482 



G. S. Gibson ; and to the same observant and liberal botanist the So- 

 ciety is now indebted for some duplicate specimens. By another sea- 

 son, we may hope, Mr. Gibson will be able to supply the species in 

 larger quantity, and that it will be discovered by other of our lynx- 

 eyed botanists of the present age. There seems much probability 

 that M. arvensis has hitherto been passed by, as M. officinalis ; from 

 which latter it is distinguishable by the upper suture of the pod being 

 glabrous, not pubescent as in M. officinalis. The flowers of Mr. Gib- 

 son's specimens are yellow, which is not always the case, according 

 to continental authors. The relative length of the petals is relied 

 upon for a diagnostic character between M. arvensis and M. alba or 

 vulgaris ; the wings being longer than the keel, in the former, and 

 about equal to the standard ; while, in the latter, the wings are stated 

 to be nearly equal to the keel, and shorter than the standard. This 

 is a small character, but apparently a correct one. It may be recom- 

 mended to botanists that they should not pass by any locality of a 

 Melilotus, this year, without examining specimens ; three apparent 

 species being now recognized in England, all of which may have for- 

 merly been considered as M. officinalis. 



Agrostis ( Apera) interrupt a (Linn.). Specimens of this recent 

 addition to the list of English plants, have been sent from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Thetford, in Norfolk, by Mr. G. S. Gibson, and the Rev. 

 W. W. Newbould ; as likewise by Mr. J. W. Salter, who received 

 them from Mr. C. C. Babington. Those communicated by Mr. New- 

 bould, not having been severally labelled by the donor, have only the 

 Society's general printed form without special locality, which is that 

 of " Redneck Heath, near Thetford." As with two of the preceding 

 novelties, this likewise should probably be deemed a newly dis- 

 tinguished, rather than a newly discovered, species with us ; for there 

 can be little doubt that it has been seen before, and regarded as 

 Agrostis Spica-venti, a species which it resembles very closely, and 

 with which it has been united by some botanists of the continent. It 

 is to be distinguished from the Spica-venti by a closer or narrower 

 panicle, and broad sub-oval anthers ; the better known species having 

 linear-oblong anthers, and a wider panicle. 



Arenaria rubra /3. media (Bab.). Under this name, Mr. F. J. A. 

 Hort sends a few examples of a sea-side plant, which the same 

 gentleman recorded in the ' Phytologist ' for November last (iii. 321). 

 It is the Arenaria marina of various English botanists ; but differs 

 from the plant figured as such in Eng. Bot., by the absence of a 

 membranous margin or wing to the seeds. Its thick and perennial 



