SOME NEW CHABACE^i: RECOKDS. 183 



of Chara fugitiveness — but near by I came upon an abundant growth 

 of Chara connive ns Braun, a new aod interesting record for East 

 Suffolk. So far, C. connivens has had only three known stations 

 in Great Britain. A few days later I visited the neighbourhood of 

 Beccles, and found in Gilhngham Marsh, which lies in the extreme 

 S.E. corner of East Norfolk, two or three very small specimens of 

 Tolypella prolifera Leonh. 



But I think perhaps the most noteworthy discovery has been 

 in the Waveney Fens, East Norfolk. In Mr. Borrer's herbarium 

 at Kew is a specimen of Nitell'i tenuUsimci Kuetz., stated to have 

 been collected at " Roydon fen Cambridge Oct. 1852." There is no 

 Roj^dou Fen in Cambridgeshire, so far as I can ascertain (and 

 I have consulted more tban one of our fen sages), but there is a 

 Eoydon Fen in East Norfolk, near Diss. There are therefore only 

 two interpretations of Mr. Borrer's label. If "Roydon fen" is to 

 stand, then Norfolk must be substituted for Cambridge; or if 

 "Cambridge" is correct, then for "Roydon" we must probably 

 read "Bottisham," in which fen N. tenuissima has been known to 

 grow since the early part of this century. Authorities have been 

 rather in favour of the latter interpretation, I think. I visited 

 Roydon Fen on August 18th, and made a careful search without 

 result, so far as N. tenuisdnia was concerned. But a few weeks 

 later (Sept. 27th), whilst collecting Charas in one of the fens lying 

 two or three miles higher up the Waveney, I came upon some 

 excellent specimens of this plant growing in the shallow turf-holes 

 which it loves. It is possible, therefore, that Mr. Borrer found 

 N. tenuissima in Roydon Fen, Norfolk, in the year 1852, and that 

 this is only a rediscovery. On the other hand, it seems difficult to 

 believe that, if Mr. Borrer discovered N. tenuissima in East Norfolk, 

 he should not have communicated the fact to Prof. Babington, with 

 whom he was in constant communication, as the recently published 

 Journal of the Professor shows. Five editions of the Manual of 

 British Botany were issued after 1852, and one of these at least 

 previous to Mr. Borrer's death, yet in none of these editions is any 

 reference made to N. tenuissima being found elsewhere than in 

 "peaty ditches in the Fens of Cambridgeshire." Moreover, it is 

 worthy of remark that Prof. Babington' s Journal records under 

 Aug. 18th, 1852 : " Mr. Borrer .... having come yesterday, we 

 went to Bottisham where he wanted to see Viola stagnina now in 

 seed" (p. 164). This was the very year of his collecting his 

 "Roydon fen Cambridgeshire" plant; and this spot which he 

 visited with the Professor for Viola stagnina was also the very 

 station for Nitella tenuissima, as is proved from the same Journal 

 under July 16th, 1850: "Coleman, Newbould and I went to 

 Bottisham fen, and found Viola stagnina in fruit in plenty also 

 Chara tenuissima'' (p. 155). 



When Mr. Sanders, or rather Mr. C. H. Davis, discovered 

 Nitella mucronata Kuetz. in the Ouse, near Bedford, in 1882, it was 

 natural to look for its appearance in the same river as it passed 

 through Cambridgeshire. Both last summer and in 1896 I made 

 diligent search without success. Mr. Alfred Fryer's keen eye has 



