907 



and amenities. In certain but indeterminate seasons it may be ga- 

 thered in quantities, and sometimes attains here a height of two feet. 

 Reichenbach's figure (Iconogr. ix. no. 1159) is very indifferent, and if 

 representing this species at all, depicts a variety such as I have never 

 met with. The exquisite one of Curtis in the ' Flora Londinensis ' 

 perfectly exhibits the species in its normal condition with us. 



Ophrys aranifera. In chalky, clayey or limestone pastures ; very 

 rare ? The var. (Z. fucifera (O. fucifera, Sm.) is the only form yet col- 

 lected in Hants, and the Isle of Wight the only part of the county 

 where it is certainly known to grow. First found May 10, 1841, by 

 Albert Hambrough, Esq., on St. Boniface Down, above St. Boniface 

 Cottage (several specimens). Behind Upper Mount, Bonchurch ; 

 Miss Dick and J. Saxby, Esq. !!! Several specimens gathered in 

 Luccombe Landslip, by the side of the main path, May, 1843, by a 

 servant of Miss Roper, of Ventnor !! On a sloping bank on the left 

 hand side of the Cowleaze going from Ventnor to Bonchurch, just 

 below the Madeira Vale Villas, May, 1843; Mrs. Clarkson !!! Ga- 

 thered in this last station by Miss Tompson in 1846, and since by 

 Mr. A. Hambrough and myself in 1848-49, at the end of April and be- 

 ginning of May, in tolerable plenty. It has not been discovered else- 

 where in the island, but will probably be found on the chalk in other 

 parts of it if carefully sought for at the proper season ; but being a 

 smaller, and from its colour less conspicuous and attractive plant than 

 O. apifera, and flowering many weeks sooner than that species, it may 

 elude observation at any time. Bullington, abundantly; Rev. D. 

 Cockerton : is this correct, and, if so, what form does the species put 

 on ? Our Hants stations are interesting, as being the most westerly 

 ones known for this eminently eastern Ophrys, and furnish another 

 proof of the assertion before made, that the floras of the east and west 

 of England become fused into each other in this county. Smith 

 quotes the beautiful figure of Curtis, Fl. Lond. ii. fasc. 6, t. 67, for his 

 O. aranifera ; to me that plate decidedly represents our variety, the O. 

 fucifera of the ' English Flora,' and very admirably too. It is pos- 

 sible that O. arachnites, the only British species of the genus wanting 

 to our county, may hereafter be detected in Hants. 



muscifera. In chalky or clayey, usually hilly pastures, 



woods and thickets ; less frequent than O. apifera, but far from un- 

 common in the Isle of Wight and county generally, although, like the 

 Bee- flower, uncertain in its stations and variable in quantity in diffe- 

 rent years ; flowering with us from the commencement of May to the 

 beginning or even the middle of July. At the farther part of Cal- 



