276 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [NoVembeV, 



BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 



SeNECIO SAUACENICUS IN KeNT. 



.. Sir, — The specimen of Senecio saraceniciis, which you noticed growing 

 I on the border of the brook at the bottom of my garden, was brought by 

 I me out of Somersetshire two years ago. The plant is not, I beheve, indi- 

 genous in this county, and, as far as I know, is the only example of it to 

 be found in Kent. Having planted a portion of the root in the wet soil 

 close to the bank of the brook in 1855, I thought no more about it until 

 the spring of last year, when, to my surprise, I remarked that it had thi'own 

 up two stems, which appeared to thrive, and in the autumn were each sur- 

 mounted by a crown of large yellow flowers. This year the number of 

 stems has increased to seven, which, while I write, are topped by superb 

 heads of flowers, as you saw. I have no doubt but that it will creep along 

 . . J the whole edge of the brook, if undisturbed. In a year or.two.I pm-pose 

 I I ? transferring a few of the roots to the neighbouring bank of the Medway, 

 *. r- «. where it will form a fine addition to the Elora which already embellishes 

 the banks of that river as it winds round the meadows of Allington Castle. 

 The parish of Batcombe, from whence I procured it, is in the triangle formed 

 by the towns of Frome, Bruton, and Shepton Mallet, about five miles from 

 tlie last, the vicinity of which is one of the few localities laid down by 

 Withering as its natural habitat. It lines the bank of a rivulet which 

 forms the southern boundary of a certain meadow, over which passes the 

 footpath to SpargTove, extending along its whole leugih, and fonning a 

 thick hedge of stems, which, in autumn, are surmounted by a broad and 

 deep golden fringe of bright yellow flowei's. I call to mind this bank for 

 many years, bi^t do not remember to have observed the plant in any other 

 spot in the parish. None of the inhabitants knew what it was, but often 

 expressed their surprise at its having taken possession of this solitaiy spot 

 exclusively. A lady, on a visit in the neighbourhood with me, was, with 

 the aid of Withering' s work, enabled to find its true name. 



BrooUyn, near Maidstone, Sept. 10. EdW. BuRTON. 



'#: 

 Sedum sepsangulare in Somersetshire. 



When I discovered this plant, it was growing u]3on a bank on the left- 

 hand side of the turnpike-road between the town of Axbridge and the vil- 

 lage of Churchill, in company with Sedani rnpestre. 



I had a copy of Lindley's ' Synopsis of the British Elora' in my pocket, 

 and upon my referring to it I found S. sexangulare described as having 

 six or seven angles. Never having seen the plant in a wild state, I formed 

 a too hasty conclusion that this was the plant which was called sexangu- 

 lare by British botanists. I did not attach much importance to the dis- 

 covery, but, wishing to have a living plant, I took a piece of it with me. 

 After my return home I examined my plant previous to planting it, and 

 finding that I could not identify it with Sedum sexangulare of British 

 botanists, I referred to Haworth's 'Plantarum Succulentarum,' where 

 (page 116) I found it described under the name of Sedum septangulare, 

 and recorded as a European, and not as a British species. The nearest 

 British species to which it is allied is Sedum rejiexum, from which it dif- 



