607 



merges O. Hedene with O. minor, retaining O. Picridis as a species. 

 To my perception the first of these has as good a claim to be held 

 distinct as the last from O. minor, not so much from the excellence 

 and stability of its technical characters as from its geographical dis- 

 tribution and apparently perennial duration, as well as from a certain 

 difference of aspect, which may, however, be produced from local pe- 

 culiarities, such as shade and moisture. The capsules and seeds of 

 the various Orobanches appear to have received little or no attention, 

 and as far as my own observations have gone, which are restricted to 

 a very few of the commoner species chiefly, they are remarkably 

 uniform in size, shape and colour: still I think characters might be 

 discovered in these organs, if not in all, at least in some of the spe- 

 cies, which might help to settle their distinctive pretensions on a 

 firmer footing than they are at present. 



Orobanche ccerulea, Vill. ? Parasitic on Achillsea Millefolium, in 

 pastures and on banks and borders of fields, but very rare. First no- 

 ticed by the authors of the catalogue of Hants plants in the ' Hamp- 

 shire Repository,' as growing at Steephill, in this island, but I am not 

 aware that it has occurred since in that locality. Field near the cliff 

 opposite the barracks on Royal Heath, between Sandown and Lake ; 

 Mr. J. E. Winterbottom, July, 1841 ! In a sandy field just beyond 

 Royal Heath, on the foot-way to Shanklin ; Miss Phillips, July, 

 1845 !! On the grassy edge of the cliff at the north end of Sandown 

 Bay; Mr. J. A. Hankey, June 21, 1843!!! (several times gathered 

 there since, by myself). A specimen found betwixt Lake and Shank- 

 lin, by Dr. T. Bell Salter, in August, 1843; and in June, 1845, the 

 same acute botanist picked another example at Bordwood (a little 

 more inland than the foregoing stations), the largest specimen I have 

 yet seen, being upwards of sixteen inches high, with three or four 

 stout branches from the bottom of the stem. In a pasture field (par- 

 sonage glebe) adjoining the rectory at Yaverland, sparingly, August 3, 

 1843. In particular seasons a good many plants of this species come 

 up in that field, and along the grassy verge of the cliffs by the path- 

 way leading upwards to the summit of Whitecliff Bay, but are ex- 

 tremely capricious and uncertain in their appearance. No other part 

 of the island, save this narrow strip of greensand along the coast 

 line of East Medina, from Yaverland to Steephill, has hitherto yielded 

 this curious, well- characterised and beautiful Orobanche, but it may 

 fairly be expected to occur on the same formation along the south- 

 west shore line of sandy cliffs betwixt Blackgang and Freshwater. I 

 have never seen it but on diminutive, starveling specimens of the 



