1858.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 631 



Again, — 



"It is exceedingly difficult to distinguish the species, or whether it may 

 not be from more than one, that we derive the numerous cultivated, varie- 

 ties of Beet and Mangold-wurzel. Beta vulgaris and our own closely- 

 allied British species, Beta mariiima, are both littoral plants." 



These remarks have some relation to a subject not long ago 

 broached in the ' Phytologist.' 



BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 



ArEMONIA AGEIMONIOIDES AND PoTENTILLA HIRTA. 



We are very soriy that our indefatigable and warm-hearted corre- 

 spondent and contributor had some slight excuse for taking offence at 

 an expression in our Thirsk Eeport, published on the 1st inst., p. 593, 

 in which the writer states that he had " expressed a disbeKef in the oc- 

 currence of this plant of the south of Europe, in a spontaneous state, 

 in Perthshire:" he does not say that he disbelieves it now. We do 

 not know what statement Mr. Sim sent to the Thirsk Natural History 

 Society along with his specimens, nor do we know whether the disbelief 

 was caused by the private history of the plants or by the publicly-known 

 facts that they are both south of Europe species. Our business is solely 

 to soothe the irritation of our friend. Botanists will get to themselves 

 the unenviable character of being, like poets, genus in'itabile, if they will 

 be hasty to take the alarm that their veracity is impeached. Nothing, 

 we venture to say, is further from the truth than this : we mean in the 

 present case. But let Mr. Sim give his history of the state of these 

 plants in his own words. He lives, as it may be said, on the veiy spot. 

 We and our Yorkshire friends are at a great distance, and not so good 

 judges of what is and what is not of spontaneous growth as a keen, in- 

 telligent, local botanist. 



About the Arev/onia-siation Mr. Sim writes : " It is certainly not far 

 from Lord Mansfield's flower-garden, but I know of no nursery within 

 two miles of it. As to the PotenUlla, I stated to Mr. Baker, in reply to 

 questions respecting it, that it grew in and around a quarry near to Mr. 

 Turrib nil's extensive nursery, where rubbish from the latter is deposited. 

 It is quite possible, and even probable, it may have come from this source, 

 yet who can be certain that it has ? I find, on recent visits, that it is 

 more abundant than I formerly affinned, growing not only in crevices on 

 the shelving rocks, and in the dry, u.ncultivated soil near the old quarry, 

 but firmly established in ground recently cultivated. When was it intro- 

 duced? None can tell. None of the managers of the nursery appear to 

 know anything al)out it, nor ever to have seen it, though some of them 

 have been there for a great number of years. It is not in this nursery 

 noio, which certainly contains a great many exotics, and Potentillcs not 

 excepted. I certainly question greatly if it ever was in the said nursery. 

 In the eye of the florist it can never be considered either pretty or orna- 

 mental. Tlie blossom of the common PotenUlla anserina rivals it in size 

 and beauty. As to its being a native of central and southern Europe, is 



