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1923. Moffat — Study of Common Wild Flowers. 23 



of Babington and Bentham, four plants well known to all 

 students of our Dublin flora — the Sea Poppy (Glaucium 

 hiteum), White Qimbing Fumitory [Corydalis claviculata), 

 English Stonecrop (Sedum anglicum) and Black Medick 

 (Medicago hipulina). 



The first of these plants {Glaucium luteiim) is set down 

 in Babington 's Manual as a biennial, while in Bentham 's 

 Handbook it is called an annual. In Colgan's Flora of 

 Dublin it is pronounced neither a biennial nor an annual, 

 but a perennial. 



Corydalis claviculata is in Babington a perennial, in 

 Bentham an annual. Mr. Colgan here confirms Bentham 

 and reverses Babington, finding the plant an annual. 



Sedum anglicum, rather curiously, is, on the contrary, 

 called an annual by Babington and a perennial by Bentham. 

 Mr. Colgan again confirms Bentham and finds the plant 

 a perennial. 



But in the case of Medicago hipulina the two great 

 standard authorities are more nearly in agreement ; Babing- 

 ton, without definitely deciding which it is, says " annual 

 or biennial." Bentham, more confident, says " annual." 

 Colgan here finds both equally wrong ; Medicago lupuUna 

 is a perennial 



I don't think it is possible to avoid seeing in the preceding 

 results that there must be many other cases that still deserve 

 inquiry. 



Then even such simple questions as the flowering seasons 

 of plants need closer investigation. One of our members 

 (Mr. Athole Harrison) has within the past two summers 

 brought me convincing evidence that the flowering season 

 of the beautiful Yellow Mountain Pansy {Viola lutea) is 

 curtailed to an extraordinary degree in all our chief text- 

 books, which describe the plant as flowering in June and 

 July. Mr. Harrison finds it in plenteous bloom in its 

 County Dubhn haunts (even in a very backward season 

 hke that of 1922) during the last ten days of April, and as 

 he finds it still out in fair profusion as late as the 29th of 

 August, I feel no doubt that x\pril to September would 

 be a better description of the flowering season than June 



and July. 



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