CONSPECTUS POLYC^ALARUM EUROP.EARUM. 267 



A striking form of P. nih/aris, which, however, I have not 

 ventured to erect into a distinct variety, has been gathered by Mr. 

 Bentham near Biarritz and Montauban, with linear-lanceolate 

 coriaceous leaves, the margins revolute, and narrowly- elliptical 

 wing- sepals. 



Most of the varieties (a-j?) of this species in DeCandolle's 

 ' Prodromus ' are probably mere local forms, y. elata is identified 

 by him with Schkuhr's P. comosa, and 7. grandiflora is probably the 

 same ; d. verviana is more likely a variety of P. amara. 



2. P. CALCAREA, F. Sckultz, Flora, 1887, p. 752, & 1838, p. 642; 

 Koch, Fl. Germ., 100; Gr. et God., Fl. Fr., i., 196; 

 Willk. et Lge., Fl. Hisp., iii., 555; Woods, Tour. Flor., 

 43 ; Eeicli., Ic, xviii., 89 ; Car. in Nuov. Giorn. Bot. It., 

 i., 28 ; Dmrt. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg., 1868, p. 344 ; 

 Engl. Bot., 3rd ed., ii., 38; Hook., Stud. Fl., 2nd ed., 

 49; Bab. Man., 7th ed., 44 ; A. W. Benn. in Journ. Bot., 

 1877, p. 172. P. caulibus plurimis, ascendentibus vel 

 decumbentibus ; ramis florigeris e foliorum infimorum 

 axillis ; foliis radicalibus parvis, confertis, sub-coriaceis, 

 obovatis ; floribus c^ruleis ; bractea centrali pedicellum 

 florentem excedente ; racemis compactis, multifloris ; alls 

 ellipticis vel obovatis, quam capsulam longioribus et lati- 

 oribus, vena centrali conspicua ; ca^^sula infra attenuata ; 

 arillodii api3endicibus inaequalibus, seminis dimidium attin- 

 gentibus. 



Syn. p. amara, Linn., Sp., ed. x., p. 1156 (teste Dmrt.), non 

 Linn., Sp., ed. ii. 987 et multorum auctorum. P. vul- 

 garis var. /3., Hook, et Arn., Brit. Flor., ed. viii., p. 52. 

 P. amarella, Coss. et Germ., Par., 56 ; Dmrt., Prod. Fl. 

 Belg., 31, non Crantz. P. ambbjptera et huxifolia a. glabra, 

 Keich., PL Grit., i., 26. ' 



Figs. Coss. et Germ., Atl. Par., t. vii., f. 4-6 ; Eeich., PI. Crit., 

 i., 50; Ic, t. mcccxlix., f . 1 ; E. B. S., t. 2764; Engl. 

 Bot., t. clxxxviii. ; Wooster, Alpine Plants, t. xlviii., f. 1 ; 

 Journ. Bot., 1877, t. 189, f. 6 (ala, pistillum, semenque). 



In Europa centrali et meridionali ab Anglia meridionali usque 

 ad Italiam borealem, Hispaniam, et Transylvaniam ; in 

 calcareis, baud infrequens. 



This species differs from P. vulgaris more in habit than in any 

 weU-defined characters. The flowering shoots springing from the 

 axils of the lower leaves give it a strongly-marked, tufted, or 

 caespitose character of its own, and an umbellate api^earance even 

 when the lower leaves have died away ; the lower leaves are some- 

 what fleshy, and they decrease gradually upwards on the stem. 

 The flowers are large, and apparently always of a bright blue, 

 the crest large and handsome, and the lateral petals fully equal to 

 it in length. It is said not to have the bitter taste of the next 

 species, which it approaches in some respects. Though widely dis- 

 tributed, it is local, and apparently confined to a calcareous soil. 



