Hi Journal of Proceedi7u/s. 



Copland told me that his son, who was then ill and soon afterwards died, 

 had found such a plant in the previous August. I therefore went in 

 search of it and found it in the place where it has grown ever since. As 

 Mr. Copland flattered himself that he had made an addition by his dis- 

 covery to our list of native plants, I never told him wlte,t I afterwards 

 learned from the cottager who occupied the garden bounded by the hedge 

 under which this interesting plant grows : — that the Bishop's gardener 

 had given him some seeds of American annuals which he sowed, and that 

 the Claytonia in particular had overrun the ground and finally established 

 itself by the wayside." 



Arriving at the Bishop's Park at Wood-hill, the " traps " were dismissed 

 with instructions to the drivers to " wait at the ' Griffin ' " until the after- 

 noon's ramble was over. With great courtesy the Bishop of St. Alban's 

 had readily accorded permission to the members to stroll through a 

 portion of the park, at the same time expressing his regret that the fact 

 of his daughter's marriage with the Duke of Ai'gyll taking place on that 

 day would prevent him from having the pleasure of offering them the 

 hospitality of the Palace. The saunter through the grandly timbered 

 park with its picturesque clumps of oak, beech, and elm, its glades and 

 avenues and charming pieces of ornamental water, was thoroughly 

 enjoyed by all. In the ponds were noticed the white water-lily {Nymphcea 

 alba), Myosotis ^JoZnsfr/s, Mentha hirsuta, the graceful Alisina Plantago, 

 and the deliciously fragrant sweet-flag {Acorns Calamus). Mr. Jaggs, the 

 park-keeper, called attention to a fine oak tree {Q. pedunculata), with 

 leaves curiously variegated, but bearing acorns invariably producing 

 normal plants. Professor Boulger (who acted throughout the afternoon 

 as " botanical conductor," and of whom it was good-humouredly asserted 

 by one of the party that, in the language of the motto to ' Notes and 

 Queries,' he proved himself the most " learned, chatty, and useful " of 

 guides) was disposed to attribute the variation to the presence of a 

 parasitic Alga in the cells of the leaves. The variation is contagious but 

 not hereditary in some ivies, and regret was expressed that the tree did 

 not stand in the midst of a grove of oaks, in order that it might be seen 

 whether the disease would be communicated to them. Near this was a 

 small slip of ^\^llow brought by Mrs. Campbell from the tomb of Napoleon 

 I., at St. Helena, and now growing healthily and vigorously in the Essex 

 park. In the walk through the woods several other interesting plants 

 were noticed, particularly Riiscus aculeattis, the only British monocoty- 

 ledon with a woody stem ; this also grows on Banbury Common and at 

 Little Baddow, so plentifully as to leave no doubt as to its being a true 

 native. Piloted by Mr. T. M. Gepp, who appeared to be familiar with 

 every inch of the ground, the party made its way through the woods, 

 halting to be let through a gate here, and having to clamber over a fence 

 there, from the park to 



" The decent Church that tops the neighbouring hill," 

 which is built within the bounds of the ancient camp. This is one of the 



