212 THE JOURXAL OF BOTAXr 



Glasnevin Botanic Garden, and Mr. Murray Hornil)rook of Abbeyleix, 

 Queen's County. A study of these and of a good series of S. ^Vevii 

 durins? several seasons shows (1) that the flower of both is | inch or 

 slightly less in diameter; (2) that in both the relative length of 

 petiil to sepal varies by about the same amount, the petals being 

 slightly longer to slightl}" shorter (usuall}^ longer) than the sepals ; 

 (3) that none of the specimens of Nevil have petals so much as 

 twice the length of the sepals as described by Masters, nor any of 

 the plants of Beyricliianum petals so short (flower \ inch diameter) 

 as described by him ; (4) that well-marked differences of stem and 

 leaf exist between the two forms, entitling *S'. Beyricliianum to 

 varietal rank. 



I believe that Masters's Nevii (assuming his description to be 

 accurately printed) was a specimen wdth abnormally short sepals, and 

 that his Bcyrichianum had its j^etals only partially developed (which 

 has sometimes happened with Sedums in my collection owing to 

 attacks of green-fly) ; in the Kew specimen certified by N. E. Brown, 

 the petals are onl}" \ longer than the sepals. Masters was right in 

 regarding the two plants as not identical, though the differences are 

 in stem and leaf rather than in flow^er. I would propose that 

 S. Beyricliianum should stand as follows : — 



S. Neyii a. Gray var. Betrichta:mtm (Masters) Praeger, 

 nov. comb. 



Plant more diffuse and rather greener. Barren shoots longer 

 with more distant leaves and a very lax terminal rosette ; leaves 

 narrower. Floral ])arts as in type. 



The absence of the close clustered compact leaf-rosettes which 

 characterize typical Nevii give the variety a xery distinct a[)pearance. 

 That the latter is a native American form is shown by a good 

 specimen in the British Museum Herbarium labelled aS*. Xevii, from 

 Peaks of Otter, Virginia, collected by A. H. Curtiss in 1872 ; this is 

 even more diffuse and slender than the cultivated Beyricliianum. 



Sedum Drucei Graebner in Bot. Exch. Club Eeport for 1912, 

 160(1913). 



This name represents the plant which in the British Isles we have 

 been accustomed to call S. acre L. Dr. Graebner in his description 

 distinguishes it especially by its long lax stems and mitriform distant 

 leaves. He adds " It is at once distinguished from S. acre by the 

 loosely i^laced, narrow, divergent leaves, which call to mind S. holoni- 

 ensey Mr. Druce adds (/. c.) that Dr. Graebner cultivated it in the 

 Berlin Botanic Gardens side by side with the continental acre, and 

 found it kept quite distinct : and that " Mr. Ogilvy and Mr. Wilmot[t] 

 also assure me that the ordinary German acre has quite a different 

 facies." 



In face of this august assemblage of opinion it may seem 

 irreverent to doubt, but 1 feel impelled to record my own observations. 

 I collected " >S*. Drucei'" in company with Dr. Cilraebner in the west 

 of Ireland, and plants which ap])eared to me indistinguishable from 

 it in half a dozen other Irish localities, at Edinburgh, and a couple of 



