1859.] botanical notes, notices, and queries. 383 



Hyssopus v. Hyssopus. 

 {To the Editor of the ' Phytologist.') 

 Sir, — Allow me to point out a decided error (though not a botanical 

 one) into which the able author of" the papers on British Botany has fallen. 

 In his remarks on Hyssop, in the ' Phytologist ' for June (which, I re- 

 gret to say, I had no opportunity of reading for a considerable time after 

 its publication), your contributor blames one medieval poet for writing 

 hyssopus, while he compliments another for his superior knowledge of pro- 

 sody, as indicated by his making the word hyssopus. 



Happily the matter is one that can be decided without any great re- 

 search. Your contributor has only to consult his Greek Testament, St. 

 John xix. 29, and he will find that the word is wo-wttos, or if he wants 

 a poetico-botanical authority, here is one from Meander : — 

 "AAAoTe 8' i;a"O"C07rds, re koX rj TroA-uywvos ov(ovl<s. 

 We hear quite enough false quantities in popular botanical language, 

 without an ex cathedra promulgation of a new one, by such an authority 

 as the ' Phytologist.' I remain, yours faithfully, 



Henry Lascelles Jenner. 



Freston Vicarage, Wingham, 

 September llth, 1859. 



POA BULBOSA. 



(From Dr. Bromfield's ' Flora Vectensis.') 



This humble but interesting species is not easily detected by such as 



are unacquainted with its habits and appearances in a living state, for 



which reason it has probably been overlooked in many a spot productive 



of it. I cannot find any figure of this Grass conveying a just idea of its 



aspect, excepting that old one of Yaillant (Fl. Par. t. 17, fig. 8) 



Before the panicle opens, the appearance of this part is that of a dwarf 

 specimen of Koeleria cristata, or even somewhat resembling Aria prcecox, 

 but when in flower the similarity is no longer obvious, and the plant 

 might pass at a hasty glance for a contracted form of P. annua, or still 

 more of P. compressa. 



Tamus communis (Black Bryony). 



This plant, in Wales, is called Serpent's-meat. An idea prevails there 

 that these reptiles are always lurking near the spots where the plant 

 grows. "Assal Adda" is one of its Welsh names. — From Bromfield's 

 Flora Vectensis. 



Habenaria viridis. 



Every one knows how little gregarious are the greater number of the 

 terrestrial OrchidacecB. This is especially true of the above-mentioned 

 species, which, seldom plentiful at any time on a given station, in this 

 is so reduced in frequency, that I have seen but three, and those collected 

 by others in more than thrice as many years, during which time I have 

 not once fallen in with a specimen in any of my herborizing walks within 

 the limits of this Flora. — Ibid. Introd. p. xxiii. 



