30 



Art. IX. — Varieties ; Original and Select. 



1 . L YCOPODIUM clavatum. I may observe that this plant makes a beautiful ob- 

 ject when cultivated in a greenhouse, and suspended from the roof or side walls. I 

 have seen it in such situations with branches from three to four feet long, flowering 

 most abundantly, and having a peculiarly imposing appearance : in this state it is not 

 readily recognized by persons familiar with it in its ordinary localities. — D. Moore ;* 

 Dublin, May 2A, 1841. 



2. Plants in the neighbourhood of Falmouth, Comvmll. This comer of England is 

 by no means devoid of interest to a lover of Botany. I think thou wilt like to know 

 what plants I have already seen. The first I was struck with was Cotyledon Umbili- 

 cus, which grows in the greatest profusion ; not a hedge but is studded with it. The 

 hedges here are banks of earth or loose rocky stones, and are overgrown with verdure, 

 mostly affording on their top a convenient foot-path. In a lane, close by, grows Sib- 

 thorpia in abundance ; also Anchusa sempervirens quite commonly. Thrift of course, 

 on the coast ; and some species of Cochlearia, one of which is said to be Danica, but 

 I cannot see that the pouch is reticulated with veins. Cardamine hirsuta is very 

 common. Senebiera didyma is a weed growing against the walls of houses. Smyr- 

 nium Olusatrum plentiful. Viola lactea, with its peculiar leaves, almost as common 

 as canina. Myrica Gale grows in the same marsh as Menyanthes. On a promontoiy 

 crowned with Pendennis Castle grow Mcenchia erecta, Silene maritima, Spergula sub- 

 ulata and Ranunculus parviflora. Melittis grandiflora grows in two or three localities 

 near the sea. Oxalis corniculata is said to grow sparingly in the hedges. All the 

 plants mentioned, except Oxalis, I have seen myself; no doubt there are others, equal- 

 ly rare, to be found as the year advances. The Melittis found here agrees with the 

 description of grandiflora, except in the calyx, which seems more like that of Melisso- 

 phyllum. Vaccinium Myrtillus is common. — Daniel Peirson ; Falmouth, 5th month 

 (May) 28, 1841. 



3. Rare Plants in West Surrey. Ribes rubrum and nigrum, the former in many 

 places, the latter abundantly in one place, by the side of the Mole near Esher : per- 

 fectly wild and completely naturalized. Turritis glabra, abundant and fine by the 

 road-side between Hampton and Sunbury. Diplotaxis tenuifolia, a rare plant in Sur- 

 rey, is very abundant above Walton Bridge, Cerastium arvense, on banks by the side 

 of the Thames below Walton Bridge. — /. S. Mill ; Kensington, June 1, 1841. 



4. Isatis tinctoria is now growing in prodigious luxuriance in the chalk-quarries close 

 to the town [of Guildford]. It grows (in many instances) out of clefts in the precipi- 

 tous chalk cliff, and makes almost a bush of flowers from the same root. Geranium 

 lucidum I again found in my old locality, near St. Catherine's Hill. — Id. June 8, 1841. 



5. Aconitum Napellus, This beautiful plant occurs abundantly in various locali- 

 ties in the immediate neighbourhood of Leominster in Herefordshire ; its growth is 

 luxuriant, and its habitat is invariably the bank of one of the numerous rivulets which 

 so abound in that fluviatile district. It is introduced into the gardens in the town, 

 and grows with health and vigour when removed from its native humid station. Sir 

 W. J. Hooker, in ' Brit. Flora,' i. 264, mentions this as " a doubtful native," but I 

 have seldom seen a plant which exhibits more manifest symptoms of being indigenous. 

 Edivard Newman ; 45, Wellclose Square, June 21, 1841. 



* In a letter to E. Newman, 



