580 



of Aspley is situate at the distance of a short walk from the town of 

 Woharn : I have no means of ascertaining if specimens may still be 

 obtained from thence. Convallaria majalis was plentiful all over Asp- 

 ley wood, but past flowering when C. bifolia was found. This wood 

 is one of the most picturesque and delightful that can be imagined. 

 It was a favourite resort of the late amiable poet, WifFen, when do- 

 miciled at Woburn Abbey ; and many of the charming graphic de- 

 scriptions of woodland scenery appearing in his works, may well be 

 supposed to have been depicted from the oiiginals of this delightful 

 locality. — Edioard Edwards ; Bexley Heath, Kent, March 4, 1843. 



280. Note on the Surrey locality for Fritillaria Meleagris. In 

 the ' Naturalists' Almanack ' for 1843, it is said that " this very beau- 

 tiful and local plant flowers profusely in some meadows at Mortlake," 

 (p. 9). This species, called by the country folk " snake's head," used 

 to flower in a meadow at Mortlake, SuiTey, known from that circum- 

 stance as " the Snake's-head Meadow," but of late years it has become 

 very scarce, if not altogether eradicated by the ruthless hands of the 

 village children, by whom the early showy plant was coveted as an 

 ornament to their May garlands. The meadow is at the Thames side, 

 beyond the brewhouses, and about midway between the village and 

 Kew bridge. On visiting the spot at the proper time, during several 

 seasons within the last five years, I was not able to obtain more than 

 a single specimen. I am not aware of any other recorded station for 

 the Fritillary in the immediate environs of the metropolis. — Id. 



281. Lithospermum pitrpureo-cosruleum. " The purple gromwell, 

 a local and veiy beautiful plant, found in Darenth wood, in Kent," — 

 (Nat, Aim. 11). To the best of my belief, this species does not now 

 occur in Darenth wood. I cannot learn that any of my friends have 

 detected it there during recent years ; neither have I, after numerous 

 diligent searches, been able to meet with it. I possess specimens from 

 Babbicombe, Devon. — Id. 



282. PcBonia corallina. " The peony, a plant now only found in 

 some small islands of the Bristol Channel, and even in these it is be- 

 coming year after year less abundant, and will perhaps before long 

 cease to exist in Britain in a state of nature," — (Nat. Aim. 13). May 

 I venture to enquire, through the medium of 'The Phytologist,' if the 

 above statement can be verified by any reader of that useful periodi- 

 cal ; and if it is within possibility to hope to obtain a specimen of so 

 great a desideratum to our herbaria ? — Id. 



283. Scilla aatumnalis. " There are several spots on Blackheath 

 where it is abundant," — (Nat. Aim. 19j. Within recollection this plant 



