959 



parently about Twyford, near Wiuchester, but only seen by me there 

 in suspicious places, as in the grove opposite Twyford House, and at 

 Twyford Lodge, also in plenty all along a hedge adjoining the church- 

 yard at Compton. Frequent about Hambledon, Miss L. Minchin. 

 The snowdrop may be truly indigenous in some of its Isle-of- Wight 

 stations, as that of Snowdrop Lane has greatly the aspect of a native 

 locality ; nevertheless, I am inclined to hold it rather as an intro- 

 duced but perfectly naturalized species here, because I have never 

 seen it in sequestered woods like the wild daffodil, or on old virgin 

 turf or pasture land, as in many parts of England, where I believe it 

 to be a genuine aboriginal. The parallels of southern and a great 

 part of central Europe are the true zone of Galanthus,* or from 35° to 

 about 55° of latitude, and therefore I do not see any excuse for those 

 who refuse to admit its aboriginality on the score merely of its being 

 a common garden plant, and often an escape from cultivation, as it 

 would the more naturally and frequently be on that very account. 

 In this island the snowdrop forms but does not mature capsules and 

 seeds, at least I have never been able to procure them in a ripe con- 

 dition : the rapid increase of the plant by bulbs quite accounts for 

 this. The flowers have a faint but delicate fragrance not commonly 

 noticed. 



Asparagus officinalis. On sandy sea-shores ; rare. On loose sand 

 of the Spit at Norton, Freshwater, not in very great abundance, but 

 much more plentiful now than it was some years back, when there 

 were hardly a dozen plants to be seen. It must, however, have ex- 

 isted there for a great length of time, if it is the same station intended 



* It will be necessary for me here to explain what I understand by southern, 

 central and northern Europe, since these divisions have been used in so loose and ar- 

 bitrary a manner, that Britain is by some held to form part of the second, by others 

 of the third division. The most obvious and natural partition will be to divide the 

 entire latitudinal extent of Europe comprising 36 degrees (including Candia on the 

 south), by 3, which gives us as many regions of 12 degrees each in breadth, which may 

 be thus defined : — 



Southern Europe 35° to 47° 

 Central Europe 47° to 59° 

 Northern Europe 59° to 71° 10' N. Cape ; 



the medial line of the whole continent passing through lat. 53° 5', or a little to the 

 south of Dublin and Liverpool, which, if we adopt with some but two divisions into 

 north and south Europe, will be the exact parallel of demarcation between the boreal 

 and austral regions of our quarter of the globe, each comprising 18° 5' of latitude. 



