Primo fiore, Protolina, Margheritina. — R. T., 3I.A. 



Rosemary and Rue (p. 39).— The Welsh name 

 Rhos 3Iair for the former plant is, I believe, merely 

 a translation of Bosemary; so translated, perhaps, 

 from a fancied dedication to the Blessed Virgin. 

 Gay writes " Butterflower," not "Buttercup," as 

 quoted by Mrs. Watney. I can scarcely imagine 

 that the Bue was ever placed in nosegays : its 

 abundance in gardens and frequent mention in old 

 books! is rather to be accounted for by its popular 

 repute in medicine than from any partiality to its 

 scent. Mr. Holland, in Science-Gossip for 1867, 

 p. 278, has given a full account of the manner in 

 which the pollen is discharged. — James Britten. 



Bellis perennis. — No record of the occurrence 

 of this plant in Iceland is given in Hooker's Elora of 

 the island ; but a single specimen {vide Prof. Ba- 

 bington's very interesting paper on the "Elora of 

 Iceland ") has been detected amongst some flowers 

 gathered by a gentleman who was not a botanist. 

 A curious question (and one which may interest the 

 readers of Gossip) has been started with reference 

 to the appearance and disappearance of this plant 

 simultaneously with the presence and absence of 

 sheep. Some readers may, perhaps, be able to 

 account for this, if in truth there be any connection 

 between the two. — R.T., 31. A. 



Bibliography op Saprolegniace.e. — 



Pringsheim, N., Nachtrage zur Morphologie der 

 Saprolegnieen. Jahrbiicher fur wissenschaftliche 

 Botanik, ii. p. 2S4 (1S58); t. xix. xx. ii. p. 205, 

 t. xix. (1860). 



Archer, W., On Saprolegniacea?. Proceedings 

 Dublin Microscopical Club, i. pp. 17, 97. 



Archer, W., On two New Species in Saprolegniece. 

 Proceedings Dublin Microscopical Club, i. p. 123. 



Pringsheim, N., Monographic der Achyla proli- 

 fera. Nova Acta Nat. Curios., xxii. p. 1, t. 50. 



Be Bart/, A., Einige neue Saprolegnieen. Prings- 

 heims Jahrbiicher, vol. ii. p. 169 (1860). 



Unger, Br., Becherches sur 1' Achyla prolifera. 

 Ann. des Sc. Nat., 3rd ser., vol. ii. p. 5 (1S11). 



Thuret, G., Becherches sur les Zoospores des 

 Algues Saprolegniees. Ann. des Sc. Nat., 3rd ser., 

 vol. xiv. p. 229 (1850). 



Tide, J. S., Insect Moulds. Sci. Goss., 1865, 

 p. loo. 



Griffith $• Henfrcy, Micrograph ical Dictionary — 

 "Achyla," p. 8 (1860). 



Brauii, A., Rejuvenescence in Nature, pp. 18S, 

 268 (1853). 



Robin, C., Histoire des Vegetaux parasites, p. 372 

 (1853). 



Clenkoicskl, in Botanische Zeitung, xiii. p. 801. 



Nageli, C, Zeitschril't fur Wiss. Bot., i. p. 102, 

 iii. p. 28. 



The foregoing are the principal books and memoirs 

 on this subject, inserted at the request of one of 

 our correspondents. 



