16 



Notes on a Botanical Tour in Germany, 

 By Joseph Woods, Esq., F.L.S. 



I LEFT London on the 16th of May, 1844, but the wet weather for 

 some days prevented my botanizing, and urged me on, since I could 

 travel in the rain, with less inconvenience than I could walk about in 

 it. On the 21st T ascended the Rhine in a steamer to Coblenz. The 

 steamer was nine hours in ascending from Cologne to Coblenz. On 

 the 22nd I had a botanical walk, under the auspices of Mr. Wertgen. 

 We crossed the Moselle, and turning to the left, walked to the 

 nearest hills above the river. It was not, perhaps, one of the plea- 

 santest walks about Coblenz for scenery ; yet, after reaching the hills, 

 the views were often very beautiful, stretching over the lower country 

 about Coblenz to the hills beyond the Rhine, and in another direc- 

 tion along the more contracted valley of the Moselle. The eminencies 

 on which we were, are dotted over with little bits of wood, left in order 

 to supply fuel to the neighbourhood. I need not mention such 

 plants as Salvia pratensis, Euphorbia cyparissias, &c., which are 

 found almost everywhere on the Continent, but proceed to those of 

 less general occurrence. In the meadows near the Moselle our first 

 prize was Tragopogon orientalis, distinguished by Koch, from T. 

 pratensis, by the beak of the marginal seeds being only about half as 

 long as the seed itself, while in T. pratensis this beak is as long as the 

 seed. Veronica praecox occurred occasionally among the corn, but 

 was almost over ; as was also Holosteum umbellatum. Some of the 

 latter belonged to the hairy variety, which has been called H. ciliatum. 

 Arabis arvense is exceedingly abundant. Euphorbia esula and E. 

 Gerardi grow on the banks of the river : and here we find also Allium 

 schoenoprasum. This has not the twisted leaves of the Cornish 

 plant, which is probably A. sibiricum. In the woods, or on their 

 borders, we met with Ranunculus polyanthemus, Dentaria bulbifera, 

 Genista sagittalis, Vicia tenuifolia, Ribes alpinum, Galium sylvati- 

 cum, abundantly, but not showing yet any signs of flower. Hieracium 

 praealtum, Gnaphalium dioicum. Campanula persicifolia, Pulmonaria 

 oflicinalis, Myosotis stricta, and the var. of M. palustris with deflex- 

 ed hairs on the stem. Melampyrum arvense, M. cristatum, Alnus 

 incana, Orchis fusca, O. militaris, and O. chlorantha, Ornithogalum 

 umbellatum, Convallaria majalis, and C; multiflora, Luzula albida, 

 Carex tomentosa, and a variety of C. praecox, which is probably C; 

 umbrosa, of Host. 



