HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



153 



tinental authorities, who have hitherto not known it 

 to be in England. 



First Group of Succinea putris (Linne), round 

 form. S. putris (Linne), Folkestone, Yorkshire ; 

 var. subglobosa (Pascal), Cambridge ; cha/py (Bandon), 

 Dulwich ; Charpentieri (Dumont), Notts, Yatton ; 

 olivula (Bandon), Charlton ; stagnalis (Gassies), 

 Ipswich ; globuloidea (Clessin), Cambridge. Succinea 

 putris (Linne), long form. S. putris (Linne) ; var. 

 grandis (Hazay), Hammersmith ; limnoidea (Picard), 

 Dublin, Folkestone, Lincoln ; Ferussina (Moq. Tan.), 

 Matlock, Yatton, Folkestone ; Fitz-Geraldiaiia 

 (Hazay), Folkestone. 



Second Group ol Succinea elegans (Risso), and of 

 Succinea Pfeifferi (Rossm.). Succinea ehgans (Risso), 

 Yorkshire, Deal ; var. Bando7iiana (Hazay), York- 

 shire ; .S". P/eifferi (Rossm.), Folkestone, Bristol ; var. 

 propinqjia (Bandon), Hammersmith ; ventricosa 

 (Bandon), Bristol; var. elata (Bandon), Cornwall, 

 Yorkshire; ochracea (Belta), Bristol, Folkestone; 

 contortula (Bandon), Yorkshire ; parvula (Pascal), 

 Southgate. 



Third Group, Succinea oblonga (Drap,). S. oblotiga 

 (Drap.), Swansea; var. humilis (Drouet), Cork. 



It would be possible to increase the list of varieties 

 ad injinitum on slight foundations, but the above are 

 well defined. Collectors, as a rule, do not pay suffi- 

 cient attention to taking only full-grown specimen?, 

 and this leads to making varieties out of what are only 

 juvenile forms. The months of August and Septem- 

 ber are the best for collecting Succineas, as they are 

 then mostly full grown. 



Folkestone. J. Fitz-Gerald. 



ORCHIDS ON THE NORTH DOWNS. 



AS several correspondents recently have given 

 notes of or inquired concerning British 

 orchids, an account of my "captures" during the 

 past season in eight excursions may not be uninterest- 

 ing. These excursions were confined to the North 

 Downs in Surrey and Kent and the adjacent lowlands 

 on the southern side. 



My first excursion was to Penshurst, Kent, during 

 the .Whitsun holiday. There Orchis tnascuia and 

 O. Rlorio were to be found in such profusion as to 

 quite outnumber the "buttercups and daisies." Not 

 in a solitary field, but in every piece]of land laid down 

 for grass, they were in the same abundance. The 

 spikes were mostly large, some with six inches of 

 flowers. The colour varied greatly, from very pale 

 (and in one specimen almost white) purple to a dark, 

 rich purple. I should also mention that on the same 

 occasion I found the wild hyacinth of every inter- 

 mediate shade from dark blue to pure white. 



One specimen had its flowers white with a tinge of 

 a most delicate green. The majority of pure white 



specimens were found in a hedgerow skirting a 

 hop-garden, within an area of a couple of yards, 

 outside which not a single white one was to be 

 found. Apparently the original white variety had 

 reproduced others with a tendency to white flowers 

 and a certain amount of stability had been given to 

 the variety. I intend again visiting the spot and 

 removing a few of the bulbs, to ascertain whether 

 they will continue to produce white flowers. 



Towards the end of June, two friends and I went 

 to Knockholt Beeches, Kent, specially to search for 

 orchids, and well were we rewarded, filling our bags 

 almost exclusively with specimens of the following 

 nine species ; Habenaria albida, a few ; Cephalanthera 

 cnsifolia, plenty ; Aceras anthropophora, two dozen 

 spikes ; Ophrys musci/era, a dozen specimens ; Orchis 

 mascula, a few ; O. macidata, abundant. O. pyra- 

 midalis, plenty ; Gymnadenia coiiopsea, abundant ; 

 and the curious parasitical Neottia Nidus-avis, abun- 

 dant, under beech-trees only. The whole of these 

 were found in an area not exceeding a quarter of a 

 mile broad, and a mile long. The situation shady, 

 facing the south-east. We failed to obtain Ophrys 

 api/era, although we met a collector who had about 

 twenty specimens. The only other plant worth 

 recording we obtained was Daphne laureola in fruit. 



We noticed a remarkable singularity in general 

 appearance of Ophrys ?nuscifera to a small sedge, 

 whose black, ripened seed heads much resembled the 

 "flies " of the orchid, amongst the rank grass. In 

 similar situations Aceras anthropophora, closely 

 resembles the seed heads of various grasses. The 

 colour of Neottia Nidus-avis is the same sombre hue 

 as the dead beech leaves which cover the ground 

 around it. It was only by the most careful search 

 that we secured so many specimens, going over the 

 same ground again and again. 



My next five excursions were all in the neighbour- 

 hood of Red Hill, Surrey, about the end of July 

 and beginning of August. All the above species I 

 obtained again, except Ophrys api/era, of which not 

 a single spike could I find even where I had seen 

 plenty last year. 



Listera ovata was abundant, but had nearly finished 

 flowering. Gymnadenia conopsea was most abundant, 

 giving the air a delicious fragrance ; one specimen 

 measured fully two feet in height, of which quite a 

 third was one mass of blossom. Cephalanthera 

 grandijlora was found in plenty at the bottom of a 

 dark damp wood on the northern slope of a hill, and 

 with it abundance of Circcea lutetiana (enchanter's 

 nightshade). 



Remembering having seen some years ago, when 

 an enthusiast in entomology, a very curious plant in 

 one of my favourite localities, I revisited the spot, 

 and to my intense delight discovered fifteen magnifi- 

 cent spikes of Epipactis latifolia. One of these 

 measured three feet eight inches in height, with leaves 

 which my hand could not cover. 



