THE PIMPERNELS 45 



Williams who have recorded the occurrence of two blue Pimper- 

 nels : " (a) compact in habit, ascending, flowers and leaves rather 

 smaller than those of A. arvensis ; (b) prostrate in habit, branches 

 straggling, one to two feet in length, leaves and flowers much 

 larger than in A. arvensis." The Cambridge plants I have seen 

 agree with the second of the two forms mentioned by Hind ; and 

 I have seen plants of his first form in Somerset, growing along 

 with the AlthcBa liirsuta there. Mr. Williams's account of the 

 British Pimpernels is the most detailed that has yet appeared 

 from the systematist's point of view ; but recent work by Professor 

 Weiss (Brit. Ass., Sheffield, 1910) shows that the results of the 

 experimental breeder must be taken into account before it is 

 possible to arrive at definite conclusions with regard to the status 

 of the various forms of Pimpernel. 



Mr. Williams adds another species of Pimpernel (Anagallis 

 latifolia Linn.) to the British flora, though the only definite evi- 

 dence for regarding this as a British plant is based on dried mate- 

 rial. As the various Pimpernels are highly critical forms, it might 

 perhaps be argued that this proposed addition to the British flora 

 is rather premature, especially as some of the characters of the 

 Pimpernels are now being studied in relation to the laws of 

 heredity, and others appear to be of such a nature that they vary 

 somewhat with the season and with the habitat. Until British 

 specimens, admitted by Mr. Williams to conform to his notion 

 of A. latifolia, have been studied in the living state, it is per- 

 haps best not to admit the claims of this plant to be a British 

 species. 



Mr. Williams throws some doubt on the occurrence in Britain 

 of a blue Pimpernel with gland-tipped petals, such as occur in 

 A. arvensis Linn.; in fact, he states (p. 429) that among all the 

 material he has examined in herbaria, and also in cases where he 

 has observed blue-flowered plants either growing wild or in pots, 

 he has " not come across a blue Pimpernel with a fringed corolla." 

 Bromfield (Flo. Vect. 1856, 404), however, recorded such plants 

 more than fifty years ago. Professor Weiss obtained blue, flesh- 

 coloured, pink, and scarlet Pimpernels from Anglesey ; and he 

 states {loc. cit.) that in all the specimens examined, glandular 

 hairs were present on the margin of the petals. Such a plant, 

 also, is abundant in Northern Algeria, as near Algiers, Oran, and 

 Tlemgen. I examined a large number of these last spring; and in 

 all the cases I observed, the beautiful fringe of gland-tipped hairs 

 was conspicuous. Professor Weiss also examined blue Pimpernels 

 from the Eiviera ; and this form from the Mediterranean region 

 he thinks (loc. cit.) may be a different species. Its petals are 

 gland-fringed, as Professor Weiss {in litt.) informs me. If Mr. 

 Williams is correct in believing that there are in Britain two blue 

 Pimpernels, each destitute of a fringed corolla, then Bromfield's 

 record and Professor Weiss's Anglesey plants indicate that there 

 are at least three blue Pimpernels in this country. 



Mr. Williams (p. 432) expresses the view that the flesh- 

 coloured Pimpernel (A. carnea Schrank) is a hybrid of A. arvensis 



