1860] BOTANICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 343 



some part of my plan in your ''Pocket Flora." I claim no patent 

 for the plan, and any one has a right to adopt one similar. I have 

 sent the specimens which you want, to the Linnaean Society in a 

 parcel with Bell Salter's Eubi. I have long wished to return it, 

 but could not conveniently take it when last I went to him. I 

 direct this letter also there, not knowing where else to send it. 

 Cr^pin tells me that he does not believe in the Erophilas : neither 

 do I. I see that the Editor of the " Phytologist " does not know 

 anything about Orchis incarnata. He takes more interest in his 

 foreign escapes at Wandsworth than in the true flora of Britain. 

 Sowerby has now finished his " British Wild Flowers." Have you 

 seen it ? It might have been much better if in the hands of a 

 more competent editor : but it will be of use. Henslow and 

 W. Shepper, of Bury, are printing a sort of fore-runner to a " Flora 

 of Suffolk." It is very meagre, and Benthamian, but may stimulate 

 the local men. — Yours very truly, Charles C. Babington. 



To the same. 



Cambridge, June 20, 1860. 



Dear More, — I do not think that any reasonable person would 

 try to make species out of your interesting series of Draba verna. 

 I once rather suspected that praecox might he distinct, but that set 

 seems to determine the point in the negative. I should name the 

 Sagina from Bembridge ciliata, but suppose that the French would 

 call it patula or Jordan, and believe that Fries' plant is not the same. 

 I cannot help fancying that your Cerastiwn tetrandrum with nodding 

 heads is not the true plant. I am thankful for the specimens of 

 Festuca Broteri. As you have the true plant, and also plenty of recent 

 specimens of that which grows in the Isle of Wight, I think that 

 you had better draw up an account of the plant yourself. You 

 have the most knowledge of it, and can do it best. Above all, do 

 not neglect the present opportunity of drawing up a careful de- 

 scription of the fresh plant. You must also contrast it carefully 

 with its allies, so as clearly to point out the differences between 



them ; also between it and the African plant. could not 



have given you any opinion of the least value relative to the name 

 of your grass. He knows nothing of foreign synonymy of grasses, 

 and I would not give a fig for his names. He draws and describes 

 -accurately, and is, therefore, valuable in such an order, as he furnishes 

 materials for others to work with. I am glad to learn that you are 

 convinced that your Plantago is a form of maritima. It is a singularly 

 variable species. I much doubt if there is any real permanent 

 distinction between Trifolium sativum and T. pratense. I fear that 

 the latter is not a true native in the lowland parts of England ; at 

 least, I have never felt sure that I saw an absolutely indigenous 

 plant of it in such places. When such a plant as Crataegus Oxyaamtha 



