43 



and I trust he will send a series for the herbarium of the Society. 

 The first-sight similitude to M. spicatum is so strong, that other bo- 

 tanists may have passed by it as such. 



Equisetum palusire (Linn.), vars. — In the * History of British 

 Ferns ' Newman figures two varieties of this Equisetum, under the 

 names of "polystachion" and "nudum ;" the former being a monstrous 

 or very highly developed state, in which the branches become fructi- 

 ferous ; the latter being a depauperised state, in which the branches 

 are few or wanting, and the whole plant dwarfish and less erect than 

 ordinary. As these are connected by intermediate links with the 

 normal plant, and are rather variations or states, than distinct varie- 

 ties, they were omitted from the second edition of the ' London Cata- 

 logue,' like many other things, for sake of brevity and compression. 

 Dr. Mateer has sent some capital examples of the ' polystachion ' 

 form from Ireland ; and Mr. Sansom has supplied some of the 

 'nudum,' from the neighbourhood of Crosby, on the Lancashire 

 coast. Comparatively few of Mr. Sansom's specimens are so denuded 

 of branches, as are those represented in Newman's work, page 49, 

 which nearly depicts the mountain form or variety, called " alpinum " 

 by Hooker and others. As their omission from the Catalogue will 

 prevent applications for them, the specimens from Dr. Mateer and 

 Mr. Sansom will be sent out like the novelties and other non- 

 catalogued things. 



Primula vulgaris var. intermedia (Lond. Cat.). — The connecting 

 links between the cowslip and primrose may be grouped under three 

 principal forms; as is done in the ' London Catalogue.' First, there are 

 the caulescent primroses, which differ but little from the ordinary prim- 

 rose (P. vulgaris or acaulis, of authors) except by having their umbels of 

 flowers elevated on a common scape or peduncle, either with or with- 

 out solitary flowers from the same root. Secondly, there are the in- 

 termediate forms, in which the physical characters of colour, shape, 

 pubescence and inflorescence are those of primrose and cowslip com- 

 bined, although, on the whole, the characters of the primrose pre- 

 dominating. Thirdly, there is a form, to be noticed under the next 

 head, in which the characters are also intermediate, but nearer to 

 those of the cowslip (P. veris or officinalis, of authors). Examples of 

 the first of these three grouped varieties are not unfrequent; those of 

 the second are much less so ; those of the third, according to my ex- 

 perience, very rare. The second and third are often applied for un- 

 successfully by members, owing to the difficulty of procuring the wild 

 specimens in sufficient numbers. By way of temporary substitute, I 



