Jan. 1, 1870.] 



HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



19 



BOTANY. 



Trees.— Amongst the trees of the wood there is 

 a vast variety ; the sturdy oak, the flexile willow, 

 the solid maple, the graceful ash, the terraced cedar, 

 with cones upraising through each grassy-looking 

 lawn of tender leafery ; the larch, in lieu of bells 

 hanging its scarlet blossoms from every pointed arch 

 of its green pagoda ; the stiff stout holly, disdainful 

 of the breeze ; the fidgety aspen, all in a flutter at 

 the faintest sigh ; the spacious chestnut, enclasping 

 the glebe in its bountiful branches ; the strict, 

 solemn cypress, with every oppressed twiglet point- 

 ing straight up to heaven. As with the form, so 

 with the bark or the timber : the ebony sinking like 

 stone, the cork on the crest of the billow ; the elder 

 so soft and spongy, the box in its firm structure 

 retentive of the finest engraving; the homely deal, 

 the thyme-veneer emulating the spots of the panther, 

 or the plumes of the peacock, — beautiful some, but 

 useful all, and not to be interchanged with advan- 

 tage. An aspen bow would be no better than a 

 yew-tree lance ; you do not choose the fir for the 

 prince's table ; and even England's oak would make 

 a sorry mast for " some great ammiral." — Br. James 

 Hamilton's " Pearl of Parables," p. 154. 



" Symphytum tuberosum," p. 13S. — This habitat 

 has been copied into the " additions, &c.," to the 

 admirable Middlesex Mora, p. 425, without com- 

 ment. Now, the plant is well known to occur in the 

 neighbouring county of Herts, and I myself found 

 it (May, 1867) in the narrow strip of Herts which is 

 figured in the Flora map with East Barnet for its 

 centre. Is the vicinity of this spot the one intended 

 by Mr. White ? It would come within his descrip- 

 tion of a few miles north of London.— li. T. M. A. 



Saxifraga hyfnoides.— Is it common to find 

 Saxifraga lnjpnoid.es flowering a second time in the 

 same year ? So far as this locality is concerned, I 

 can answer that such second inflorescence is of very 

 rare occurrence. I have never observed it until 1 he 

 present season, when I fouud this species flowering 

 abundantly in November on our Black Mountain. 

 I gathered some specimens ; the flowers were large 

 and fine, but invariably sessile, seated iu the midst 

 of a rosette of three-lobed leaves. Our winter so 

 far has not been unusually mild, but rather the 

 reverse. — S. A. S., Belfast. 



Curious Form op the Common Beed. — 

 Southerness is a small headland situated in Kirkcud- 

 brightshire, on the shores of the Solway. As its 

 name imports, it is the most southerly point in that 

 part of North Britain. In its neighbourhood are 

 many objects worthy the attention of the geologist 

 and botanist. The granite, the carboniferous lime- 

 stone, and some of the Silurian beds are strangely 

 intermixed, contorted, and upheaved. Many fossils 

 may be picked up, and whole beds of corals seen. 



For the botanist there is the very rare plant, 

 Epimedium alpinum (barren wort), growing most 

 luxuriantly in the grounds of Arbigland, seemingly 

 quite wild, but no doubt planted at some time. But 

 my intention is not to speak of the general botany 

 of the district, but to mention a peculiar state of one 

 particular plant. Walking along the sea-shore one 

 day I came upon several specimens of the common 

 reed (Arundo phragmites) lying quite prostrate or 

 ereeping along the ground. Not expecting that this 

 was ever its natural state, I endeavoured to account 

 for it by supposing that some unusually high tide 

 had overflowed it, and that, breaking it down, it had 

 not regained its upright position. It seems, how- 

 ever that the stems do sometimes grow naturally in 

 this prostrate state. Sowerby, in his "British 

 Grasses," says, "sometimes, though rarely." In 

 the " Phytologist," old series, vol. i., p. 146, it is 

 stated that this form occurs on some of the land- 

 slips in the Isle of Wight. It seems to have been 

 first noticed by Bay, in his " Synopsis," in which 

 he speaks of " Gramen arundinaceum, 30 pedes 

 longuiu." This does seem a monstrosity, but the 

 truth is even stranger than this, for some specimens 

 have since been found at the same place fifty feet 

 long. The Southerness plants were certainly not 

 equal to these— very little longer than the common 

 upright ones, but they had the same peculiarity, 

 though lying along the ground, of not rooting at the 

 joints, and of making no attempt at flowering. 

 Perhaps some of the readers of Science-Gossip may 

 have observed this state of the plant in other 

 localities. I only wish to record Southerness as a 

 place where it may be found. — 11. IF. 



A Quaint Name. — Most people who have had 

 anything to do with the Canadian blood-root 

 {Sanguinaria Canadensis) must be aware of the dark 

 red blood-like juice of the bruised or broken roots. 

 On receiving a list of plants the other day, this plant 

 was called " the bleeding nun," which, though very 

 fanciful, is certainly indicative of the peculiarities 

 of the plant, and one where the reason for the name 

 is apparent. Perhaps it is generally known, that 

 this juice, or blood, is highly charged with 

 raphides. — Thomas Williams, Bath Lodge, Ormskirk. 



Potentilla eruticosa.— As this plant is con- 

 sidered " rare," perhaps I may be allowed to men- 

 tion an unrecorded station for it. Some years ago, 

 I detected it sparingly on limestone rocks, about one 

 hundred yards due east of Wether Kellet Church, 

 about eight .miles beyond Lancaster, having been 

 acquainted with this plant as a shrubbery plant for 

 many years. It was by the merest chance it was 

 recognized, so great was the disparity between the 

 wild plant and the cultivated one. On the lime- 

 stone crags overlooking the village of Kellet, may 

 be found the beautiful Ophrys muscifera. — Thomas 

 Williams. 



