SHORT NOTES AND QUEKIES. 213 



possibly not be an indigenous one, but what reason have we to suppose 

 that it was " probably also sowed " in its Godalming habitat, Shalford 

 Common ? I have gathered it there myself, and there is nothing to 

 indicate its not being native. In Brewer's ' Flora of Surrey,' it is also 

 stated to have been gathered there earlier by Mr. J. D. Salmon ; and 

 neither IMr. Brewer nor Dr. Hooker, in his ' Students' Flora,' throw any 

 doul)t on its nativity. Nor does its geographical distribution render it in 

 any way improbable that it should be a British plant. — Alfred W. 

 Bennett. 



[Dr. Gray informs us that he founds his opinion on the fact that the 

 old Botanical Society, which made frequent excursions to Shalford, never 

 detected Cyperus fuscm there, and states that the tradition that it was 

 sown, though it would be hard to legally prove it, is sufficiently credit- 

 worthy to throw doubt on a plant found in a single locality, and that only 

 within very recent times. — Eds.] 



I can aver that my departed friend, Salmon, did not introduce Cyperus 

 fuse/is at Shalford ; indeed, he took some considerable pains to ascertain 

 its history. It was not introduced by the gentleman whom he suspected 

 to have been the means of its introduction. I believe it to be as truly 

 native there as at Chelsea. Few people are aware of the difficulty of 

 naturalizing plants : I suspect that nature has more to do with the distri- 

 bution of foreign species than human agency ; but whether this be so or 

 not, I can affirm that neither the late Mr. Salmon nor the gentleman he 

 suspected had anything to do with the introduction of Cyperus fuscus at 

 Shalford. — Alex. Irvine. 



Barbarea stricta. — This year, I have found Barbareastricta scattered 

 for at least a mile along the Surrey bank of the Thames between Rich- 

 mond and Kew, and have seen it also on the Middlesex side at Isleworth. 

 It grows in a precisely similar manner to that in which it is found about 

 the Ouse at York, where I used to see it regularly during several succes- 

 sive years, scattered at intervals amongst the I'ank herbage along the 

 river bank, interspei'sed with at least an equal quantity of B. vnlgaris. 

 The petals are two lines long, half as long again as the sepals, by half a 

 line broad at the tip, and, by their smaller size, more erect habit, and 

 deeper colour (orange as compared with lemon) give it a different aspect 

 from vulgaris, which readily catches the eye of any one who is looking for 

 it. I have dried a supply of specimens for the Exchange Club. — 



J. G. JiAKER. 



Alyssum calycinum, L. — This plant has not been recorded from the 

 Isle of Wight since 1858 {vide Supplement to the Flora Vectensis, p. 135 

 of this volume, and the third volume of the ' Phytologist,' p. 290). I 

 found on the 12lh of May, 1S71, one plant growing on St. (ieorge's 

 Down, near Newport, on ground from which furze had been grubl)ed 

 during the winter, but which was still in a very rough state. The even- 

 ing was too cold to allow of a thorough search, and when 1 again visited 

 the locality a second |)artial grubbing had been made, and I did not suc- 

 ceed in finding any other specimens. — Fred. Stratton. 



Shropshire Flani's. — Veronica Btixhauniii, Ten. This ])lant was 

 found at Upton Magna, four miles from Shrewsbury, between the villagii 



