295 



S. annuus. Stems dicbotomous, leaves widely spreading, flowers in the forks of the 



stem. 

 S. perennis. Stems irregularly branched, leaves erect, unilateral, flowers terminal. 

 —Id. 



189. Equisetumjluviatile. There is a large patch of Equisetum fluviatile at Nor- 

 wood. A road leads down the hill from the neighbourhood of the Woodman lun to- 

 wards Dulwich ; and a little way down the hill, on the right hand, a quantity of the 

 soil has been dug out, so as to leave a precipitous bank ; on the acclivity of this bank, 

 and about a small pond close by, the above-named plant grows in such luxuriance as 

 to make a very handsome appearance. The whorls of dark green leaves, rising one 

 above the other, can only be compared to a miniature gTove of pines, growing up the 

 side of some steep mountain in Germany. — Win. Ilott; Bromley, Kent, July 2, 1842. 



190. Cucuhahis baccifer, (Phytol. 255). In the margin of my copy of Ray's Sy- 

 nopsis, against Cucubalus Plinii (C. baccifer) a former possessor of the book has writ- 

 ten as a habitat Springfield, Essex. From the colour of the ink and style of writing 

 it is evident this entry was made soon after the Dillenian edition of the Synopsis ap- 

 peared. Perhaps some of your readers, on seeing this note, will search in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Springfield for this plant, which may very readily have been overlooked. 

 — H. O. Stephens; 78, Old Market St., Bristol, July 5, 1842. 



191. An Hour^s Botanizing among the Falls of Lawers. I should like to call the 

 attention of your readers for a few minutes to this spot, not so much for its botanical 

 treasures, as for the exquisite beauty of its scenery, which is, I fear, not much known 

 to tourists, in consequence perhaps of being overlooked in the guide-books. It is, how- 

 ever, well worthy of being visited by every lover of picturesque scenery who passes this 

 way, and to the botanist it is a little Garden of Eden. The principal Falls are situ- 

 ated in a rocky dell embosomed in a fir-wood, a few minutes walk up from the toll-bar 

 of Lawers. Before reaching the wood a number of beautiful little cascades occur, se- 

 veral of them fourteen or fifteen feet high, some of them overshadowed by graceful 

 ash-trees, and all margined by verdure-mantled rocks glowing with bright blossoms, 

 among which Vicia sylvatica. Geranium sylvaticum and the " foxglove's purple bells" 

 are conspicuous. Polypodium Phegopteris and Polygonum viviparum are also here 

 in abundance. On entering the dark wood the rocks assume a wilder aspect, the roar 

 of water greets the ear, and we soon come upon the principal falls, which, although by 

 no means so imposing as those of Acharn, Moness or Bruar, possess a charm peculiar 

 to themselves. In the upper one the water takes four distinct leaps, and in the lower 

 is precipitated through a narrow channel over a perpendicular rock about fifty or sixty 

 feet high, into a dark and dismal-looking pool beneath. The harmonious and sooth- 

 ing murmur of the smaller cascades is now exchanged for the roar of the cataract, the 

 light of the sun is almost shut out by the overhanging woods, and the rocks that rise 

 rugged and lofty are garnished profusely by tufts of ferns, and wild flowers of varied 

 hue. The botanist will here find in great exuberance among the moist rocks the beau- 

 tiful little Asplenium viride and the delicate Hymenophyllum Wilsoni. Hieracium 

 paludosum is plentiful, and Circaea alpina, Alchemilla alpina, Oxyria reniformis, Me- 

 lica uniflora, Festuca ovina, var. c. vivipara, Melampyrum sylvaticum and pratense, 

 occur more or less abundantly. In the crevices of the rocks may be gathered Hyp- 

 num commutatum in fine fructification, with plenty of Bryum turbinatum and ven- 

 Iricosum, Marchantia hemisphserica and the elegant Hypnum rufescens. Bryum 

 julaceum grows by the sides of the stream, and many others might be detected by a 



