322 



to follow Fries in erecting it into a separate species. The habitat is 

 in each case remarkable : Mr. Woods finds it on the chalk cliff at 

 West Lulworth, Mr. Babington on the (I presume, mountain lime- 

 stone) cliff at Tenby, I on the soft slate at Ilfracombe, and on Devo- 

 nian limestone at Plymouth and Torquay, and I believe on the new 

 red sandstone near Dawlish, but in the last case I cannot vouch for 

 the identity of the plant, having only seen it from the window of a 

 railway carnage. But it is worthy of notice that in no case does it 

 seem to grow actually on the sea-shore like Alsine marina : I always 

 find it a little above highwater mark, just within reach of the spray in 

 rough weather, and so firmly wedged into crevices of the rock that 

 seldom can any force or care avail to preserve the woody root attached 

 to the specimen. In general appearance it resembles A. marina, s but 

 is more elegant ; the stems are more numerous, as well as the flowers, 

 with which the plant, when in full bloom, is starred all over. But 

 when examined minutely, it presents characters which, with the ex- 

 ception of the fleshy leaves, belong to A. rubra. The leaves them- 

 selves are tipped with a minute homy point : the stems, &c, are not 

 downy, but thickly covered with glandular hairs, and all the seeds 

 which I have examined have a " thickened rough border," but no 

 traces of a wing. 



Fenton J. A. Hort. 

 Torquay, September 27, 1848. 



Accidental Introduction of Foreign Plants into Britain. 

 By Hewett C. Watson, Esq. 



In looking into the Second Part of the ' Flora Hertfordiensis,' re- 

 cently published, I find under the head of Erysimum orientale, page 

 27, an incidental explanation to account for the appearance of foreign 

 species in that county, which is well adapted to give a useful hint 

 and caution to those botanists who may discover and place on record 

 any similar novelties. The Author of the Flora writes of the Erysi- 

 mum orientale thus : — 



" We found a single specimen of this species on a newly -repaired 

 towing-path near Ware Mill, in 1841 ; in company with Brassica Na- 

 pus, Saponaria Vaccaria, Asperula arvensis, and Echinospermum Lap- 

 pula. The gravel with which the bank was repaired, was probably 

 obtained from the bed of the river by dredging," 



Now, suppose that the Author had stopped abruptly here, as some 



