232 NEW LOCALITY FOR MAIANTHEMUM BTFOLIUM. [AugUSt, 



NEW LOCALITY FOR MAIANTHEMUM BIEOLIUM. 



To the Editor of the ' Phytologist.^ 



Sir, — I beg leave to forward a. specimen of Maianthemum hifo- 

 lium, which was growing rather in abundance a little beyond the 

 northerly end of Forge Valley, near Scarborough. It was found 

 by Mr. Braby, supervisor of her Majesty's Inland Revenue, and 

 myself. The place of its growth is bordering on the Moors, and 

 to all appearance this would stamp it as an indigenous plant. It 

 was growing in company with Trientalis europasa, on a northerly 

 aspect. It is not given in any lists of plants growing in this 

 locality. The leaves were noticed last year by us at a period too 

 late for the flower. I shall be happy to give you any further in- 

 formation respecting it, should you require it. 



The Acteea spicata grows in the same wood as the Maianthe- 

 mum bifolium, although they are at least half a mile apart. The 

 Actaa grows in a much more shaded part of the wood than the 

 Maianthemum, among the loose rubble of the oolite. Its local 

 habitat is not a new one, for it appears in the Scarborough list, 

 viz. Forge Valley. 



"We found the Maianthemum growing in peat earth on the brow 

 of a very steep bank, with a northerly aspect. The trees under 

 which it was growing are badly-grown Oak and Ash, with large 

 patches of bramble-bushes scattered about. Not far from the 

 spot grow Pyrola minor, Habenaria chlorantha, Lastrea montana, 

 Polypoclium Phegopteris, and many other rare plants. 



At/ton, York, July 18, 1860. FREDERICK REYNOLDS. 



Note. — The specimen of M. hifolium was duly received, and thanks are 

 hereby tendered to the obligmg sender. It is one of the most interesting 

 additions made to the list of localities for the rarer species of our Elora in 

 recent years. It is now many years since it was observed by the writer, in 

 the woods of Kenwood Park. In 'Cybele Britannica' it is entered as " alien 

 or unknown as a British plant." It may be alien ; possibly one-third of 

 our plants are so, but it certainly is not miknown as a " British plant." I 

 observed it in the place above stated, more than thii'ty years ago ; and the 

 gardener, a very intelligent man, informed me that it was no " new disco- 

 veiy," for that it had been known in that wood, in two spots, above fifty 

 years. Its introduction was unkno^vn. The lower patch had disappeared 

 several years ago, and its disappearance was attributed to the alteration 

 of a walk in the wood. The higher patch had considerably increased in 



