Mr. C. C. Babington on Hypericum anglicum. 93 



not contained in Dr. Power's very carefully prepared Flora of 

 Cork (1845), and therefore was not known to him as a native, or 

 even a naturalized plant. He was particularly careful to include 

 all plants of both these kinds. It is now perfectly naturalized, 

 but only, as Mr. Carroll informs me, in suspicious places. In 

 addition to the station near Lota Wood, a single " plant of it 

 grows on an old wall at Monkstown, but although there is no 

 modern garden from which it might have escaped, yet the wall 

 is close to an old castle and burying-ground, localities always 

 famous for doubtful species." Mr. Carroll thinks that Hyper, 

 calycinum, Vinca major , V, minora Hesperis matronalis, Iris Pseud' 

 acorus, and Sambucus Ebulus are similarly escapes from culti- 

 vation in the neighbourhood of Cork. This information seems 

 to settle in the negative the claims of this plant to be considered 

 as a native of Britain*. 



The probability of its distinctness from H. hircinum was chiefly 

 founded upon a supposed difierence of habit, which I now do 

 not believe to be very great ; also upon the shape of the leaves, 

 upon which I am now inclined to place very little weight. The 

 H. anglicum (Bab.), but not of Bertoloni, is therefore probably 

 nothing more than H. hircinum escaped from cultivation, or 

 perhaps intentionally planted at Lota Wood and elsewhere in 

 the south of Ireland. 



Having disposed of //. anglicum (Bab.), I have next to con- 

 sider if there is any British plant according with the H, anglicum 

 (Bert.), to which latter plant both of the synonyms quoted in 

 my former paper belong. In the year 1853 I received from 

 Mr. T. R. Polwhele, a student of St. John^s College, Cambridge, a 

 line specimen of an Hypericum gathered by him on the "cliff above 

 Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall.^^ This specimen has the branching 

 habit, winged peduncles, large flowers, and long styles of H. Mr- 

 cinum, combined with the leaves and sepals of H, androsamum. 

 These are the very points to which Bertoloni directs attention as 

 the distinctive characters of his H. anglicum, and as the plant under 

 consideration accords well with the figure erroneously named 

 H, androsmnum in ' English Botany,' to which Bertoloni refers 

 as representing his H. anglicum, I think that we may reasonably 

 conclude that the Cornish specimen is really H. anglicum (Bert.). 

 That some plant agreeing with the figure in ' English Botany ' 

 inhabits Britain may be concluded with certainty, when we call 

 to mind the great accuracy of the figures which proceeded from 

 the pencil of the late Mr. James Sowerby. As Bertoloni has 



• Prof. Balfour states that it was found by Dr. Sibbald on the high road 

 between Aghada and Cloyne, to the south-west of Aghada, and that that 

 gentleman did not remember anything to make him suspect that it had 

 been introduced. 



