BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES, 519 
probably a mere variety.” Will any reader of the ‘ Phytologist,’ well ac- 
quainted with these plants, favour us with his opinion on the specific 
identity or distinction of these two plants, H. vulgare and H. polifolium ? 
Reichenbach, plate xxxv., fig. 4556, names one state with white flowers, 
mutabile, Pers.; another, 4556 b, is confusum, Sweet; and a third form, 
4556 c, is polifolium, Pers. In the names mutabile and confusum there 
is something which is not satisfactory. 
Shamrock.—Your correspondent ‘“ H. B.” (p. 366) has travelled very 
far to find the derivation of Shamrock. May I suggest to him a derivation 
equally probable, and found in the Shamrock’s native home? The word 
is Shamrog in Trish,—a diminutive of Shamar, trefoil,—and literally signi- 
fies young trefoil. W. M. Hinp. 
Echium violaceum.—In all the Floras I have seen, Echium violaceum is 
described as diennial. I find that it flowers in the same year in which 
it is sown. Can you account for this discrepancy between the Floras and 
my experience? I should like to know whether any reader of the ‘ Phyto- 
logist > has ever met with the same occurrence. Jigs Veale 
[In the latest edition of Steudel’s ‘Nomenclator’ Echium violaceum is 
marked as annual; also in Kittel’s ‘ Deutschland’s Flora’ and in Loudon’s 
‘Encyclopeedia of Plants.” Annual plants may accidentally become biennials, 
and vice versé. The terms are not definite. A biennial will, under some 
circumstances, flower the same year in which it is sown. Lupinus poly- 
phyllus has been known to do so, and it is a perennial. Annual plants, 
wheat for example, may be both annual and biennial. | 
Portland Sago.—Will any Dorsetshire correspondent be so obliging as 
to give us some information about Portland Sago? We should like to 
know if it is still manufactured in Portland Island; and if so, whether the 
roots be cultivated or wild; also, what portion of the entire produce is 
sent to London, and where it is to be procured genuine in the said city. 
We should like to ask another question, viz. whether a given area of 
ground cultivated with this acrid root—say an acre—would yield half as 
much in weight as a similar area of land cultivated with Potatoes? And 
further, whether there be any evidence that the produce would be as pala- 
table and nutritious as the Potato? EDITOR. 
Autumnal Inflorescence of Willows.—In reply to your inquiry in the 
last ‘ Phytologist,’ I beg leave to state that I have observed Salix triandra 
in flower late in the autumn (of 1854) on the banks of the Codbeck, be- 
tween Thirsk and Kilvington. The catkins did not differ materially from 
those produced at the regular period. Joun H. Davizs. 
Thirsk, February, 1856. 
Hieracium iricum—We understand from Mr. More that the alpine 
Hieracium, which was called cerinthoides, belongs not to that species but 
to H. wricum, of which it is a small state very like H. Lawsoni of Smith. 
Definition of Species—The best definition of Species which I have seen 
is in Sir C. Lyell’s ‘ Principles of Geology ;? but I am not able to abridge 
it. It will be found running from page 566 to page 705 of the ninth 
edition. W. C. 
