963 



one, or at roost a pair, of flowers are developed at a time at its free 

 extremity, the rest expanding as they are successively protruded, as 

 is obvious from their production for a long time together from the 

 same point, as well as from the remains of the pedicels and bracts, 

 not to mention the nascent buds amongst which the later flowers are 

 seated. The flowers are often produced as early as January if the 

 weather be tolerably mild, and the large, cherry-like, bright scarlet 

 and polished berries remain attached through the winter, making a 

 fine appearance in the woods, but readily drop off when handled. 

 Butchers are said to make use of it in some parts of England for 

 driving away, and perhaps impaling on its excessively acute spines, 

 the flies that settle on their meat and chopping-blocks. The more 

 gentle of the craft with us are contented to deck their mighty Christ- 

 mas sirloins with the berry-bearing sprigs, and it contributes at that 

 season, with holly, misseltoe and other evergreens, to the decoration 

 of our churches and houses. Its common name in this island is 

 Knee Holm. The stems, though so hard and stiff*, scarcely, I think, 

 survive beyond the second or third year. The common Butcher's- 

 broom is unable to resist a degree of cold much beyond that of our 

 English winters, and therefore, like Tamus, its line of distribution is 

 deflected towards the south-east upon the continent, where it is rather 

 a plant of southern than central Europe. 



fTulipa sylvestris. In clayey or chalky meadows and pastures ; 

 very rare, and perhaps not really indigenous, at least to the only Isle- 

 of- Wight station I know for it at present. In a large moist meadow 

 on clay a little south-east of Hardingshoot farm, a few miles from 

 Ryde, Feb. 25, 1846, just coming into flower. The plant here is in 

 very moderate quantity, although apparently quite wild, occurring 

 sparingly scattered over a .rather limited area, associated with the 

 single wild daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus) and tolerable plenty 

 of the Primrose peerless {N. biflorus). The meadow is on the (plas- 

 tic ?) clay, but contiguous to the chalk formation at Nunwell, and 

 hence the soil probably contains calcareous earth as a constituent in 

 small proportion. One or two only of the plants flower, I believe, 

 annually. Mr. Wm. Whale showed me at Andover a specimen of the 

 wild tulip, which he had received from a lady who gathered it in the 

 Isle of Wight, but no station was given on the label. It probably 

 lurks undetected in some of our chalky pastures, pits and hollows, 

 from the difficulty of seeing it excepting at a very early season of the 

 year, before the leaves have died away, or the rather uncommon 

 flowers are past. Plentifully in an orchard at Breamore (near Fording- 



