1084 



from Mr. Lees with my cultivated plant, which I knew to be the spe- 

 cies, thus named from the Unio Itineraria, the existence of the same 

 species in Britain seemed sufficiently certain ; and I presume it likely 

 to be found scattered through great part of England. I cannot say 

 that I yet know exactly what Mr. Babington means by CE. Lachena- 

 lii, and should not be surprised to find it identical, as a species, with 

 the Q^. peucedanifolia of the same author. At all events, I have ne- 

 ver seen British specimens with roots such as are described for the 

 QL. Lachenalii. But I have already explained, in the London Jour- 

 nal of Botany,' (Feb. 1844), that the roots of GE. pimpinelloides, and 

 probably also those of " CE. peucedanifolia" (so usually named by 

 collectors) vary very much with age ; appearing absolutely without 

 tubercles or other enlargements at one season of the year, if the wi- 

 thered remains of those of the preceding summer be overlooked, I 

 can now add that I have seen long, fusiform, fleshy, sessile roots (much 

 like those of the Dahlia in miniature) on the true GE. pimpinelloides, 

 although the roots of that plant are usually slender, with an oval tu- 

 bercle on each, an inch or two below the base of the flowering stem. 

 I would here request collectors to obtain materials for determining 

 whether really there are two other species in this country, in addition 

 to CE. pimpinelloides, which is quite clear and certain. Not having 

 yet seen the papers of Mr. Ball and Mr. Babington, in the Annals, I 

 am still unaware what evidence they adduce to establish the two other 

 alleged species. The CE. peucedanifolia of the London Catalogue 

 includes both these two species, if two such exist. Until reading the 

 note of Mr. Babington, I was fully under the impression that I had 

 sent him, last winter, specimens of CE. pimpinelloides, to illustrate 

 the changes in the character of its root, with advancing age ; at the 

 same time informing him that the specimens were descendants from a 

 plant collected in the Isle of Wight. — Hewett C. Watson : Thames 

 Dition, August 15, 1844. 



517. Yorkshire Locality for Asplenium fontanum. Allow me to 

 add to the already few habitats for that rare fern, Asplenium fonta- 

 num. Smith, three fronds of which I collected in Wharncliffe wood, 

 Yorkshire, in the year 18.38, and which I now enclose for your in- 

 spection. I shall feel obliged by your returning them at your leisure, 

 as they are all the wild specimens in my herbarium. I have this year, 

 July, 1844, examined the locality, but have not been successful, not 

 beino- able to find the precise spot where I gathered the enclosed. — 

 R. Milne Redhead ; Cliffe Point, Broughton, Manchester, August 

 20, 1844. 



