439 



Chester. Border of a field at Norton, near Selbome, September, 1848. 

 Southampton, in a corn-field ; Mr. Borrer !! Wicor Hard, near 

 Fareham ; Mr. W. L. Notcutt !!! Droxford Forest ; Rev. E. M. Sla- 

 deri. Probably often overlooked from its strong general resemblance 

 to Anthemis Cotula and Pyrethrum inodorum, but the mostly smaller 

 flowers than those of either of these species, with the pleasant smell 

 of apple or quince, which is very characteristic of the Matricaria, and 

 from whence it got its specific name, will serve to distinguish it, espe- 

 cially from the nearly scentless Pyrethrum. The very conical disk is 

 a character which attracts attention readily to the Matricaria, but in 

 an early stage of inflorescence this is not always obvious, or at least 

 not more so than in Anthemis Cotula, the disk in which is sometimes 

 considerably prominent, though never perhaps so acutely conical as 

 in the other. The leaves of the Matricaria are in general more finely 

 divided or with the segments capillary, but these are liable to vary 

 much in breadth in all the three species ; so that the peculiar sweet 

 smell of the heads of flowers, and the absence of pales on the recep- 

 tacle, are the only sure marks by which the wild chamomile can, un- 

 der all circumstances, be distinguished from its two allies. The total 

 absence of this plant in the Isle of Wight, whilst so frequent in those 

 of Portsea and Hayling and along the eastern coast of mainland Hants, 

 is one of those curious problems in the geographical distribution of 

 vegetables, which baffle explanation in our present utter ignorance of 

 the laws by which that distribution is governed. 



Wm. A. Bromfield. 

 Eastmount House, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 



January, 1842. 



[To he continued]. 



Note on thejlowering time of Mentha sylvestris. 

 By W. A. Bromfield, M.D., F.L.S. 



Your correspondent, Mr. Lawsou, wishing to be informed of the 

 flowering time of Mentha sylvestris, and to know if the plant remains 

 barren for a season, I am happy to answer his inquiry as far as I am 

 able, from personal observation of the species at Selborne, in Septem- 

 ber last. At that sweet secluded spot, amongst the loveliest of Eng- 

 land's lovely villages, and hallowed above them all in the hearts of 

 British naturalists, such as read nature, not in books and closets, but 

 in her own fair pages, the fresh and fragrant fields, Mentha sylvestris 



