2t6 ON THE ENGLISH MINTS. 
Var. 2. M, gracilis^ Sole, t. 16, non Bronai, 
Stern slender, only very sliglitly liairy beneatli tlie nodes. Leaves 
n ■ 
lanceolate, thinner in texture, dull green, and quite nated above, 
slightly hairy on the midrib beneath and rather shining, narrowed 
towards both ends, and the point acute. Lowest whorls with leaves 
l|-2 inches long, upper with leaves three or four times their length, 
the clusters small and few-flowered. Pedicel 1 line long, glandular, 
but not hairy. Calyx-tube campanulate, slightly tending towards 
cylindrical, about f of a line long, not at all or scarcely hairy. Teeth 
i of a line long, scarcely longer than broad, the base triangular but 
narrowed rather suddenly at the middle to a sharpish point, densely 
haiiy with erecto-patent hairs. 
Whether the plant figured by Sole as HL gracilis be anything 
more than a weak, slender form of var. 1, I will not undertake to say, 
but all the specimens marked as gracilis in the Smithian herbarium 
seem to me not distinguishable from this latter. Fries writes of 
Sole's plant (Novit. 2, p. 181) as follows:- — " Jf. ^r^'c/Z/^, Sole et 
Smith, var. a! quantum e speciminibus siccis video, nostras (our 
var, 1) valde dissimilis est, habitu revera, gracili, tenui, pallido , . . nee 
ad ullam sequentium (sativa, gentilis^ arvensis, etc.) referam ob folia 
subsessilia, quae eo memorabiliora cum folia ipsa valde angustata et 
elongata. Hanc ex Anglia tantum vidi." Sole's figure represents 
his own Wiltshire specimens exceedingly well. Our var. 1 was a 
plant well known to the older writers. It is figured by Dodonseus, 
Gerarde, and Parkinson. By Ray it was confused with .3/". gentiliSy 
but Dale and Buddie recognized it clearly. By Linnseus it seems to 
have been quite overlooked, and unless it be Sole, it is doubtful 
whether any of our post-Linnsean writers have fairly understood it. 
The remarks of Fries (Summa, p. 196) respecting it are excellent. He 
writes, *^ Species valde distincta, robusta, Patribus bene cognita ; post- 
quam Smithias cum heterogeneis formis conjunxerat, psene periit et 
ut videtur plerisque locis exstirpata. Herba, folia, caides (mode pur- 
purascentes) omnino M. viridis et nuUi Petiolatarum rite affinis, quam- 
vis flores verticillati." Besides the verticillate habit of growth, the 
calyx and corolla are mucli larger than those of M. mridis, but for the 
rest there is a close similarity. The British stations from which I 
have seen specimens are the following: Durham, banks of the Tyne, 
near Newcastle, Winch; Leicestershire, Worthington (or Smoile), 
