30 BOTANICAL NOTESj NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [January, 



entry and reference is not asserted ; but we believe tbat every plant 

 is specially entered under all its names, surnames, and synonyms, 

 ■whereby it was known or referred to in the days of Pliny. An 

 index to six volumes of so multifarious a nature as these is a 

 work of no ordinary difficulty and labour. The work, to hundreds 

 who would consult it, would be worthless without its index. It 

 is humbly presumed that even the learned critic of the ' Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle' will admit that the translator has performed 

 his work in a most satisfactory, business-like manner, and that he 

 is honestly entitled to the thanks of all botanists. 



BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 



To the Editor of the ' Phytologist.' 



Sir, — Will you give circulation to tlie following extract from the 

 'Gardeners' Chronicle' of August 7th, 1858? 



"Irish Shamrock. — Will you inform me which of the Trefoils is the 

 true Shamrock of St. Patrick ? The White Clover appears to be »the 

 genuine Irish Shamrock, though, like the Scotch Thistle and other native 

 emblems, the species employed in heraldry is not much more like any 

 botanical species than the Unicorn on the Royal Arms is like any known 

 animal, etc. A short description of its peculiarities would greatly oblige 

 a Constant Reader." To this is appended the following editorial note : — 

 " We believe it to be well ascertained that the Shamrock of the old 

 Irish was not a Trefoil at all, but the Wood Sorrel, Oxalis Acetosella." 

 Can you, Mr. Editor, or can any of your correspondents or readers, 

 tell me how this is ascertained, or on what authority the distin- 

 guished critic and botanist makes the above assertion ? Querist. 



[We have heard that the Irish Shamrock is the Oxalis Acetosella, but 

 we do not know what ground there is for this opinion. We would 

 recommend Querist to ask the learned editor of the ' Gardeners' 

 Chronicle.'] 



Gentiana Pneumonanthe in West Surrey. 



A fair correspondent has informed us that the above plant, which grew 

 abundantly about Walton upwards of half a century ago, was recently to 

 be found in a moory spot between Chertsey and Chobham ; near the scene 

 of the camp which was there not long ago, and adjoining a stand erected 

 by a gentleman of the neighbourhood. — Ed. 



New British Blechnum. 



Mr. WoUaston has just informed us that a Blechnum new to Britain, if 

 not to the northern hemisphere, has been recently discovered in Perthshire. 

 Our kind correspondent will, he says, have much pleasure in communicating 

 further particulars, and in showing the plant (alive), to any reader of the 

 ' Phytologist.' 



