1863.] NATIVITY OF INULA HELENIUM, ETC. 439 



nium) the first of the three above-named plants is called a na- 

 tive, and to this there can be no reasonable objection^ even were 

 its spontaneous growth limited to the Isle of Wight and Devon. 

 But if Inula Helenium be a native, a fact which is neither asserted 

 nor denied by the author of these remarks, why are not the two 

 latter, viz. the Periwinkle and the Dwarf Elder, also called native ? 

 They are called denizens, a new-fangled term, which implies that 

 they were aliens in this land some ages or centuries ago, say, in 

 the times of the giants, long before the Romans or even the 

 Phoenicians visited the southern coasts of England. It may be 

 affirmed with all the certainty which is attainable on the subject, 

 that the above-named pair are as much entitled to be called native 

 as the Elecampane ; or if they be denizens, or aliens naturalized 

 for many years, so is Inula Helenium, and many other plants. 



The following facts and remarks are oflFered to the readers of 

 the ' Phytologist,^ to show them the inconsistency of this notion, 

 and the gross delusion of those who believe in the infallibility 

 of the author of the ' Cybele.' Grant that the first-named plant 

 is native, the nativity of the other two must be admitted, on the 

 authority of Mr. Cocker. For one wild plant of Elecampane 

 seen by the writer, hundreds of thousands have been seen of the 

 other two, but especially of the Periwinkle. (See ' Phytologist ' 

 for September, 1862.) This will be more satisfactorily proved 

 by the experience and observations of others, viz. the authors of 

 the local floras of Britain, etc. Thirty local lists of plants or 

 floras have been consulted, and the result is that in nine floras all 

 the three species are noticed as equally wild. These local lists 

 are ' Flora Veetensis,' the Flora of Devon, the Flora of Bedford, 

 Oxford, Hertford, etc. 



The Periwinkle appears in twenty-five Floras, and its nativity 

 is questioned in but six ; one of these in which it is considered 

 doubtful is Tenby, South Wales, and another is Yorkshire ; but 

 as Yorkshire is a large county, and as the Periwinkle passes un- 

 challenged both in the Liverpool and Manchester Floras, the 

 reason assigned by the author of the Yorkshire Flora for calling 

 it a suspected denizen or a doubtful alien is not deserving of 

 very great consideration. The source of his inspiration is too 

 manifest to entitle him to implicit credence. He only quotes one 

 station, viz. Storthes Hall, and infers that being an associate of 

 8axifraga umbrosa, allowed to be an introduction here, the Peri- 



