66 



to either. The figures of iheni in ' English Botany ' are pretty good 

 representations, but parviflora is figured fi-om a young and undeve- 

 loped specimen. 



My friend J, Clarke noticed a Carduus this summer of a rather 

 peculiar appearance, corresponding in most respects to acanthoides, 

 but differing in its much larger flowers, and broad involucral scales, 

 which are often coloured, and nearly resemble some small specimens 

 of nutans. It is found in several different places by road-sides. The 

 description which Sir J. E. Smith gives of C. crispus corresponds 

 with it, which he says had not then been found in Britain ; but the 

 flowers are not clustered, as stated in Babington's ' Manual :' perhaps 

 Smith's crispus is his acanthoides, &c., and Smith's acanthoides his 

 B. crispus, which he says is the more common. Koch treats them as 

 distinct species, but it is almost impossible to find any characters in 

 his descriptions of them. Though probably only a variety of acan- 

 thoides, it deserves further attention. 



Poterium muricatum has been gathered again here this year in one 

 of its former localities, and also on the railway banks plentifully ; it 

 seems to grow on richer ground than Sanguisorba, of which some think 

 it only a variety, caused by difference of situation, the n)uricated cha- 

 racter of the seeds not being altvays equally apparent, and it is diffi- 

 cult to distinguish by other peculiarities. I do not give this as ray 

 opinion, but think that it may be considered an open question. 



Melilotus arvensis does not seem to be confined to the south of 

 England, as I gathered it on a ballast-hill near South Shields, with 

 M. officinalis and vulgaris, Silene noctiflora, and Senecio viscosus. 



The genus Arctium claimed my notice last autumn, but I have not 

 been able to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion upon it. We have 

 here three forms, answering, 1 believe, to those described by one or 

 more foreign authors as major, minor and intermedium, which in their 

 extreme forms appear distinct, but in others are not easy to distin- 

 guish ; they are all common, the first generally in moist ground, the 

 second in shady places, and the third by road-sides, &c., though they 

 are sometimes all found together. The chief differences are in the 

 size, shape and colour of the flower, the position of the involucral 

 scales, and the amount of web. Most authors admit two species, but 

 there is considerable difference of sentiment even on this point. The 

 figures in 'English Botany' are greatly confused; the one repre- 

 sented there as tomentosa being what I suppose to be intermedium ; 

 the liappa being minor; and the true major, answering to the Lappa 

 of most English authors, not being figured at all. Major or Lappa, 



