188 EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. [June, 



Concerning the Maidstone station, our kind correspondent 

 who contributes the above notice of E. Lathyris, further informs 

 us that Boxley Hill is a very productive locality. 



"You will find the Bluebell and Boxley Hills well worth 

 botanizing on ; all the common Kentish Orchids are to be found 

 there ; the Bee, the Fly, the Fusca, the Man, the Butterfly and 

 the Conopsea, Epipactis grandiflora ; while near Stockbury the 

 early Spider grows on one bank in abundance, and not far from 

 the latter place is the Helleborus viridis, I believe, a much rarer 

 plant than the H. foetidus, which is common all about the chalk, 

 and about as truly British as the Daisy." — E. M. A. 



Verbascum thapsiforme. 

 I have not yet seen Verbascum phlomoides. I have found a 

 variety of thapsiforme with all the flowers in twos or threes, or 

 singly in the axils of the leaves, and not with a decided spike as 

 it ought to have. My impression is that it takes this form when 

 it grows as an annual plant in a shady place. — E. M. A. 



Centaurea nigra. j j- f^^^ . ^„, 



A plant like the English radiated Centaurea nigra is common 

 here (near Rouen) in the meadows. A form very like this grows 

 in the Vale of Gloucester, and seeds taken from these latter pro- 

 duced the ordinary form of Centaurea nigra. — E. M. A. 



Harebell, or Hairbell. 

 (See ' Phytologist' for 186], vol. v. p. 191.)— There are 

 divers opinions about the name of this popular flower, and the 

 dispute is only about the natnds'^ '^^ 30i:iq on ovjsd ijiuoo <3(syijii ■■ 

 «.T-v A f .i'"' 'J^"' '''117 '^}y ,^>'i'((v^jqoo e&d dohh< 



'-Liie doctors tlms, when much dispute has pass d- i^ r . , 

 They find their tenets just the same at last." '^^ ' doirfw 9/fO 



I never heard the Wood Hyacinth called "Harebell." When , 

 a child, ray nurse taught me to call it " Bluebell." Among the 

 rustics it bears no particular name. The rustics and old Master 

 Gerarde are the best authorities for English names." — E. M. A. 



Petasites vulgaris. 

 I do not know where to find the above plant within an easy 

 walk of London. It grows near Maidstone, by the brook which 

 runs from Boxley. It is rare about Maidstone, and the above is ' 

 the only place Avhere I have seen it. — E, M. A. 



