261 



retnota, the latter character needs no comment ; suffice it to say that I have now before 

 me good specimens with roots, varying in height from three inches to three feet; and 

 as to the bracteas, a little attention to the Carices will serve to show that the length of 

 these parts is not at all to be depended upon- I see there is something said in the 

 ' British Flora ' on the scales of the calyx of the two species ; these I will now exa- 

 mine and give you the result. The three scales I now enclose are from the same spike ; 

 they all have tivo close green nerves ; in one you will observe that the nerves are discon- 

 tinued below the point, in the others they are extended to the point : you will also ob- 

 serve that one is only about one half the proportionate breadth of the others. As the 

 scales of most of our Carices are much broader about the middle or in the lower part 

 of their sj)ikes than at or near the summit, we may rely too much on such characters. 

 Now, after gaining what information I possibly can from books, I turn to my speci- 

 mens, and on examining them, among the rest I find two fine specimens of C. divulsa, 

 sent to me a few years ago (from what was then considered good authority) for C. ax- 

 illaris ; another I find, of recent date (from what is now considered good authority), 

 that was sent for C. axillaris, which turns out to be C. paniculata ; so that I gain no 

 infoimation by this, and as a last resource I avail myself of ' The Phytologist.' Per- 

 haps some of the readers of that work will be able and kind enough (if there be no se- 

 cret in the matter), to inform me how to distinguish the two species. In addition to 

 the above enquiry, I beg to say that good specimens or information on any of the Ca- 

 rices is always most gratefully received by me; as it is my intention, at some time or 

 other, to give a paper at some length on the British species and varieties of this genus, 

 when I shall have to notice some strange forms, and one in particular, which is now 

 considered to be a new species, and will be called Carex Leylandi. The plant was dis- 

 covered by me about a mile from Hebden Bridge in May 1840. It has been seen by 

 Mr. Leighton and many others of our eminent botanists, and they all consider it quite 

 new ; and Mr. Babington, in his letters also expresses his opinion that it is distinct. 

 — Samuel Gibson; Hebden Bridge, June 8, 1842. 



176. Enquiry respecting Bromus commutatv^. While on the subject of enquiries, 

 allow me to ask what are the " more technical distinctions " of Bromus commutatus ? 

 (Phytol. 136). The writer of the notice refen-ed to appears to doubt whether Bromus 

 arvensis be a British plant ; a few days ago I had the pleasure of giving to Mr. Bor- 

 rer specimens of the true B. arvensis. I first found the plant in 1840, growing about 

 half a mile from Hebden Bridge ; and in 1841 I again found it in abundance in this 

 neighbourhood. The three spikelets I enclose will serve to show that no reliance can 

 be placed on the size of the flowers : the three are from the same plant. — Id. 



177. Stellaria holostea with laciniated petals. In my rambles about this neighbour- 

 hood I have met with a singular laciniated variety of Stitchwoit (Stellaria holostea ?). 

 The petals have at the base of the incisure a very minute tooth, slender and sharp- 

 pointed, about half a line in length ; the tip of each segment of the petals is also di- 

 vided into two unequal acute teeth, the outermost being about half the size of the in- 

 ner one. The leaves on the stems are the shape and size of those of S. holostea, and 

 have also the peculiarly fine serrature of the edges. The flowers are about one third 

 smaller than the regular size of those of S. holostea. The plants formed several large 

 bushes in the hedge on one side of the road near the summit of one of our mountains, 

 they occupied a portion of the hedge about a dozen yards in length, forming four or 

 five rather large bushes at each end of the above distance. Bushes of plants with 

 flowers of the regular form were closely adjoining them, the branches in one case in- 



