SHORT NOTES AND QUERIES. 149 



Accent in Botanical Names. — In the remarks on this subject by 

 Mr. Kobert Tucker, he gives t\vo instances in which I " stand alone," — 

 Fetroselinuin and XJrtlca. It is by a typog-rapliical error in each case ; 

 in both words the penult is long ; and as I have accented by the length 

 of syllables, the accent shoidd be immediately after the i in these names. 

 — J. BoswELL Syme. 



Sarracenia purpurea, L. — In Provancher's ' Flore Canadienne,' 

 t. i. p. 30, it is stated that this curious plant is often cultivated in gardens 

 in its native country, and that it may be grown in a damp place or in an 

 artificial marsh covered with Sphagnum. The author states, also, that if 

 carefully transplanted in early spring, there is no difficulty in getting it to 

 flower in ordinary garden soil. The attempt to grow it in the open air 

 is rarely made in this country. At the Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, 

 however, a fine plant has flourished for the past five years in a small bog 

 by the side of the lake. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the 

 appearance of the clump of certainly not less than two dozen well- developed 

 pitchers, and this, notwithstanding that in winter it is covered with 

 water often frozen over and skated upon. Dr. Moore had a second plant, 

 but this was stolen by a too unscrnpnlous admirer. Borne years ago 

 the rhizomes were introduced into this country as a projwsed remedy for 

 smallpox. Had the plant proved to have been of any value in this 

 respect, it would not have probably been difficult to have grown a suf- 

 ficient supply of it. — W. T. Thiselton Dyer. 



Arabis stricta. Suds. — In the Supplementary List of Plants for 

 Somersetshire, given on the authority of the late Rev. J. C. Collins, in 

 INIr. H. C. Watson's ' Botanist's Guide,' Arabis stricta is mentioned as 

 liaving been observed at Cheddar and rocks on the Quantoch Hills, near 

 Merridge. Can any correspondent of the ' Journal of Botany ' inform 

 me if specimens, have been collected from these localities of late years ? 

 I may take the present opportunity of stating that I should feel greatly 

 indebted to botanists for any information respecting the more rare and 

 critical plants of the county, having for many seasons past made its 

 flora my especial study. — T. B. Flower. 



Mistletoe on the Oak. — In addition to the old localities previously 

 cited, I find the following in ' Ilortus Collinsonianus ' (privately printed 

 by L. W. Dillwyn, 184-3): — "On the Oak (which is very rare) Mr. 

 Knowlton has twice seen it. In August, 1763, three plants were found 



growing on the oak on the estate of AVhite, Esq., at VVatling, 



Wells." — J. Britten. 



Uses of Piiragmites communis. — The economic applications of 

 many of our British plants are fast passing into the region of antiquity. 

 Amongst our grasses the common Reed {Fhrugmites communis, Trin.) was 

 one of the most useful to the peasantry in marshy districts. The stems 

 were not only very generally used for thatching, but also for partitions of 

 rooms instead of laths, being plastered over in a similar manner. They 

 were also used in place of boards for building up the sides of sheds and 

 outhouses, and for fences and screens in gardens to protect fruit trees. 

 Though they are still used for these purposes in some parts of the country, 



