504 REVIEWS. [April, 



botanical literature, and the Belgian botanists may well be con- 

 gratulated on their possession and appreciation of its excellent 

 author. 



The British authors on local botany might imitate the example 

 of their Continental confrere, and classify their phytogeographical 

 monographs, as M. Crepin has divided his Florula, into spring, 

 summer, and autumnal plants, — species that inhabit the pastures, 

 the woods, the rocks, the marshes, and rivers. 



Petites Annotations a la Flore de la Belgique. Par FRAN901S 

 Crepin. Premier Fragment. 



The following three species, new to the Belgian flora, are de- 

 scribed and localized in a half-sheet, issued last year, 1862, viz. 

 Polygala calcarea, P. Schultz ; Gren. and Godr. Fl. Fr. i. 196, 

 Coss. and Germ. Atlas, t. vii. f. 4-6. 



This species, our author observes, page 2, is distinguished from 

 P. vulgaris, though many authors unite them, possibly without 

 cause, by the following characteristic marks : — 1st, by the lower 

 leaves being arranged in rosettes, and in being longer than the 

 upper leaves ; 2nd, by the nervation of the wings (calyx) ; 3rd, 

 by the elongated lateral lobes of the aril. A comparison of the 

 species or form which grows on our chalk-downs, with that of 

 our moist meadows and pastures, is the surest means of settling 

 this question. The characters given by M. Crepin, though not 

 all very obvious, yet if constant will be sufficient to separate the 

 two forms or species. This is a more satisfactory way of pro- 

 ceeding than a comparison of the descriptions with each other, 

 or even of the examples with the descriptions. 



On page 3 there is a long note or observation on the three 

 kindred species or forms of Veronica agrestis, V. polita, and 

 V. opaca. The latter has not hitherto been observed in England. 

 M. Crepin believes that they present characters which will keep 

 them distinct. This discriminative observer lays stress for dis- 

 tinguishing the last-mentioned species, on the equal dimensions, 

 both in length and breadth, of the leaves, also on the elliptical 

 sepals not overlapping at the base ; on the insertion of the sta- 

 mens, on the depth and width of the notch in the ovary, the 

 length of the style, etc. A careful examination of numerous 



