953 



ringly scattered, 1842. A single very large tuft in a marsh meadow 

 behind Gurnet Bay, 1«43. A solitary plant in a sandy arable field 

 by Marvel Copse, near Newport, 1845. A specimen or two found in 

 Marina Wood at Apley, by Ryde ; the late A. T. S. Dodd, Esq. !! 

 In a little copse near Place farm, W. Cowes, May, 1846; Miss G. E. 

 Kilderbee. Field by Debborne farm, W. Cowes, in some plenty ; 

 Ead.\\\ — (a suspicious station). Gurnet Wood, Ead.\ In a field 

 near Wilmingham, scarcely wild ; Rev. James Penfold. On a hedge- 

 bank near Thorley, far from any garden, but in very moderate quan- 

 tity ; Id. !!! I understand from Miss Clarke, of Yarmouth, that it 

 grows very abundantly in a small field by the Yar, at the north-east 

 angle of Thorley Copse, opposite Yarmouth Mill, as well as in the 

 copse itself, 1846. Sparingly naturalized in a meadow nearly facing 

 the stables at Steephill, Dr. G. A. Martin !!! On a sandy bank be- 

 twixt Rookley and Pi d ford, Mrs. Jones. In orchards near West 

 Meon, Mr. Wm. Pamplin. In several meadows about Hensting and 

 Owslebury, apparently wild (Mr. Earwaker) ; Id. in New. Bot. Guide. 

 How far the present species is indigenous to England it is very 

 hard to say. It certainly occurs with us in places where it would be 

 difficult to account for its introduction, and where it has perfectly the 

 appearance of a native plant. The chief objections to receiving it as 

 such are, its usually small quantity in any one station, frequently only 

 two or three, or even a solitary tuft ; and secondly, its not producing 

 capsules, at least I have never seen them in any of the localities 

 above recorded. The non-production of seed-vessels may, however, 

 be habitual with this, as with many other plants of its order (Amaryl- 

 lidacese), and even the following species, although an indubitable na- 

 tive, fails to produce capsules wholly or partially in many of its 

 localities, whilst in others nearly every individual ripens seed. N. 

 biflorus is evidently propagated by bulbs, as is seen by the clusters of 

 them of all sizes on digging up the tufts of leaves and flowering stems, 

 whilst the common wild daffodil is but sparingly increased in this 

 way, and hence the plants grow singly or but few together, forming 

 but small clumps or none at all. Allium vineale abounds in certain 

 pastures in this island, and its nativity cannot be questioned, yet in 

 no one instance have I been able to find a flowering specimen amongst 

 the thousands bearing heads of bulbs alone. Tulipa sylvestris, 

 which I hold to be a true native in many parts of England, rarely 

 flowers even, and still seldomer seeds, if indeed it ever does; and I be- 

 lieve Fritillaria Meleagris, although a free flowerer, never, or very 

 rarely, ripens seed in its native meadows. The same happens with 

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