105 



by surnaming him " Copperface." Perhaps we were remiss, and 

 inattentive to our own interests, in not ascertaining his more legiti- 

 mate appellation ; for were I ever again to visit Yaxley Fens, I 

 should be glad to renew our acquaintance, and avail myself of his 

 services and his long pole. 



As we quitted Yaxley the weather threatened a change ; and pre- 

 sently rain came down in torrents. However, having a head to the 

 carriage, we reached our friend's house dry and comfortable, and in 

 time for dinner. I need hardly say we passed a most pleasant even- 

 ing. Indeed, from beginning to end this was a holiday ! And how- 

 ever devoid of interest the above account of it may be to the readers 

 of the ' Phytologist,' the day itself has left some very pleasing impres- 

 sions on the memory of the narrator. 



I may take this opportunity to state, that in an excursion, a day or 

 two before, to Monks' Wood, I gathered specimens, in plenty, of 

 Melampyrum cristatum, a rare species, which I never happen to have 

 seen elsewhere. 



W. T. Bree. 



Allesley Rectory, February 18, 1851. 



Note on Lastrea uUgtuosa. By W. Wilson, Esq. 



After having compared Mr. Newman's specimens with numerous 

 examples of L. spinosa, I was very much disposed to think that two 

 different species had in time past been confounded by myself and 

 others ; nor was it until some connecting links were obtained by further 

 search that I reluctantly abandoned a nascent opinion in opposition 

 to that of the Rev. Mr. Bree. Even now I should be inclined to keep 

 them separate, if the two forms could be proved to be permanently 

 distinct in the mode of vegetation. I once thought that L. spinosa 

 could be absolutely distinguished from Aspidium dilatatum of authors 

 by its creeping rhizoma, a character which it certainly assumes when 

 growing in damp, shady places in woods, but I have since learned to 

 place no reliance whatever on this feature. On the borders of Risley 

 Moss, about three miles from Warrington, these two ferns grow inter- 

 mixed, sometimes in actual contact, and in precisely similar circum- 

 stances, on the margin of small drains or ditches, fully exposed to sun 

 and air. In such situations the rhizoma appears to be equally tufted 

 in both species, and I have for several years past given up that mode 

 Vol. IV. p 



