NOTES — BOTANY. I07 



Two small examples of this serried armour are preserved in 

 Mr. Chadwick's collection at Malton ; and there are a few scutes 

 from a very large tail in the York Museum. 'I'he scutes are 

 bilaterally symmetrical, flattened, and taper to an acute apex, the 

 largest measuring about four or five inches from this point to the 

 bifurcation of the base ; they are destitute of an external layer of 

 enamel, and the only traces of ornamentation are feeble rugse upon 

 the exposed sides. 



Nothing is known of the external form and arrangement of the 

 fins of Gyrosteus ; but it is most probable that the entire fish had 

 much resemblance to the well-known Chotidrosteus (fig. 7), of which 

 tolerably complete skeletons have been discovered. The typical 

 species, Gyrosteus mirahilis, probably attained a length of six or 

 seven metres, thus rivalling in size the most gigantic Sturgeon of the 

 present day. _ 



NO TES—B OTA NY. 



Sparganium ramosum Huds. vav. microcarpa Neum. — On p. 200 of the 

 ' Naturalist ' (1888 Vol.) I announced the discovery in Yorkshire of this variety or 

 form of the hur-reed under the name microcarpuin. In the recent issue of 

 C T och C. Hartman's 'Handbok i Skandinaviens Flora,' 12th ed. (first part only 

 yet" published), Neuman gives, on pp. 107-I12, a masterly account of the genus 

 Sparmnitim, and states that the name of this var. is microcarta, and not inicro- 

 ca,-piun, as I previously gave it, hence I now correct the mistake. Ihe plant has 

 been found in Scotland, and it is put down in the Scandinavian flora as occurring 

 in Gotland and Medelpad, two provinces of Sweden. In going over this l-lora 

 one is struck with the similarity of our own flora and that of Scandinavia, and 

 thou^^ht c-oes back to the time when the configuration of the land surfaces of 

 Euro^pe was very different to those we at present know. Mr. Arthur Bennett, 

 who reviewed the ' Flora of Scandinavia' in the 'Journal of Botany for December 

 1889 informs me that my find near Dewsbury is the only record yet for \ orkshire 

 of Sfa,xa>iiiim microcarpa. As far as I know, it has not been observed anywhere 

 else in England.— P. Fox Lee, Dewsbury. 19th March, 1890. 



Ceterach officinarum in the East Riding- of Yorkshire.— I have lately 

 discovered this species growing on a wall in the village of Langton. It is growing 

 in a truly wild condition, and thoroughly naturalized in its position. It is a rare 

 plant generally in Yorkshire, and in Baker's 'North Yorkshire ' it is stated to be 

 growing upon a wall in Mr. Williams' yard at Appersett, in Wensleydale— sought 

 for there recently, but without success. My friend. Dr. R. Spruce, of Coneys- 

 thorpe, however, informs me that at the time he investigated the botany of Upper 

 Teesdale he met with it in several localities near the villages in the dale. Ihis 

 was in the summer of 1843. In Lees' ' Flora of West Yorkshire it is given as 

 'native; on dry limestone rocks and walls, very rare.' It is, however, recorded 

 in several places near Settle on the authority of Prof. L. C. Miall, also at the 

 base of clifts to east of Malham Tarn, stated to have been seen in this locality in 

 1880 and 1885 by Mr. P. F. Lee. The locality at Langton is thus far away, 

 probably one hundred miles from the nearest place where it is now known to grow 

 in Yorkshire, and therefore is a good record for the East Riding flora, jhis fern 

 is more particularly a plant of the western English counties, and is found plentifully 

 in the neighbourhood of Bristol. It is a valley plant, and is not found at high 

 elevations, and seems to be very rare on the east side of the Pennine Chain of 

 hills. There is some possibility of the plant having been introduced to the 

 Langton locality. It is, however, thoroughly naturalised in its present site, 

 and more information regarding its hist appearance at Langton is desirable.— 

 Matthew B. Slater, Malton, 21st March, 1890. 

 April 1890. 



