454 NATURALIZED PLANTS OP GREAT BRITAIN. [Juue, 



well-known a plant could have escaped the notice of the older 

 English botanists. 



Cheiranthes Cheiri grows wild in Greece^ but with us^ as in 

 the north-west of Europe, upon ruins and old walls. 



Cochlearia rusticana is thought to be a native of eastern tem- 

 perate Europe, its range having been extended by cultivation. 



Saponaria officinalis has better claims than most others in the 

 same list ; it has stations sufficiently near to Britain, and was 

 known to Gerarde and Ray as growing wild by stream-sides. 

 Watson however gives the coast of Devon and Cornwall as the 

 only place where the Saponaria seems indigenous. On the whole, 

 De Candolle inclines to consider it an escape from cultivation. 



Tragopogon porrifolius. Even the French station in Nor- 

 mandy becomes suspected, being so far removed from the plant's 

 native habitat in Dalmatia. 



Silybum Marianum has but slight claims to nativity in Spain, 

 still less in other parts of Europe. Its home is to be sought in 

 the East, whence the Crusaders are supposed to have imported 

 it. 



Euphorbia Lathyris occurs wild in Normandy, which is pro- 

 bably its furthest advance to the north-west. 



Mercurialis annua. It will be remembered that Dr. Brom- 

 field thought the " French Mercury " might have been derived 

 with garden-seeds from Holland (Phyt.'iii. 823). De Candolle 

 equally considers it an importation, but as a pot-herb, from 

 France. 



Tulipa sylvestris, rare, and too often a doubtful native in 

 Holland and Normandy, and was in the time of Linnaeus con- 

 sidered an introduced plant in Sweden. 



2. The next section comprises plants whose seeds are easily 

 transported : — 



Alyssum calydnum, B. Asperugo procumbens, L. C, B. 



Althaea liirsuta. Urtica pilulifera, H. & A., Bromf. 



Echinospermum Lappula. Emnex pulcher, L. C, B., H. & A. 



Anchusa officinalis. Ononis reclinata, B., H. & A. 

 A.nchusa sempervirens, L. C, Bromf. 



Alyssum calydnum, probably sown with corn. 



Anchusa sempervirens and Asperugo procumbens, both conspi- 

 cuous plants that offer strong indications of a very recent exten- 

 sion of range in Britain. The Anchusa however is included in 



