322 THE .TOURNAIi OF BOTANT 



inferred : knowledge of the means and methods of plant distribution 

 is at present meagre. 



A remarkable fact is that Nyman (Conspect. 502: 1881) states 

 that the species occm's in Britain, while liouy, Fl. France, x. 2-JiO 

 (1908), perhaps following him, remarks "Aire geogr. — Grande- 

 Bretagne ..." I have not so far discovered whether either had seen 

 a specimen. Perhaps it may be found in some old British collections. 

 Le Jolis (in Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, xxx. 66 : 1896), in the 

 course of a comprehensive historical account of the species, when 

 considering its distribution, remarks: " Les donnees de la Greographie 

 botanique pom-raient faire soup^onner sa presence a la pointe de la 

 Cornouaille anglaise et au sud de I'lrlande ; peut-etre la plante y 

 existe-t-elle, mais aura ete negligee (overlooked) par les botanistes 

 anglais, uniqueraent parcequ'elle ne figure pas dans les flores anglaises. 

 Pareille chose etait arrivee en France, ou pendant si longtemps elle a 

 ete negligemment foulee aux pieds en Bretagne et dans la Hague." 

 Pembrokeshire, on cliffs facing west, should be quite a suitable 

 habitat also, and it may turn up in other places now that attention 

 has been drawn to it. 



The following is an account of the plant : — 



Erythr.ea scilloides Chaubard (MSS. in herb.) ex Puel in 

 Bull. Soc. Bot. France, vii. 502 (1860) ; Willkomm in Willk. et 

 Lange, Prodr. Fl. Hisp. ii. 664 (1870) ; Corbiere, Fl. Normand. 394 

 (1891). 



Geiitiana scilloides L. fil. Suppl. 175 (1781), nomen diu dubium, 

 nunc {fide Puel, I. c. 1860) ex specim. authent. in Hb. Mus. Paris, a 

 Massoni lect. bene compertum. 



Oentiana portensis Brotero, Fl. Lusit. i. 278 (1804). 



En/thrcea portensis Hoffmannsegg et Link, Fl. Port. i. 351 

 (1809) ; G-risebach, Gen. et Sp. Gent.' 144 (1839) inch E. diffusa, 

 1. c. ; Kouy, Fl. France, x. 244 (1908). 



E. diffusa Woods in Comp. Bot. Mag. ii. 274 (1836 vel potius 

 1837, cf. ibid. p. 337) ! ; Hooker in Ann. Nat. Hist. i. 437 (1838) ; 

 Le Jolis in Mem. Soc. Acad. Cherbourg, v. 267 (1847) et in Ann. 

 Sc. Nat. ser. 3, vii. 217 (1847) et in Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, 

 xxx. 55-70 (189J). 



E. Massoni Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 2, 363 (1830) ; H. C. Watson 

 in Lond. Journ. Bot. iii, 595 (1844). 



Figii7'es : — HofEmannsegg et Link, Fl. Port. t. 66 (1809), of a 

 weak elongated specimen; Ann. Nat. Hist. i. t. 16 (1838) as E. 

 diffusa, sterile branches not shown ; Le Jolis in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 3, 

 vi'i. t. 13 (1847) as E. diffusa, good. 



Exsiccatn :— Schultx, Herb.' Norm. 720; Soc. Dauph. 2548, Eehq. 

 Main, as E. diffusa ; Lange, Fur. merid. ann. 1851-52, 320, as 

 E. portensis ; Fl. Lusit. Soc. Brot. 236, Wittrock, Erythr. exsicc. 48, 

 as E. scilloides. 



Perennial ; glabrous. Stems prostrate or diffuse at base, branches 

 of two kinds; some sterile, prostrate, very leafy; leaves elliptical to 

 subrotund, subspathulate, rounded obtuse, subpetiolate small (4-12 x 

 4-8 mm.), approximate (longer than the internodes) not rosulate 

 (1-) 3 veined; other branches erect (10-30 cm.) flowering, with few 



