70 Miscellaneous. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
BOTANICAL NOTES. 
Odontites verna, Reich., and its allies.—In the course of a very 
short tour in the eastern Pyrenees during the past autumn, I did not 
fail to observe the forms of this group which happened to come in 
my way, especially with a view to distinguish the plant which I have 
described ina recent number of this Journal as O. Bertolonii ; I failed 
however to find any forms which should not be referred to O. verna. 
The state of the latter plant which I found abundantly in cultivated 
land in the mountainous region of northern Catalonia, has larger fruit 
than it is usually found to possess, but the form of the capsule and 
calyx-segments is quite normal, and does not approach to my 0. ro- 
tundata. I have recently received from M. Jordan of Lyons spe- 
cimens of three forms of this group detected by that accurate observer 
in the neighbourhood of Lyons, and named by him respectively 
Euphrasia verna, Bell., EL. serotina, Lam., and EF. divergens, Jordan. 
The first of these agrees with the common European Odontites verna ; 
the second is the more slender plant which J} bave distmguished as 
var. elegans, and which is not in my opinion specifically distinct ; | 
the third is a plant with which I was not previously acquainted, and 
which appears to have strong claims to rank as a distinct species. In 
habit, and in the size and form of the capsule, it resembles O. Berto- 
lonii, but the leaves, instead of being ovate and distinctly toothed, 
are almost linear, with one or two scarcely perceptible teeth, those of 
the branches being usually entire ; the calyx-segments are short (one- 
third of its length) and triangular, as in O. rotundata, and M. Jor- 
dan observes that they are adpressed to the ripe capsule, which is 
not the case in the common species. This latter character it is dif- 
ficult to verify in dried specimens, but it appears to be likewise cha- 
racteristic of O. rotundata. The flowers are too imperfect for de- 
scription in M. Jordan’s specimens of O. divergens, but they appear 
to be much smaller than in the other allied species. 
Rhinanthus major and R. angustifolius.—In the tenth volume 
of DeCandolle’s ‘ Prodromus,’ Mr. Bentham enumerates England 
amongst the native localities of both the above-named species of 
Rhinanthus, although the former alone has hitherto been enumerated. 
as a British plant. If, as Mr. Bentham seems to consider, the cha- 
racter derived from the presence or absence of a membranous edge to 
the seeds be not trustworthy, it is difficult to assign any more con- 
stant character by which to distinguish these species; but such has 
not been the result of my observations, so far as they have extended. 
I shall briefly note the forms with which I am acquainted :— 
R. major, Ehrh.?, Benth. in DeC. Prod. Hairy calyces and 
broadly winged seeds. France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and 
Hungary. (J. B. spec. in herb.). 
R. major, [3. alpina, Benth. Calyces nearly or quite glabrous, seg- 
ments more acute, broadly winged seeds. Alps, Apennines, Riesen- 
gebirge, and Carpathians. (J. B. spec. in herb.). 
A specimen without ripe fruit from the herbarium of the late Pro- 
a i a ie 
