620 Notes on British Plants. 



The red and the white flowered varieties, with their smooth, 

 deep green, closely imbricated leaves, are pretty and delicate; 

 — the hoary variety is very beautiful, although not possessing 

 the exquisite silvery appearance of the stems and under side 

 of the leaves of Alchemilla alpina and Potentilla argentea ; 

 — but of all the varieties the pre-eminently lovely one is that 

 with double red flowers. This variety has been found wild 

 in Cornwall : a specimen in my herbarium has its branches 

 covered, for nearly their whole length, with the closely crowd- 

 ed flowers ; and sweeter miniature resemblances of wreaths 

 of roses cannot be conceived. 



The mention of Calluna vulgaris reminds me of a curious 

 accidental variety of Erica Tetralix which I met with some 

 years since, on Perry Barr Common. Each of the corollas 

 was divided, nearly to the base, into several irregular seg- 

 ments, but the stamens remained unchanged in form. A few 

 weeks afterwards I observed several of the Erica in the con- 

 servatory of the Birmingham Botanic Garden, with their co- 

 rollas divided in a similar manner. 



Orchis Morio. — In my Reigate Flora I have recorded the 

 circumstance of finding some specimens of this Orchis with 

 white flowers. I believe, like most persons when speaking 

 of varieties of birds &c, of a colour lighter than usual, that 

 I called them white, because they were not black ; cream- 

 coloured or fawn-coloured would perhaps have been more 

 correct. 



Mr. Cooper will find that although his variety of Orchis 

 Morio may not have been specially recorded in any Flora, 

 botanists have long been acquainted with great variations in 

 the colour of the flowers. John Bauhin calls it " Orchis mi- 

 nor purpurea, et aliorum colorum, cum alis virentibus." — 

 Historia, vol ii. 761, published in 1650. Ray says, " Floram 

 color purpureus, rarius carneus aut albus" — Synopsis, 377, 

 2nd ed., 1724. Relhan also observes, — " Flores dilute pur- 

 purei, carnei vel albi" — Fl. Cantab., p. 359, 3rd ed., 1820. 

 and lastly, Sir J. E. Smith describes them as being " scent- 

 less, purple ; sometimes pale or flesh-coloured ; sometimes 

 varying to crimson, or to a light violet ; but the numerous 

 green ribs of the calyx-leaves are equally strong in all the va- 

 rieties." — Eng. Fl. vol. iv. p. 11. In my light-coloured spe- 

 cimens the ribs of the calyx were pink. 



October 2nd, 1838. 



