8 Y^AW.V.wAdvaitiiwus Vc^ciatioji ofSt.Annc's-on-tJic-Sccx. 



which, though native plants, may have been introduced 

 in the same vvay, viz. : Lepidiiiin ruderalc\ L. ; Lactiica 

 vtrosa, L ; and Marrubiuin vnlgare, L., the first and last 

 of which I have also found in other localities in the 

 neighbourhood. 



Besides these species there is a fourth alien which 

 ma>' have been established as long as the Ambrosia, but 

 of which I have met with but three or four flowering 

 examples of what I take to be Vtcia villosa, Roth, 

 and probably Koch's variety jf/abrcsrens of that species = 

 V. dasycarpa, Ten. It is allied to the purple-tufted vetch 

 ( V. Cracca, L.) but with fewer flowers in the spike, more 

 separated one from the other and much less pendent. 

 In the dried state in which it appears in the herbarium 

 example now before the members, and of which Plate j 

 is a photographic reproduction, the handsome spikes of 

 flowers are of a dark royal blue colour, but in their living 

 state on the sandhills they are of a rich claret colour 

 unlike that of any of our native vetches. The flower 

 spikes do not show up very well on the plate compared 

 with their appearance on the herbarium sheet to which 

 they are affixed, but they may be identified from the 

 leaves by their much longer stalks and by the absence of 

 the prehensile tendrils which are so characteristic of the 

 upper part of the leaves. The handsome flowers are sure 

 to be gathered almost as soon as they are produced, as the 

 locality is a favourite resort for children ; certainly none 

 of the flowers reached the fruiting stage this season. 



Vida villosa. Roth, is native in all European countries 

 except Great Britain, and the present is probably the first 

 record of its occurrence in this country. There is no 

 antecedent reason why it should not be native here, but 

 its occurrence with the other aliens named is against its 

 being considered aboriginal. 



