of some rare British Plants. 87 



the size of a moderate walnut, very austere, and of a stony 

 hardness. M* germanica is scattered over a very extensive 

 district ; as about Hastings, and at the back of St. Leonard's 

 in many places ; also about Ashburnham, between Catfield 

 and Ninfield, in some places quite a conspicuous ornament 

 to the hedgerows, which is not the only situation it affects, 

 occurring apparently truly wild, though rarely, in the midst 

 of natural woods near Hastings, as in those at the Old Road, 

 Coghurst, &c, in which places I have found seedlings as well 

 as trees of advanced growth, springing up perfectly sponta- 

 neously, and very remote from habitations or cultivated 

 ground. In Guernsey and Jersey, I have often found it 

 wild, so that its claim to be considered indigenous can hardly 

 be questioned ; besides, I have never seen it in any garden, as 

 a cultivated fruit tree, within many miles of this place. 



Bupleurum falcatum. — The exact station for this plant, 

 gathered by myself in July, is in hedgerows and borders of 

 fields between High Ongar and Chelmsford, beginning to grow 

 exactly at the turnpike by the third milestone from Ongar, 

 or seventh from Chelmsford. It is most abundant on the 

 right hand of the road towards the latter town, particularly in 

 the hedge bounding the highway, but is so confined to the 

 field side of the hedge, that not a plant is to be seen from the 

 road. The bupleurum is spread over a wide extent of ground, 

 covering the banks of the fields, but never mingling with the 

 crops ; amongst which, however, I found .Bupleurum rotundi- 

 folium in great luxuriance and vigour, amongst barley, and in 

 such profusion .as to be a troublesome weed. On the same 

 spot I noticed Fedia dentata, and, in the hedge first mentioned, 

 iathyrus ^4'phaca and L. Nissolm in greater quantity than 

 I have ever seen it elsewhere. The name of Norton Heath, 

 given in Hooker's Flora as the station for the J5upleurum fal- 

 catum is liable to mislead, since the land is now completely 

 enclosed, a small portion only of common remaining. 



Centaurea solstitidlis. — In several fields about Barton, near 

 Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, as also about Rougham, in the 

 same vicinity, but seldom found in the same spot for many 

 seasons in succession. 



Centaurea nigrescens Willd. — This species, which has 

 usually been considered as a var. of C. nigra with radiant florets, 

 is not uncommon in the Isle of Wight, particularly around 

 Carisbrooke Castle, where I found it several years ago. The 

 scales of the involucre are much less regularly pectinated, and 

 more membranous, than in the ordinary C. nigra; it ap- 

 proaches C. Jacea in the character commonly given to that 

 species, and is perhaps truly distinct from either. 



