UTRICULARIA. PRIMULA. 165 



454. Utricularia vulgaris. Ponds. N. In the pond at 

 Spindlestone. — B. Pond near Girtrigg, in the parish of Langton, 

 Rev. Thos. Brown. Ferneyrig bog. Dr. R. D. Thomson. 



455. U. intermedia. Ditches and pits, rare. B. In old peat 

 pits in Penmanshiel moss and Langstruther bog, abundant : Lurgie 

 loch : Handy' s-land moss, J. Hardy. 



456. Primula vulgaris. Ci)t i9rimro£if. Grassy banks lying 

 to the sun, very common. April- June. — Varieties at times occur 

 having the flowers edged or blotched with pink. Another variety 

 with purplish flowers (/3. rufa, Gray Brit. PI. ii. 302) occasionally 

 meets us in our deans. The fine umbellate variety, often mistaken 

 for P. elatior (see Wern. Mem. i. 221 : Rep. Bot. Soc. Edin. 1837, 

 p. 62 ; and 1838, p. 58), is abundant in the ravine above Ross, and 

 in similar parts of the coast of Berwickshire. With Willdenow I can 

 say, — " Vidi ex una radice pedunculos radicales unifloros, et scapos 

 multifloros." Syst. Plant, i. 802. See also Hopkirk's Flora Glott. 

 p. 32. — May 1, 1850, the Club found this umbellate variety with 

 purpHsh flowers on the banks of the Till between Tillmouth and the 

 picturesque bridge. — To go to the primrose bank, and gather prim- 

 roses, is the delight of our children. They will often, in a pet, throw 

 away a liberal handful, gleaned vnth mickle pains, in affected fear of 

 the numerous insect Thrips that swarm on the flowers. These are 

 never visited by the humble bees, which are so busy in search of the 

 sweets of almost every other vernal flower. 



Many botanists have their favourite flower around which they 

 associate certain events, feelings and facts, that perchance may be too 

 deep for tears, and which it is good to nurse in solitude and silence ; 

 but, singularly enough, few have thus married the Primrose. It is, 

 however, the favourite flower of my excellent friends Mr. Archibald 

 Hepburn and the Rev. Dr. Landsborough. 



The favourite flower of 



Sir James Edward Smith, M.D., was Geum rivale. 



Patrick Neill, LL.D.* Ranunculus ficaria. 



Rev. Charles Abbot Alchemilla \Tilgaris. 



Professor Robert Graham, M.D.f . Sonchus alpinus. 



* The last excursion — he had to take coach to make it — Dr. Neill made, 

 was to see what he called the Ficaria bank at Cramond. 



t The plant which the Professor showed the greatest ardour in collecting 

 was Sonchus alpinus, which raises " its stately stalks and azure heads in 

 spots which try the enthusiasm of the adventurous collector." Alpine 

 plants have peculiar atti-actions. Sir James E. Smith tells us that "he has 

 had frequent opportunities of remarking that the greatest enthusiasts in 

 the science have been alpine botanists." Memoirs, ii. p. 451. And Pro- 

 fessor Balfour gives similar evidence. " There is, moreover, something 

 peculiarly attractive in the collecting of alpine plants. Their comparative 

 rarity, the localities in which they grow, and frequently their beautiful hues, 

 conspire in shedding around them a halo of interest far exceeding that con- 

 nected with lowland productions." Manual of Botany, p. xiv. His pet 

 flower is alpine. 



