10 bR Johnston's address. 



more for their devotion to botany ; as their example and success can- 

 not fail to recommend it powerfully to popular attention. The Hier- 

 acium aurantiacum, the discovery of Miss Hvmter ; the Hieracium molle, 

 and Carex fulva, both detected, in the fii-st instance, in Berwickshire, 

 by Mr Brown ; the Hypnum stramineum (in fruit), another of his inter- 

 esting additions to our list ; and tlie Lathy rm xylvestris, and the Carex 

 dintanfi, lately discovered near Berwick by Mr Dunlop, deserve to be 

 particularised on account of their rarity : the Palmonaria maritima re- 

 stored to our shores by the researches of the Rev. J. Baird and Mr 

 Carr, and the Myosotis sylvatica of Langton woods, are preeminent for 

 their beauty ; and the Ckcnopodium urhiciim is interesting as the subject 

 of a strange story, whicli purports that this weed could by cultivation 

 be turned into a real strawberry, and relative to which there is a 

 curious letter from the hapless Josephine to her gardener, in her lately 

 published Memoirs, for a knowledge of which, as of the plant itself, we 

 are indebted to Mr Embleton. 



While, on the one hand, the Scottish flora owes two good additions 

 to this Club ; on the other, it has contributed two also to the floral 

 catalogue of Northumberland ; and both of these are the discoveries 

 of our Secretary. It was long believed that the vernal squill was 

 peculiar to the western coasts of England ; but the discovery of it by 

 the Eev. A. Baird on the coast of Berwickshire removed this their 

 peculiar ornament and boast ; and Mr Embleton has extended its 

 eastern rage, for he finds it in abundance at Dunstanborough Castle. 

 Aspidium Thelypteris is the other new Northumbrian plant ; and it is 

 not a little curious that this fern, which is stated by Dr Hooker to be 

 abundant in Scotland, should not be found at all in Berwickshire, and 

 is so rare in the north of England that it has escaped the notice of the 

 many acute botanists who have botanised there, until this late date, 

 when Mr Embleton drew it fi-om its lurking-place in Learmouth bogs, 

 on the very verge of the kingdom. 



May I urge those members of the club who devote themselves more 

 exclusively to botany, to continue the researches which have been so 

 productive during the past year ? for the field is not exhausted so long- 

 as there remains a corner of the county unexplored ; and there are, I 

 ween, not a few 



"spots that seem to lie 



Sacred to flowerets of the hills," 



where no one has yet wandered, and where no one will wander, " save 

 he who follows nature." There is too much to learn of the habits and 

 properties of our common plants ; and I may mention, as an illustration 

 of the remark, the observation which was made on the butterwort 

 (Pinyuicula vulgaris) during our excursion to Cheviot. It was then 

 accidentally observed, that, when specimens of this plant were some- 

 what rudely pulled up, the flower-stalk, previously erect, almost 

 immediately began to bend itself backwards, and formed a more or less 



