EPILOBIUM NOTES FOR 1889. 5 



E. obscurum Schreb. On sandy soil, even when decidedly dry, 

 this often spreads over a square yard of ground by its rooting 

 stolons, about the thickness of packing-thread ; they frequently 

 connect the plants, even at the flowering- season, which explains 

 the name of " chordorhizum " given to this species by Fries. 



f. annua. Near Cranbrook, Kent. 



f. strictifvlia. Tilford and Hascombe, Surrey ; Kingshouse, 

 Argyle ; also roadside near Bridge of Lochay, Perthshire (leg. 

 Meldrum). 



f. minor. Gravelly stream-side near Inveroran, Argyle. 



f. elatior. Strathord, Perthshire (leg. B. White), &c. 



i.Jiaccida. Felbridge, Surrey (leg. Beeby) ; Broxy, Perthshire 

 (leg. B. White), 



f. crassicaulis. This is the most luxuriant and strongest state that 

 I have met with, preferring sunny slopes on a light soil; it often 

 reaches four feet in height, with a stem nearly as thick as a goose- 

 quill. It is plentiful in one locality near Witley ; and I have seen 

 it from two Perth stations (leg. B. White), as well as from 

 Bhyader, Radnor (leg. Hanbury & Ley). 



[In the Boswell Herbarium there is a specimen of E. obscurum, 

 gathered in " the fifties," which was labelled by one of our best 

 botanists as " E. Lamyi" showing the confusion of names in this 

 group, then prevalent] . 



E. Lamyi F. Schultz. This plant is, beyond all question, a true 

 native in W. Surrey, and far from rare in my neighbourhood ; 

 decidedly less so than E. adnatum. It occurs in all sorts of places, 

 and often far from cultivation. In addition to several new stations 

 about Witley, I have found it plentifully near Hambledon and 

 Hascombe, and close to Woking Station. The general impression 

 seems to be that it is a small plant; but I have measured specimens 

 36 and 37 inches in height, and that is scarcely abnormal for the 

 "forma biennis." It is often very much branched, and with 

 several hundred flowers on a single specimen. The seedling state 

 (f. annua) is not unlike the similar form of /♦.'. obscurum in appear- 

 ance, when dried, though easily distinguished by its texture, 

 colouring, &c, when growing. The petals of Lamyi are, as a rule, 

 longer and broader than those of obscurum, and their tone of colour 

 is different, being rather a " yellow-rose " than a " purple-rose " ; 

 the petals of adnatum being usually smaller than in the other two, 

 and more of a "pink-rose." These are, however, somewhat 

 empirical distinctions. I have not yet learnt to distinguish with 

 certainty between the rosettes of Lamyi and adnatum ; the former 

 seem to have shorter, more petiolate, and more entire leaves, but 

 I cau see little difference in texture and colouring. At the 

 flowering-season, however, the two are not hard to separate, and I 

 consider them both good species. E. obscurum is so totally alien to 

 them in manner of development, that its degradation to a " sub- 

 species " appears quite groundless. E. Lamyi should certainly be 

 found in Sussex and Hants, and probably in several other counties. 



E. palustre L. This is not recorded in Top. Bot. for Gla- 

 morgan ; the Kev. E. F. Linton recently gathered it, near Crymlyn, 



