FHEDEinCK AUNOLI) LEES 99 



In tlie same year — 1873 — in Avbieh tlie Club was founded, Lees 

 contributed to tliis Journal (]-»p. 07-72) a j^aper on " Tbe Pecu- 

 liarities of Plant-distribution in tbe Leeds District," in wbicb be 

 sums uj) tbe observations made durinj^ many years witb a view 

 towards a Fb)ra of tbe Riding. Tliis Hnally took sbape in The Flora 

 of West YorJx'shire (1888) — one of tbe best of our local Horas, of 

 wliicb an appreciative review a))peared in tbis Journal for tbe same 

 year (p. 219) ; be bad previously collaborated witb J. W. Davis in 

 tbe volume on West Yorkshire, publisbed in 1878, wbicb -went to a 

 second edition. In 1892 Lees contributed to VVbite's Histonj and 

 Direct or ji of Lincotushire a list of tbe i)lants of tbe county, wbicb 

 superseded and , g-reatly extended tbe similar list publisbed by tbe 

 writer of tbis notice in tbe same work twenty yeai's before. 



From 1875 up to tbe 3'ear of bis deatb Lees was a frequent con- 

 tributor to The Naturalist, in tbe issue of wbicb for September, 

 1921, api)eared a sketcb of bis life, witb a portrait, wbicb, by per- 

 mission of tbe editor, is bere reproduced. His articles were mainly 

 connected witb tbe Yorksbire flora and its distribution, but embodied 

 also useful critical notes ; be also contributed biograpbical notices, 

 reviews, and verses — tbe last even more eccentric in diction, if tbat 

 were possible, tban bis prose. A careful and elal orate paper on " Tbe 

 Colonist-Alien Heron-bills of Yorksbire " {Naturalist, 1917, 379- 

 386) — in bis later years Lees was attracted by tbe alien Hera — includes 

 a variety (var. pseuil o-moschatum) of Erodium woschatuni Avbicli 

 he — " provisionall}'' and consciousl}^ temerarious " — desci'ibed as new. 



Tbe principal contribution of Lees to tbis Journal (1882, 129- 

 133), apart from tbat already mentioned. Avas on SeliuuDi Carvifolia, 

 wliicb bis friend tbe late Rev. W. W. Fowler (1835-1912) bad 

 recently added to tbe Eritisb Flora. In connection witb tbis paper, 

 wbicb bad been somewbat delayed, be wrote to me from Warrington : 

 " If 3^ou knew tbe pleasure it is to me to do aught botanical, and 

 how busy in these bready-and-buttery days I have to be, you would 

 tben overlook tbe delay." Tbe conflicting claims of Botany and 

 his medical practice were sometimes decided, to his temporal disad- 

 vantage, in favour of the former, if we may accept tbe legend wbicb 

 tells how, crossing a moor wbicb promised interesting botanical 

 results. Lees w^nt off in search of them and returned home witbout 

 visiting tbe patient whom he started out to see. 



Although, owing to his residence in the North, Lees was not 

 personally intimate with British English botanists as a Avbole, be 

 corresponded witb most of them, and those who thus kncAV him bad 

 a high appreciation of his knowledge and ability. His friendsbip 

 with tbe llev. W. W. Fowler has already been noted, and he was in 

 cordial and intimate relations with tbe late Adrian Woodruff e- 

 Peacock. Lees was an e-xcellent writer, though a somewhat erratic 

 correspondent — indeed, a certain unconventionalit}^ in this as in 

 other respects tended to obscure bis undoubtedly great capabilities. 

 His stimulating enthusiasm, not only for botany but for other 

 subjects in which be was interested, made him, as Mr. Pickai-d testi- 

 hes, a delightful companion on excursions, tbe last of wbicb was 



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