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SHORT NOTES. 



Arabis albida naturalised in Derbyshire. — On the 5th inst. I 

 was much surprised to meet with Arabis albida Stev. in great 

 quantity on the northern face of a limestone rock at Matlock Bath. 

 The site is opposite the High Tor. The rock rises from a quarry 

 and stretches upwards to the Heights of Abraham. The plant is 

 plentiful in gardens in and about Matlock ; but there is no house or 

 garden near to the cliff on which it has made its home. None of 

 the plants showed blossoms, though most of them had ripened and 

 shed their seeds. The habitat is like a natural one, but of course 

 it is only an accidental case of naturalisation. — W. M. Hind. 



Ranunculus ophioglossifolius in East Gloucestershire. — A 

 specimen of this very rare plant was recently sent me by Mrs. 

 Francis Fawkes, who informed me that she found it in a small 

 marshy piece of ground of very restricted area. About a dozen 

 plants were seen. For obvious reasons she does not wish the 

 exact locality disclosed, but hopes before long to send me a further 

 specimen for the British Herbarium in the Natural History Museum 

 at South Kensington. — Frederick J. Hanbury. 



Flora of Suffolk. — The Herbarium of Suffolk plants, spe- 

 cially collected for the preparation of Rev. Dr. Hind's recent ' Flora,' 

 has been presented by him to the Ipswich Museum. 



Arenaria gothica Fries. — This plant was on the 18th August 

 collected in another West Yorkshire locality by Dr. Silvanus P. 

 Thompson and his sister Miss R. F. Thompson. Dr. Thompson 

 had, in the course of a walk a few days before, noticed what he 

 thought looked like A. gothica, and on the 18th he went to the spot 

 again with Miss Thompson, who at once recognised the characters 

 of the Ribblehead plant. The new locality is three miles distant 

 from Ribblehead, and away from any railway. I cannot at present 

 report more. There is now a hope, at any rate, that the plant is 

 indigenous to Yorkshire. Its presence at Ribblehead was certainly 

 inconclusive, particularly as several attempts have been vainly 

 made this year to discover it in the district surrounding the 

 station, and about the quarry whence the road-metal used in the 

 station yard was brought. I regret to add that the A. gothica is 

 already in danger of extinction at Ribblehead. When Mr. F. Arnold 

 Lees visited the spot in September, 1889, there were "hundreds" of 

 plants. "Dozens of collectors have been there this year," the 

 Ribblehead peeple say, and the result is that the very existence of 

 the species is threatened. Is it too much to ask that a " close 

 time" of at least two seasons be accorded to it ? I appeal to the 

 honour of botanists. A. gothica has, in its Yorkshire form, been 

 proved undoubtedly perennial. Plants grown by me (transplanted 

 from Ribblehead) put forth winter shoots like those of garden 

 pinks, or Saxifraga hgpnoides. Winter and spring specimens sent 

 to me bore the same, and plants flowering in April still showed the 

 empty capsules of the previous year. — William Whitwell. 



