112 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



named A. glacialis, prove to be A. ciliata D.C. [Aretia ciliata 

 Lois.), a rare and characteristic species hitherto recorded only 

 from the French and Spanish Central Pyrenees. This extension 

 in range from the Franco- Spanish to near the Franco- Swiss 

 frontier is very interesting. Mr. Cedric Bucknall, whose critical 

 knowledge of European plants is equalled by few persons in this 

 country, confirms my determination. 



My Mont Blanc specimens are similar in all essential details to 

 more mature ones in my herbarium gathered in Hautes Pyrenees 

 by Bord^re, August, 1864. The yellowish-green colour of the 

 foliage of both gatherings is a feature, at least in dried specimens, 

 which I do not find mentioned in books. The leaves are oblong- 

 spathulate, usually glabrous but strongly ciliate at the borders, 

 neither persistent nor in columns, as in several allied species, but 

 in spreading rosettes. The solitary pink or mauve flowers with 

 yellow throat are on strong peduncles averaging 10 mm. in length 

 and shghtly exceeding the leaves. The calyx-segments are 

 lanceolate-acute, hispid, and spreading at maturity. 



The Grands Mulcts are the isolated, dark rocks, surrounded by 

 ice and snow, so readily seen in views of Mont Blanc from 

 Chamonix and district, and they are just 10,000 ft. above sea level. 

 Although small in area, and the site of a well-known alpine hut, 

 I need have no hesitation in naming them here, because, apart 

 from the rise of 6600 ft. from Chamonix to the rocks, in the ascent 

 of Mont Blanc the more dangerous and interesting part of the 

 climb usually, except in bad weather, lies among the crevasses at 

 a lower elevation. In other words, it is more than a mere 

 promenade to the Grands Mulcts. On July 18th, 1903, the 

 crevasses were in an exceptionally bad state, owing to fresh snow, 

 so that my guide insisted on an early return. Possibly for that 

 reason I gathered no other flowering plants on the Grands Mulcts 

 except Saxifraga bryoides, Erigeron alpimmi and C}injsanthe77ium 

 alpinitm (see my Notes in Climbers' Club Jo2irnal, December, 1906). 



Eouy gives as the habitat of Androsace ciliata " debris 

 mouvants a la derniere limite de la vegetation " ; and for distri- 

 bution he mentions " Montagues de Gavarnie, sommet du pic du 

 Midi, port de la Canau, lac et port d'Oo, mont Perdu, Maladetta, 

 sommet du pic Nethou." The N6thou is the highest summit of 

 the Pyrenees (11,165 ft.). The top is a plateau 75 ft. by 25 ft,, 

 surrounded by precipices except on the N. side. 



SHOBT NOTES. 



SuEREY Plants. — In this Journal for 1910 (p. 186) mention 

 was made of a number of halophilous plants that flourish by the 

 Thames above Putney. This permanent colony now includes 

 Aster Tripolium, Glaux Junc2is Gerardi, Triglochin 7nariti7num, 

 Scirpus maritimus, S. carinatus, S. triqueter, Carex divisa, 

 Agropyron pungens. On the tow-path, near at hand, grow a 



