22 The Irish Naturalist. February, 



been studying in their native surroundings for a period 

 of twenty-five 3^ears. 



A remarkable point in Mr. Clement Reid's confession 

 of faith regarding the origin of the British flora is his con- 

 viction that the I.usitanian element is rapidly enlarging 

 the area of its colonies. " I have mapped and examined 

 a good many of these areas, and the plants seem in most 

 places to be' spreading vigorously from certain definite 

 centres, to which chance has imported a seed " (see 

 Irish Naturalist, xx., 207). Dr. vScully's conclusions, drawn 

 from twenty-five years' observations of the Pyrenean 

 group in Kerry, is directly opposed to this idea. Arbutus 

 Unedo is certainly, and Saxijraga Geuni probably, on the 

 decrease, according to him. Furthermore, he has had 

 certain colonies of both Pyrenean and American plants 

 under continuous observation, and finds no tendency in 

 a quarter of a century to increase either in numbers or 

 in area. It is interesting to note that this observation 

 extends to Sisyrinchium angustifolinm and Juncus tenuis, 

 two plants whose claim as natives has often been doubted, 

 and for which a rapid increase in recent times has been 

 frequently suggested : Dr. Scull}^ considers both of them 

 aboriginal, and stable as regards their range. This con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the status of our western 

 plants will be warmly welcomed. 



Another important feature of Dr. Scully's book is his 

 discussion of the Robertsonian Saxifrages- .S. mnbrosa, 

 S. Geum, and the rather shadowy 5. hirsuta. By means 

 of a series of cultivation experiments, both synthetic and 

 analytic, carried out at Trinity College Botanic Garden 

 by Prof. H. H. Dixon, it has been shown for the first time 

 definitely that S. hirsuta, as well as a number of other 

 named and unnamed intermediate forms, is an umbrosa- 

 Geum cross ; I sa^^ " for the first time definitely," because 

 I fancy that few botanists who have had experience of 

 these forms in the garden, or w^ho have studied them in 

 their habitats, liave had any reason to doubt the hybrid 

 pedigree of S. hirsuta and its kindred forms. My own 

 experiences, for instance, are probably analogous to those 

 of other people who have paid any attention to the group 



