NOTES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



335 



authentic case in which the mite has suddenly appeared in a plantation, when 

 the cause cannot be traced back either to propagation from infested stock, or 

 to the fact that the soil has been previouslj^ infected with a crop of diseased 

 blackcurrants. If any correspondent who has had any experience with the 

 mite among his currants would be good enough to give any information on 

 the subject, especially with regard to the cause of its first appearance on his 

 bushes, and any methods he may have adopted to get rid of it, and with what 

 success, I feel sure that it would be of great interest not only to myself but 

 also to anyone who is unfortunate enough to be troubled with the pest. — E.J. 

 Lewis, F.E.S., Wye, Kent. 



BOTANY. 



Flowers on Christmas Day, igoo. — It may be of some interest to 

 record the following plants in actual bloom on Christmas Day in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Witham : — Bellis peyennis, Leontodon taraxacum, Crepis virens, 

 Rusciis aculeatus, Sisymbrium alliaria, Charophyllum temulum, Foa annua, Stellaria 

 media, Veronica agrestis, Lamium album, Lamiuni purpureuvi, Senecio vulgaris, 

 Arrhenatherum auenaceum, Trisetum Jiavesccns, Ulex nanus. Primula vulgaris, Azthusa 

 cynapium, Sisimbrium officinale, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Sonchus oleraceus. Daphne 

 mezercum, Lychnis dioica. Achillea millefolium, Matricaria chamomilla, Rubus, 

 Anthemis cotula, Matricaria inodora. The record of the Umbellifer — Charo- 

 phyllum temulum — seems to me to be unique, as the usual one to flower out of 

 season is Anthriscus sylvestris. — Edwin E. Turner, Coggeshall. 



Blossoming of Crab-Trees in the Forest in 1900. — I do not think that 

 the year 1900 should pass without some mention of the extraordinary abund- 

 ance of bloom and subsequently of fruit on the Crab-trees [Pyrus malus) in the 

 Forest. Even those well acquainted with the trees of the forest were 

 astonished thus to find what a large number of Crabs existed. For instance, 

 in May last, in the short distance, say three-fourths of a mile, from the cross- 

 roads diverging at the " Wake Arms " to the top of Goldings Hill, Loughton, 

 I, in a cursory way, noted from the road, taking each side, at least 100 trees, 

 and all in most luxurious blossoming. There must be many thousands in the 

 whole forest. Eater on, when the fruit had fallen, there was a distinct smell 

 of the fragrant apples all over the woods. Such a sight as the forest pre- 

 sented last May will not I think again be possible for many years. The 

 " oldest inhabitants " told me that they never remembered such a show of 

 blossoms. -S. Arthur Sewell, Buckhurst Hill. 



The Black- Currant [Ribcs nigrum) in Epping Forest. — On the after- 

 noon of the Fungus Foray 6th October, igoo, I found Ribes nigrum growing 

 freely in the swamp close to the eastern side of the " King's Oak " enclosure, 

 High Beach. I have never before seen it in the forest. — F. W. Elliott, 

 Buckhurst Hill. [This appears to be a new station. We cannot find any 

 previous record of the Black Currant for the forest area. It occurs rarely in 

 several parts of Essex mostly in swampy places. Bentham and other 

 botanists doubt that it is truly indigenous, as it was cultivated in very early 

 times, and there is commonly a su.spicion that plants found are aliens, escapes 

 from gardens. — Ed.] 



