THE PHYTOLOGIST. 



A few Notes on Cornish Plants. 

 By the Rev. C. A. Johns, M.A., F.L.S. 



Mr. Gibson, in his notices of Cornish plants, lately inserted in the 

 *Ph}tologist' (Phytol. ii. 676), stales his fear that Asparagus officinalis 

 may soon become extinct on the island which takes its name from 

 that plant. Botanists who are anxious that the stations of our rarer 

 plants should be preserved, will be glad to hear that there is no real 

 danger in the case of this interesting plant. I call it interesting, not 

 only from its being a botanical rarity, but because it is said to be the 

 origin of the variety of that delicious vegetable, the green Battersea, 

 and / A-«oz£? that it has been cultivated with great success. Little 

 harm is done to the plant by the guides, as they never take up the 

 roots, and possibly the annual destruction of the foliage, though it 

 prevents the plant from flowering, may promote the extension of its 

 roots. But even if this station be destroyed, there are at least two 

 others, one of which is about a mile to the west of Kynance Cove, 

 among the rocks on the cliff, where it flowers abundantly ; another is 

 near the village of Cadgwith, about two miles east of the Lizard. In 

 this last station it grows in great profusion, in a deep ravine, and 

 produces flowers and fruit. A gentleman who was some years since 

 stationed there as Lieutenant in the Preventive Service, told me that 

 he annually supplied his table from this station during the season, 

 and found it very good. 



My friend, Mr. Hore's Geranium sylvaticum was undoubtedly a 

 slip of the pen for G. sanguineum. Alsine verna and Spergula nodo- 

 sa grow side by side at Kynance : the latter plant may best be dis- 

 tinguished at a distance by its less tufted growth, brighter foliage, 

 and larger flowers. Cladium mariscus and Genista pilosa might have 

 been added to the rarities flowering in August. Orobanche rubra 

 was remarkably abundant this year, especially on the sand-hills at 

 Kennuck Cove; it withers in July. Thalictrura flavum formerly 

 grew at this place, but I looked for it last June in vain. In a roman- 

 tic, rocky glen, between Kennuck and the Lizard Cove, Ruscus acu- 

 VOL. II. 4 Y 



