xcviii Proceedings^ 



Eavensbourn were includecl, and on the other hand portions of Surrey 

 were excluded. The Sub-Committee has decided to reject these 

 natural boundaries in favour of the purely artificial limits of the 

 county, because the former are extremely difficult to indicate correctly 

 on a map, or to follow when out collecting ; whereas a good county 

 map is readily obtained, and the county boundaries are easily 

 ascertained. The literature and study of English geographical or topo- 

 graphical Botany also strictly follows the limits of the counties. The 

 standard authority is Baker's edition of Watson's ' Topographical 

 Botany.' In this work the larger counties are divided into two or 

 more convenient divisions ; 112 county areas are thus formed, of 

 which the county of Surrey is No. 17. All modern local floras also 

 follow the boundaries of the counties, and the flora which it is hoped 

 will ere long be published by Mr. Beeby will deal with the whole 

 county of Surrey. It was manifestly desirable that the herbarium of 

 the Club should coiTespond with and illustrate this work. 



The desire of the Sub-Committee is to make the collection a 

 thoroughly representative one, and especially that the specimens 

 contained in it should be good, complete, and typical exemplars of the 

 species. Valuable contributions have already been received from 

 Mr. Bennett, Mr. Beeby, Mr. Straker, Mr. Miller, Mr. Epps, Dr. 

 Franklin-Parsons, and Mr. Mennell. These have been roughly 

 arranged in the order of the London Catalogue, and during the winter 

 the Sub-Committee hopes to have them all mounted and fit for 

 reference and exhibition. 



It is hoped that further contributions will be received from other 

 members, and during the next season it is intended to invite all local 

 botanists to collect and dry good specimens of any plants they may 

 6ome across which are not already well represented in the collection. 



The Sub-Committee desires to invite the co-operation and assistance 

 of the members in this work, as well as in the mounting and arrange- 

 ment of the collection. 



Passing to other matters of local botanical interest, the most im- 

 portant addition to the county flora during the past year has been that 

 of Polijgn.la aiistriaca (Crantz), found by Mr. WilUam "Whitwell on a 

 roadside bank near Caterham on the 2nd of June last. Tliis is a most 

 interesting find, as this form of the plant has hitherto only been 

 known in one English locality near Wye, Kent. A very distinct form 

 or variety, P. uliginosa, is foiind on Cronkley Fell, Teesdale, on the 

 Yorkshire side of the river. Mr. Whitwell states that in the Kent 

 locality the flowers are usually blue, but those found at Caterham were 

 a delicate white. It is somewhat remarkable that a stranger to the 

 district should have had the good fortune to make this interesting 

 addition to our flora. 



Amongst many valuable papers contributed by Mr. Beeby to the 

 ' Journal of Botany,' one of special local interest calls for remark ; 

 this is " On the Two Valerians," and ajjpears in the November number. 

 In this paper Mr. Beeby exhaustively describes the two forms (or 

 species) which have sometimes been combined under the name of 

 V. officinalis. These are V. mikanii and V. sambucifolia ; the former 

 is jjar excellence a Surrey plant, growing in woods and copses on the 

 chalk, and, speaking generally, is much the rarer plant. V. sambuci- 

 folia is a lover of marshy or moist places. Mr. Beeby unravels the 



