20. R. MACROPHYLLUS. 149 



botanists. The peculiar dentition of the leaves, which are 

 usually hairy or even a little felted beneath, distinguishes it 

 from the typical R. macrophyllus ; and the slender prickles 

 on the panicle, slightly felted leaves, and the shape of the 

 terminal leaflet, usually separate it from E. Schlechtendalii. 



Two specimens in my herbarium seem to belong to this 

 variety of R. macrophyllus^ but do not accord well with 

 the characters given above. Both have a very much less 

 angular and more hairy stem, bearing much more slen- 

 der prickles. One is from Essendon, Herts, and was named 

 R. carpinifolius by Bloxam (as I was informed by Coleman) ; 

 and the other is from Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, and in 

 addition to those peculiarities has no felt and not much hair 

 upon its leaves. 



M. Genevier says that this is not R. macrophyllus 

 (W. and iST.), and in that opinion I quite agree with him, 

 for it certainly is not the segregate species so named ; never- 

 theless I still believe that it is properly combined with that 

 plant and the others which I have grouped under my aggre- 

 gate species thus denominated. He points out that a plant 

 found at Marsden, Durham, by Mr Baker is the R, atrocaw- 

 lis (Miill.), and refers it to R. umhrosus. It has the very- 

 small dentition of the doubtful plant found at Gormire near 

 Thirsk, but is probably correctly placed here. I also place 

 here the R. flexicauUs (Genev. !) which grows by Loch Awe 

 (Hailstone !), in Birchin Grove near Worcester (Lees !), at 

 Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire, and at Lyston in Hereford- 

 shire. 



^ macrophyllus (W. & N.); aculeis e basi maxima 

 parvis brevibus, foliis quinatis vel ternatis, foliolis irre- 

 gulariter dentato-serratis subtus infrequens tomentosis 

 in venis pilosis, foliolo terminali elliptico vel late obo- 



13—3 



