ON THE THAMES-SIDE BRASSICA. 371 



of the latter. The inflorescence of the Turnip may he called truly 

 corymbose, while that of the Swede is racemosely corymbose, that is, 

 the open flowers of the Turnip are usually close together at the top of 

 the flowering stem, out-topping the unopened buds, while those of the 

 Swede are more loosely scattered, few or none of them rising above 

 the unopened buds. This is not quite a constant difference, though 

 exceptions to it are rarely seen according to my own opportunities for 

 observation. The most obvious and constant distinction is found in 

 the size and colour of the flowers, those of the Swede being conspicu- 

 ously larger and of a pale orange colour inclining to bufl", quite dif- 

 ferent from the bright buttercup-yellow of the Turnip flowers, whether 

 of the wild'or any of the cultivated varieties ever seen by myself. 



What is the proper specific name for the Brassica of the Thames 

 side? The plant itself is neither Eape {Napus) nor Swede. The 

 choice of names rests between Turnip {Rapa) and Navew (campestris), 

 as described in 'English Flora' and figured in 'English Botany,' nos. 

 2176 and 2234'. I should myself have preferred to use Rapa, but an 

 objection to this name is found in the fact that most botanists apply it 

 specially to the cultivated varieties with the enlarged succulent root, 

 thus leaving campestris only for any wild state with the slender root. 

 The campesiris, as figured in 'English Botany,' n. 2234, does not 

 represent the Brassica of the Thames so well as the figure of Rapa does, 

 n. 2176 ; the more strictly corymbose inflorescence of the latter figure 

 corresponding with that of the Thames plant. Moreover, Mr. Archer 

 Briggs has sent me specimens of an apparently annual plant from the 

 turnip-fields of South Devon, which agree better with that figure of 

 the Navew or campesiris in ' English Botany,' especially by their more 

 scattered flowers and hispid stems. But Mr. Briggs expressly says 

 that their early radical leaves are gi'een, not glaucous. Supposing the 

 South Devon plants to be truly the wild Navew, and the Thames plant 

 to be as truly the wild Tuniip, they would seem to require distinct 

 varietal names, if both are treated as forms of campesiris. The ques- 

 tion remains open, however, whether the Devon plants are simply the 

 annual form, and the Thames plants are the sub-biennial form of the 

 same thing. 



As the ' English Flora' of Smith is now passing into the category of 

 old works not usually found in the hands of young botanists of the 

 present time, it may not be amiss to quote a few sentences which bear 



2 D 2 



