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cus, to admit of much examination. Among the plants we observed 

 were Lathyrus palustris, Sium latifolium, GEnanthe Lachenalii, Peu- 

 cedanum palustre, Nympha3a alba. Ranunculus Lingua, Rumex pa- 

 lustris, Sparganium simplex and natans, Potamogeton pectinatum 

 and rufescens, and a Nitella, which appears to be N. hyalina or tenu- 

 issimus. In returning to Newmarket along the Devil's Ditch for se- 

 veral miles, we were unable to find Barkhausia foetida, which has 

 been said to grow there, and the only uncommon plants seen, were 

 Thesium linophyllum, Cineraria campestris and Brachypodium pin- 

 natum. There does not seem any trace now of Asperugo procum- 

 bens in Newmarket churchyard, where it once grew, or of Veronica 

 spicata on the heath. Filago Jussiaei we noticed on the borders of 

 some corn-fields. While speaking of this plant, I may observe that 

 it has been found at intervals over a district of twenty miles in ex- 

 tent, on the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire, and was also found 

 near Hertford, by James Backhouse. Since sending my former no- 

 tice of it, I had the pleasure of seeing F. apiculata, of G. E. Smith, in 

 a new station, near Thetford, and am quite satisfied that the two 

 plants are quite distinct, as are both of them from F. germanica ; the 

 broad, short leaves, the bright purple points of the calyx, the very 

 woolly heads, and the different growth of the branches, though not 

 the only distinctive marks, are such as attract attention at first sight, 

 and are, I believe, permanent. Though the characters of distinct 

 species should be such as to admit of description on paper, yet it is 

 not always easy to do so, even when a merely casual observer might 

 be able to distinguish them by their appearance alone ; however, in 

 this case, there are more points of difference than in very many spe- 

 cies now admitted. Thetford is a first-rate locality for the botanist, 

 the sandy soil producing so many plants rarely found in other dis- 

 tricts, such as Artemisia campestris, Silene Otites and conica, Galium 

 anglicum, Veronica verna and triphyllos, Apera Spica-venti and inter- 

 rupta, Medicago falcata and minima, Schleranthus perennis, Hypo- 

 chceris glabra, &c. 



I should feel much gratified if these few and very imperfect obser- 

 vations serve as a stimulus to any fellow-botanists in ascertaining lo- 

 calities of rare or little known species. 1 believe much remains to be 

 done even in the most frequented parts of England, and that many 

 new species, not merely hair- split, but true species, would yet be 

 added to our Flora. G. S. Gibson. 



Saffron Walden, August 18, 1848. 



