774 



trary, it may be identical with the spinulosum of continental writers ; 

 but on that point I do not mean to express any opinion, being quite 

 ignorant what the A. spinulosum of the continent is. But the fact is 

 worth recording, and it may save botanists some trouble and perplex- 

 ity to state, that the application of the specific name of spinulosum 

 to a British fern — (first adopted, 1 believe, by Smith and Sowerby in 

 'English Botany') originated in error; the fern so named and figured 

 in 'English Botany' being nothing more than a young or starved spe- 

 cimen of A. dilatatum, as I was informed many years ago by Mr. Mac- 

 kay, who supplied the very specimen described and figured in that 

 work. The fern called spinulosum by the late James Dickson, is 

 quite different from recurvum, and is, I believe, generally considered 

 as a small variety of dilatatum, although from the large form of the 

 latter species it appears, at first sight, to be abundantly distinct, 

 and ought, I think, to be so regarded. I admit, however, that there 

 do occur intermediate forms or varieties — "connecting links" they 

 may be called — which, if dilatatum and spinulosum (Dickson) are 

 regarded as two species, render it extremely difficult to draw the line 

 of demarcation between them, and to say where the one ends and the 

 other begins. — W. T. Bree ; Allesley Rectory, Septeinher 19, 1843. 



386. Locality for Epimedium alpimwi near Bristol. About four- 

 teen years ago, when in company with other gentlemen on a botaniz- 

 ing excursion, I gathered Epimedium alpinum in Leigh wood, near 

 Bristol. At the time I made no note of the exact spot where the 

 plant grew, and circumstances removed me from Bristol soon after- 

 wards, when the pursuit of the science was interrupted for a long in- 

 terval; but it was in the northern division of the wood, belonging to 

 P. J. Miles, Esq., that the plants were found. Leigh w^ood is there 

 coppice, which is cut in portions in rotation ; and it is probable ex- 

 posure to sun and air may have destroyed the Epimedium for a time, 

 and that it will re-appear as the coppice again grows and affords suit- 

 able shade. Since the period before mentioned I have not gathered 

 a single specimen, but as the wood is a large tract, I may not have 

 investigated the spot where the plant was originally found. A speci- 

 men gathered by myself is extant in the herbarium of G. Rogers, Esq., 

 of Bristol. I cannot guess how the Epimedium was introduced into 

 Leigh wood, which is natural coppice ; yet Mr. Babington considers 

 the plant to have but slender claims to be ranked as a native. Be 

 this as it may, the present is the most southern habitat for this inte- 

 resting plant, which has, up to this time, been considered as entirely 



