1858.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. , 649 



Sheep^s Scabious, Jasione montana, a flower of Cheshire par ex- 

 cellence. We never saw it so large and fine anywhere else. 



Of the Order Gentianacecs, the neat-growing pretty Centaury 

 musters in considerable force, as geologists say about their strata, 

 organic remains, etc. The variety growing here may be what is 

 called Erythresa lyulchella. E. linariafolia we did not see. We 

 humbly ask the etymological and learned readers of the ' Phy- 

 tologist ' if the specific name of this so-called species be correctly 

 written as above. Some spell it, lina7'ifolia : what is Unari from ? 

 As usual, the doctors differ about these niceties : who shall de- 

 cide ? 



The Hound's-tongue, Cynoglossum officinale, a plant in some 

 repute among horse-doctors, and not usually found in great 

 quantity, is very plentiful here. A good load might be collected 

 in an hour, and without traversing more than a very few hun- 

 dreds of yards. Lycopsis arvensis also was seen, but not in 

 abundance. 



Linaria vulgaiis, Common Toad-flax, was not scarce, but no- 

 where in flower. Its period of flowering is stated in our bota- 

 nical books to be from June to September, a month too early at 

 least for the cold shores of Lancashire and Cheshire. 



While writing these notes, and casting a glance now and then 

 at Dr. Dickinson^s ' Flora,^ which was, if I remember accurately, 

 much praised in the ' Phytologist,' I perceive that under Linaria 

 Elatine there is the following : " About Parkgate, rare, T. San- 

 som. Doubtless an outcast from some garden, J. D." Do the 

 Lancashire folks ornament their gardens with this weed? A 

 crabby florist would say, " If they do sow this worthless species, 

 then they may be easily and cheaply suited with ornamental 

 plants." 



The only curiosity among the Labiate family of plants seen, 

 was a white-flowered variety of Prunella vulgaris or Self-heal, 

 which some, with probability on their side, maintain should be 

 Slough-heal. Self-heal, as a significant term, is just sheer non- 

 sense, like several other terms. The virtues of the plant are 

 forgotten in these our days. Botanists always take note of 

 varieties. ' The variety is sometimes cultivated. Is it an out- 

 cast from gardens, like the Linaria Elatine above mentioned ? 

 Mentha Pulegium is reported to grow about New Brighton; 

 but it lies under the ban of being " considered an outcast from 



N. S. VOL. II. 4 o 



