356 



tinctoria, brilliant with its golden flowers, among which, and overtop- 

 ping them with pure white, densely clustered lunbels, grew abundance 

 of CEnanthe pimpinelloides most luxuiiantly, while the green turf 

 itself was bedecked with numerous plants of Spiraea Filipendula, whose 

 tall stems trembled with their panicled loads of rose-tinged blossoms. 

 This was a perfectly dry and hilly meadow. 



But O^. peucedanifolia,* of Smith, is really a marsh plant, and I 

 have never found it except in wet places, or low flat meadows close 

 to water, but as far as my observation goes, always fresh. T have met 

 with it abundantly in Longdon marshes, near Upton-on-Severn, in 

 the Severn Ham at Tewkesbury, and on the banks of the Severn, 

 Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, as well as on Kempsey Ham, below Wor- 

 cester. The Rev. Andrew Bloxam also finds it in a marshy spot on 

 Bosworth Field, Leicestershire. 



OE. Lachenalii, though a marsh plant, has, however, quite a difle- 

 rent habit from CE. peucedanifolia. It seems entirely confined to 

 muddy ditches, absolutely growing in the water in many instances, 

 and sending down its elongated vermiform tubercles so deep into the 

 mud, that it is very difficult to get them out without breaking. My 

 fiiend, the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, incumbent of Twycross, Leicester- 

 shire, well known for his botanical zeal and acumen, kindly invited 

 me to gather the plant in his company this season, for I had it not 

 near me to study ; and he took me to a lonely lane close to Sutton 

 Wharf, on the Ashby canal, on the borders of Bosworth Field. Here 

 we found the plant growing abundantly in a muddy ditch, so deep, 

 and half filled up with thorns, that it was exceedingly scratching 

 work to the fingers to get up any number of specimens. Although 

 this was the latter end of August, I was surprised to find that the 

 CEnanthe here located was only just coming into flower, while a month 

 previously I had considerable difficulty in meeting with GE. peuceda- 

 nifolia even in fruit, so soon does it wither after flowering, and QPi. 

 pimpinelloides flowers constantly in June and July. So that it ap- 

 peared at once evident to me that the three plants could be kept dis- 

 tinct by attention only to the period of their flowering; and Mr. 

 Bloxam concurred in this observation, remarking that Lachenalii 

 remained in flower to the end of September. This is worth noting, 

 as botanists have generally completed their collecting stores before 



* According to Smith, Hooker and Babington, the CE. peucedanifolia of Pollich, 

 which name I should think it preferable to retain, though Mr. Ball calls it (E. silai- 

 folia, Bieberstein^ and Mr. Watson suggests that it should take the name of Smithii. 



