RANUNCULACE^ 5 



[Myosurus minimus, L. Native in England and Wales 

 on damp bare ground. The localities from which the 

 species is almost invariably recorded both in Britain 

 and throughout the rest of its range are cornfields. It 

 might in consequence be inferred that artificial conditions 

 were necessary for its presence in Europe, and that it 

 could not therefore be considered indigenous in that 

 region. There are, however, a few records of the plant 

 as growing in truly wild habitats, such as broken ground 

 in meadows and woods. Mr. Fryer, in an interesting 

 note upon the species in the Journal of Botany, 1883, 280, 

 mentions a spot in Cambridgeshire where the plant grew 

 plentifully under trees. The ground had been trodden 

 and kept bare by cattle, affording a kind of habitat 

 which, as Mr. Fryer truly remarks, would be available 

 without the influence of man.] 



Nigella arvensis, L. A common weed in the corn- 

 fields of Central and Southern Europe and the Orient 

 which has been observed on one or two occasions 

 among colonies of aliens arising from corn-siftings. 



Nigella damascena, L. Like the last, a common 

 weed of Mediterranean fields, recorded many times from 

 waste places in England and usually due likewise to 

 foreign corn importation. It has also, however, been 

 observed as a garden escape. 



Nigella sativa, L. A weed of cultivated ground in 

 Eastern Europe well known as a garden plant in 

 England and occasionally found as an outcast from 

 gardens. 



FsBOnia corallina, Retz. A native of rocky woods and 



