298 ON THE FLORA OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



There is a slight confusion in the ' Flora Vectensis ' in the case of some 

 few plants as to book authorities, cf. Mentha rotund'ifolia and M. piperita, 

 with the Bot. Guide and Fl. Vectiana ; also the Doctor omits generally 

 to give Mr. Snooke's references to lirst discoverers (this last writer, how- 

 evei', is not always correct). 



But I must only further refer to the subject of localities by citiug one 

 or two additional extracts, besides those which I have given in former 

 numbers. The author of ' Holiday Excursions of a Naturalist ' writes, 

 that he found " Tkesium on' the chalk downs (p. 50); near Luccombe, 

 under the cliffs, gi-ew the LatJii/rns sylvestris, ]\'Iadder, and Asperula 

 cynanchica'' (p. 53) ; " we found Orchis fusca in a thicket in the Under- 

 cliff; Irisfoelidissiiiia abounded in places — Monotropa and Sileue ai/glica, 

 also to be found," this at Ventnor (p. 53) (has O. fusca really been 

 found in the island ?) ; then at Clarisbrooke " we picked Thesium below 

 the castle walls, and Astragalus Ibj poijlottis and Teucriuni Chanuedrys 

 are also to be found in this locality" (p. 56). As regards the last two 

 plants our author is evidently quoting from ancient authority, which had 

 perhaps no solid foundation in fact. 



In Priscilla Wakefield's 'Family Tour through the British Empire,' 

 15th ed. IS^O) 1 find that (p. 455) near Ventnor "the elegant wood- 

 vitch, larger tumitory, and wild maddor (so are the plants named) were 

 presented to the young botanists." 



As I have elsewhere stated ('Science Gossip,' 1870, p. 261), there are 

 thirty-two Isle of Wight plants given in the ' Hampshire Repository List.' 

 These are cited in the ' Flora Vectensis ' as due to Pulteuey ; the author's 

 explanation of the matter is given in the ' Phytologist,' vol. iii. p. 428. 

 'J'he authors of the 'Botanist's Guide' (1805) quoted this list as 

 Pnlteney's, yet they could hardly have seen it, I think, as they omit 

 references to sixteen of the Isle of Wight plants, and other plants, as I 

 have shown (S. G. I.e. supra), they quote as on Pulteney's authority, 

 which are not included in the list. These last may possibly have been 

 taken from the 'Catalogue of Plants of Dorset." As the Vectensian 

 plants in this list are so few, and the work is a scarce one, I have thought 

 it well to transcribe it. Iris fuitida. Isle of WHght ; Tamarix gallica. 

 Freshwater, Isle of W^ight ; Liiiuni usitatissimum, Isle of Wight ; L. te- 

 nuifoliuw, near Ryde, Isle of Wight ; Scitla verna, near Newport, Isle of 

 Weight ; Chlora pcrfoliata. Isle of Wight ; Erica vulg., cinerea, Tetralix, 

 all varieties white. Isle of Wight ; Teucriuni Chanicedrys, Carisbrooke 

 Castle, Isle of Wight ; Orofianche ccerulea, Steephill, Isle of W^ght ; 

 Pisum maritimum, Saiidown Beach, Isle of Weight ; Lathi/rus latifoUus, 

 ditto; Cineraria alpina, Belhan, fl.. Isle of Wight; Ophrys apifera, 

 Steephill and Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight ; Osmunda regalis. Isle of Wight, 

 — all these are given in the ' Botanist's Guide.' Vinca major, Yarmouth, 

 Isle of Wight, the authors quote on the authority of Withering. The 

 following they pass over altogether: — Convolvulus Soldanella, Brading 

 Harbour, Isle of Wight; Chironia Centaurea, var. white, Isle of Wight ; 

 Thesium. Unophyllnm, Steephill, Isle of Wight ; Gentiana collina, found by 

 Dr. Withering upon the barrows in the highest part of Afton Down, east 

 of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight ; Crithnium maritimum, or Samphire, 

 on the chalk cliffs, from the Needles to Freshwater Gate, Isle of Wight ; 

 Eryngium, maritim.uw. Isle of Wight; Narthecinni OHsifragiim., Freshwater 

 Beach, Isle of Wight; Jrenaria marina (J. rubra, liuds.), Freshwater 



