94 



66. Tragopogon pratemis. T have not the slightest doubt that the Tragopogon no- 

 ticed by Messrs. Irvine and Pamplin at Cobhara (Phyt, 36), is the true T. pratensis of 

 Linnsus and Smith, (Eng. Bot. t. 434). It is far from being a common plant in Eng- 

 land, indeed the only specimens that I have seen are from Sussex (Fvamfield) and 

 Suffolk, (St. Petei-s, Southelmham) ; and it appears to be totally unknown to the ma- 

 jority of English botanists. The more common Tragopogon is, I think, as certainly 

 the T. minor of Fries, as was pointed out several years since by Mr. Leighton. — C. C. 

 Bahhigton ; St. Johii'ii College, Cambridge^ Oct. 16, 1841. 



67. Polypodiam Dryopteris and calcareum. 1 am much pleased with ' The Phy- 

 tologist,' which promises to be a very useful medium for exchanging infonnation on 

 botanical subjects; and as you seem to adopt the scrap-book motto, viz. "the smallest 

 contribution thankfully received," I may venture to add a mite. You find Mr. Wil- 

 son's opinion coincides with mine, as lo the distinctness of the two Polypodia — Dry- 

 opteris and calcareum. The pubescence, wbich is one distinguishing character of P. 

 calcareum, is a beautiful microscopic object, each slender stem supporting a globular 

 head, but this pubescence soon dries, so that only on freshly gathered specimens can it 

 be fully perceived or accurately examined. Though we found P. Dryopteris fre- 

 quently in Wales, we never met with P. calcareum there ; and though, like Mr. Wil- 

 son, we have cultivated them side by side for years, we can also testify that their re- 

 spective characters remain unchanged. — Meta Riley ; Papplewick, near Nottingham, 

 October 16, 1841. 



68. Monotropa Hypopilys. In a note from Dr. Balfour he informs me that he found 

 this plant in August last, in Oak woods, near Cawdor Castle, Nairnshire. I believe 

 this to be the first authentic record of a Scottish habitat. — Edward Newman. 



69. Silene nutans, (Phytol. p. 78). Will your correspondent be good enough to 

 say if the plant grew on or about the Castle previous to the burning ? Or are we to 

 regard the circumstance he mentions as a curious parallel to that spoken of by Mori- 

 son (Dialogus inter Socium &c., p. 495), respecting the sudden appearance of Sisym- 

 brium Irio on the ruins of London, after the great fire of 1666 ? — L. H. Grindon; 

 Manchester, October 20, 1841. 



70. Quinate OEnothera. I have been much interested this autumn by finding nu- 

 merous flowers on a plant of OEnothera grandiflora in my garden, possessed of five 

 sepals, five petals, ten stamens and five to ten stigmas, while the remainder of the 

 flowers on the same individual presented the usual quaternary arrangement of their 

 parts. This may have been observed before, but as it is an interesting fact in Phyto- 

 logy, I send it you for publication if you think proper. — Id. 



71. Substitution of Leaves for Petals in a Dahlia. While upon this subject, I may 

 mention that a Dahlia of mine has this autumn presented the curious substitute of 

 green leaves for petals ; the whole of the " flower " being composed of thick, fleshy ex- 

 pansions, arranged in an imbricate fonn, and springing, not from a common recepta- 

 cle, but in regular verticils on the terminating half-inch or so of the peduncle. A 

 more beautiful illustration of the doctrine of Morphology I have seldom seen. — Id. 



72. In the Gardeners' Chronicle for September 25, 1841 , we observe the following 

 correction of an error which appeared in a preceding No., and was copied by us into 

 'The Phytologist,' p. 80. " Spurless variety of Dog Violet. — In our notice of this at 

 p. 599, we unfortunately ascribed its discovery to Mrs. Gye — it should have been Miss 

 Gage." We did not see this until too late for inserting it in our last. — Ed. 



73. Eriophorum alpinum. We are glad to see from a notice in the Gardeners' 



