800 



shire ones. Hooker (Brit. Flo.) gives " copses and pastures," as well 

 as "amongst old ruins" in the east and south of England: what 

 known stations are there in this country for the Aristolochia answer- 

 ing to the former description ? Hudson (Fl. Angl.) says, " Habitat 

 in sylvis et sepibus ;" Relhan also (Fl. Cantab.), " Woods and 

 hedges :" neither of these authors makes mention of ruins as an habi- 

 tual locality for the plant. Of what kind are the Kentish and Cam- 

 bridgeshire habitats alluded to in the works just quoted ? I once found 

 Aristolochia Clematitis apparently wild in a wood in the Park of St. 

 Cloud, and many stations are given for it in the excellent Paris flora 

 of Cosson and Germain, whilst it abounds in rough, stony places in 

 the south of France, perhaps truly spontaneous ; yet is it more fre- 

 quently seen as a septal, viatical or ruderal, than as a sylvestral spe- 

 cies in middle and western Europe, — the phrase of its occurrence 

 generally being, " Habitat in vineis, cultis, sepibus." It is assuredly 

 most abundant and at home in the east of Europe,* whilst its orien- 

 tal prevalence is strongly hinted at in the old English name of Sara- 

 cen's Birthwort, which may countenance a suspicion of its having 

 been perhaps introduced to this country, and even to western Europe 

 generally, by the crusaders on their return from Palestine, as a medi- 

 cinal plant. I have, however, shown in other parts of these Notes, 

 the danger of drawing conclusions from such uncertain premises, and 

 however harmless and allowable it may be to put forward deductions 

 of this kind as purely speculative, they ought never, I think, to be 

 adduced as grave arguments against the indigenous claims of a spe- 

 cies, or made an excuse for imposing or continuing the symbol of 

 doubt in the absence of better testimony. 



* Frequent, for example, in the Russian Steppes, in which country it occurs as 

 far north as Moscow, lat. 55° 45'. 1 have seen it plentiful in the Brigittenan at Vi- 

 enna, where it is truly iudigenons, and furnishes the only pahulum of the larva of the 

 beautiful butterfly Thais Polyxena, which is sometimes plentiful about the Austrian 

 capital. 



Wm, A. Bromfield. 

 Eastmount, Byde, Isle of Wight, 

 January, 1850. 



(To be continued.) 



