FLORA OF HEBEFORDSHIRE. 219 



Introduction is printed in much larger lettering than the Preface and 

 the body of the book, as though having been first separately issued, and 

 kept in type ; and this rather mars the generally excellent '* get-up." 

 An over-exclamatory appearance is also caused by the fact that "in 

 all records other than those made by the responsible editors, a ! is 

 appended to the recorder's name when the editors have personally 

 seen a dried specimen ; ! ! when they have seen a fresh specimen ; 

 ! ! ! when they have seen the plant actually growing at the spot to 

 which the record refers." Misprints are not frequent, other than 

 those noticed in the brief 'Corrigenda'; such anomalies as "Viola 

 Oanina," "Astragalus glydphyllus," "Wir^ten," "CAicorium," 

 "Chenopodium urbium," "Carex vesctcaria," being probably due 

 to slips in writing. " Referrible " is used throughout, instead of 

 "referable"; "succurs" is not a good substitute for "suckers"; 

 nor is "pyramidical," though perhaps more Johnsonian, so agree- 

 able to present usage as "pyramidal." The authority for a varietal 

 name is too often omitted, and some of the "English names " are 

 certainly not to be found in common use, e.g., "Thyrsus-flowered 

 Bramble," "Long-clustered Bramble," &c. 



But such trifling blemishes as these detract little from the 

 sterling merit of the work as a whole. Not only is it evidently a 

 faithful and apparently a full catalogue of the county vegetation, 

 but the fruits of careful, intelligent, and prolonged study of the 

 living plants and their habits are everywhere visible. If, for 

 example, observers in other parts of the country would bestow as 

 much attention upon the forms of Epipactis growing in their 

 neighbourhood as has been done here, the present confusion upon 

 the subject would be of no long continuance. Such a note as the 

 following, again, is of much value, taken in connection with the 

 occurrence of Puhnonaria officinalis, in profusion, in Suffolk woods : 

 "This plant does not seed nor root readily; hence, though so 

 common and favourite a plant in cultivation, it seldom succeeds in 

 naturalizing itself beyond the limits of the garden." 



On p. 277 is an interesting extract from a letter of the Rev. 

 J. E. Leefe, commencing thus : — " The more I study the Willows 

 the more difficult I find them, for it appears to me that there are 

 three classes among them : (1) Those that are distinct, as species ; 

 (2) those which are distinguishable, but not distinct ; (3) those 

 which are undistinguishable." Dr. Buchanan White has recently 

 pointed out that much of the uncertainty connected with our 

 salicology has been caused by ignoring the existence of hybrids. 

 The same is true in the case of the Willow-herbs. Mr. Ley has a 

 careful note on Ejnlobium Lamyi, but is scarcely right m asserting 

 that "its general aspect is rather that of K. obscunwi" than of E. 

 tetragonum [adnatmn'] ; nor is the statement of Grenier and Godron, 

 which he quotes, that "sa duree . . . est annuelle, ou bisannuelle," 

 warranted by normal experience. 



Most people will probably be surprised at some of the Mistletoe's 

 ascertained hosts, such as Corglus, Rusa canina, Liibes Grossidaria, 

 and Cedrus Libani ; excellent extracts on the life-history of this 

 parasite are borrowed from the Woolhope Club's ' Transactions.' 



