INTRODUCTION CIX 



plant is Hottonia pahisb'is, L., and is still abundant. ^Millefolium 

 aquaticum cornutum, P. 1257. In the ditches about Oxford.' In 

 the Flora of Oxfordshire this was referred by me to Cei-atophyllum, as 

 a specimen with a nearly similar name is contained in the Du Bois 

 Herbarium, but a careful examination of the description in Parkin- 

 son's Theatrum induces me to believe now that a form of Ranunculus 

 aguatilis is the plant in question. The next are the three Orchises 

 which Mr. Browne found ' on several chalkey hills neer the high way 

 from Wallingford to Bedding on the Barkshire side of the river.' 

 These have been identified by some authors with Orchis militaris, 

 0. Simicc, Lam., and Aceras anthropophora, Br., respectively. The two 

 first have been verified; the last' has never been re-found. It is very 

 probable that Hatenaria viridis was mistaken for it. It is true that 

 Merrett also reprints a record of the Frog Orchis from How's Phijto- 

 logia, adding ' in many places about Oxford.' ' Periclymenum foliis 

 quercinis non procul Oxonio, Mr. Jenner.' This is only a form of 

 Lonicera Periclymenum recorded by Wm. Browne. '■ Pinguicula sive Sanicula 

 Eboracensis, Butterwort. Plentiful about Oxford,' is certainly Pin- 

 guicula vulgaris, L. ' Pofamogeifon pusillum folio gramineo, caide roUindo. 

 In Thames neer Oxford.' From a specimen in the Du Bois herbarium 

 at the Botanic Garden, Oxford, this is shown to be Potamogeton pusiUmn' 

 ' Potamogeiton Capillaceum capihdis ad alas trifdis, P. 1255-6 cum priore.' 

 This is P. pectinatum, L. ' Rubus scandens instar Viornae. By Maiden- 

 head.' A specimen in the Sherardian herbarium at Oxford of 

 R. ulmifolius, Schott. is similarly named ; Dillenius placed it among the 

 dubious plants. ' Sium medium foliis elegantissime dissectis. In some 

 ditches about Oxford.* This was referred by me in the Flora of Oxford- 

 shire to a form of S. lafifolium ; it has since occurred to me that it may 

 possibly have been meant for S. erectum, Huds. ' Symphytum flore 

 Ceneritio. Every where about Bedding.' This is only another form of 

 S. officinale. ' Trifolium pratense capite sertaceo. In the meadows seven 

 miles on this side of Oxford.' This entry refers to T. repens, L., with 

 a foliaceous calyx. * Vicia sylvatica flore albo, P. 1072. Near Oxford, 

 Mr. Bobart, Jun.' This is the beautiful Vicia sylvatica, L. ' Vicia 

 repens flore rubro, siliquis loyigis, foliisque brevibus. In a moor between 

 Sunning and Maidenhead.' This is probably V. angusiifoUa, L. 

 ' Orchis sphagodes major et minor. In many places about Oxford'; prob- 

 ably Habenaria chloroleuca, Eidl. Three or four volumes of Merrett's 

 plants are preserved in the Sloane Collection, Nos. 33, 34, at the British 

 Museum, but the plants are unnamed and unlocalized. Merrett was 

 buried in St. Andrew's, Holborn, in 1695. 



Elias Ashmole was born at Lichfield on May 23, 161 7. His father, Ashmole. 

 a man of good family, followed the trade of a saddler. His mother 

 was a near relative of James Pagitt, a Baron of the Exchequer. 



