EPILOBIUM NOTES FOR 1889. 7 



By a small stream near Worplesdon, Surrey ; only two plants 

 seen. "The toothing and colouring of the leaves point distinctly 

 to E. lanceolatiun ; their shape is nearer hirsutum, but in the young 

 leaves the narrowing into the petiole can be clearly seen " 

 (Hausskn. in litt.). In the specimen sent, the leaves are con- 

 siderably nearer hirsutum than in the other. I fully agree with the 

 determination, which had not previously occurred to me, as I had 

 not met with lanceolatiun in the neighbourhood; it is, however, 

 quite likely to be found, and no other combination will at all fit the 

 plant, which is an unmistakable hybrid. Not having dug up the 

 roots, I hope to gather it again. A short description may be of 

 use: — Stem terete, without decurrent lines, softly hairy (much less 

 so than in hirsutum), more or less branched from below the middle, 

 l£-2 ft. high. Leaves i-2 in. long, lanceolate, sessile or shortly 

 petioled, denticulate, finely hairy on both sides, much tinged with 

 red when full-grown. Capsules small, l~l\ in. long ; seeds 

 undeveloped and shrivelled. Buds erect, apiculate, half the size of 

 those of hirsutum ; petals J in. long, deep rose. Style very long ; 

 stigma shortly and irregularly 4-cleft. 



*E. hirsutum x obscurum (/•-'. anylicum mihi), hybr. now Near 

 Worplesdon. Only one specimen was gathered, as it was taken for 

 an abnormal E. parviflomm : but probably there was more of it. I 

 was pressed for time to catch a train, and did not make a careful 

 examination. " The faint decurrent lines, amount of hairiness and 

 shape of the leaves, innovation [i.e. stolons], &c, point to E. 

 obscurum, the flowers and longer hairs to hirsutum " (Hausskn. in 

 litt.). The parents grow together in plenty at the spot. Descrip- 

 tion : — Plant two feet cr more in height. Eootstock stout, with 

 short ascending stolons (not fully developed in my specimen); 

 stem branched from the base, obscurely quadrangular when dry, 

 subglabrous below, softly hairy above. Leaves oblong or lanceo- 

 late, acute, rather faintly denticulate (i. e., more so than in ob- 

 scurum, but less so than in hirsutum), glabrous above, with short 

 scattered hairs on the under-surface. Ends of the young branches, 

 and the under-surface of their young leaves, cano-pilose with 

 white hairs. Capsules 1^-2 in. long, with whitish ascending hairs 

 and a few glandular ones, slender ; seeds all shrivelled and sterile. 

 Buds bluntly apiculate, about ^ the usual size of those of hirsutum ; 

 petals rose-purple, J in. long; stigmas shortly 4-cleft, much as in 

 normal parcifiorum. 



I have given special names to these two plants, at Prof. 

 Haussknecht's suggestion, and for the sake of uniformity, though 

 the practice is a questionable one. 



*E. Lamyi x lanceolaxum (E. ambit/ens Hausskn.). Sunny slopes 

 near Witley, with both parents; and sandy ground near Tilford, 

 with E. Lamyi. This is a very interesting discovery, as the hybrid 

 was only known previously by an imperfect garden specimen, from 

 a root collected near Klingenmiinster by F. Schultz, and considered 

 by him to be lanceolatiun x tetragonum. I have not seen E. lancco- 

 hitum about Tilford, but have no doubt that it will be found, if 

 searched for, as it grows abundantly on the same formation, 



