1858.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 647 



the leaves of the New Brighton Violet are like those of a plant 

 collected by him in Italy, and which is called V. montana by 

 some and V. Ruppii by others, and generally considered a form 

 of V. canina. 



Knotted Spurrey {Sagina nodosa) is a very common and con- 

 spicuous plant about New Brighton. Its stems are almost pro- 

 strate. Its petals are nearly twice as long as the sepals. Its 

 habitat is on sandy flats, and on shallows on many parts of these 

 sand-hills. Its obscure relation, S. subulata, would have been a 

 welcome sight. But we were not so happy as to have an intro- 

 duction to it. It is entered in the above-quoted ' Flora of Liver- 

 pool,' and is indorsed by F. Brent. I would thank Mr. Brent 

 for a specimen addressed, E. J., 45, Frith Street, Soho, London. 



Honckenya peploides grows here and there, but nowhere very 

 plentifully, on the sands beyond Ncav Brighton. 



The members of the family Geraniacece are not particularly 

 abundant about New Brighton. About a mile from the Light- 

 tower, halfway between the influx of the rivers Mersey and Dee, 

 I saw some plants of Er odium very like E. maritimum. But 

 as this plant is not stated in the Liverpool ' Flora ' to grow here, 

 I leave it for future investigators. Some states of E. cicutarium 

 approach very closely to the rarer species. 



Ulex Gain is a New Brighton plant, fide Dr. Dickinson and 

 T. Sansom. Ononis arvensis is one of the commonest plants 

 on the sand-hills, accompanied by Anthyllis Vulneraria. Many 

 states of the latter are to be met with, but we did not see any of 

 the spinous varieties of 0. arvensis which are reported to abound 

 near Egremont. Medicago sativa is partially naturalized where 

 Reseda suffruticidosa grows plentifully. Lotus corniculatus is 

 also abundant on the sand-hills. 



Many acres of the sand-hills are covered -with Rosa spinosis- 

 sima, which was, on the 16th July, finely in fruit. Next to a 

 Salix (>S^. fusca ?) it is the most extensively distributed plant of 

 these parts. Potentilla reptans, with its variety, P. nemoralis, 

 Nestl., was particularly plentiful. 



One of the conspicuous plants of these sands was Sedum acre, 

 then in full flower. 



The Sea Holly, Eryngium maritimum, appeared here and 

 there, but nowhere in flower. Possibly the Floras which assign 

 July and August as the time of its flowering anticipate its usual 



