236 MYOSOTis. [class v. order i. 



limb of the corolla flat, longer tban the tube, lower leaves ou long 

 footstalks. 



English flora, vol. i. p. 252. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 

 102.— English Botany, Suppt. t. 2630.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 166. 



Root somewhat creeping. Stems uuiiierous from the same root, 

 erect or bent at the base, from four inches to twelve or more high, 

 simple or hranched ; the lower leaves ovale or obovate, obtuse, on long 

 narrow footstalks, the upper lanceolate, sessile; the whole plant clothed 

 with spreading soft hairs. Racemes in pairs, longer than in M- 

 alpestris ; (he pedicles more spreading ; the calyx with more numerous 

 hooked hairs at its base; the segments narrower, less hairy, and the 

 hairs straighter, and not so soft, the segments converging over the fruit, 

 though not closely. The corolla is generally longer than in 31. alpestris, 

 but this is variable, and its colour is not so deep a blue. It seems an 

 intermediate species between M. alpestris and M. arvensis, in which it 

 partakes of some characters of each, but with so slight a difference in 

 others, as to render it difScult to determine to which species it belongs. 



Habitat. — Dry shady places, North of England ; Lowlands of 

 Scotland, frequent; RokebyPark; Thorp Arch ; and Moor Hall, near 

 Shefiield, Yorkshire; Woods, Welbeck, and other places, Nottingham- 

 shire; in Essex, Kent, and Norfolk. 



Perennial; flowering in June and July. 



We have no doubt this plant occurs more frequently than is sup^ 

 posed, being collected for 31. arvensis, from which there is some 

 difficulty in distinguishing it, since both vary greatly according 

 to the situation of their growth. 31. sylvatica, when grown on 

 a poor dry soil, in an open situation, is much smaller than when grown 

 otherwise, and is scarcely distinguishable from the following species ; 

 but 31. sylvatica appears to be a perennial plant, and the arvensis is 

 an annual. 



6. 3f. arvensis^ Hoffm. (Fig. 315.) Fieli Scorpion-grass, Calyx 

 •with half five-cleft spreading hooked bristles, when in fruit ovate^ 

 closed, shorter than the spreading pedicles, limb of the corolla concave, 

 equalling the tube in length. 



English Botany, Suppt. t. 2629. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. 

 p. 103.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 166. — 31. scorpioides, a arvensis, hinn. 

 Sp. PI. p. 188. 



Root fibrous, annual. Stems from a few inches to two feet high, 

 mostly numerous from the same root, erect, or curved at the base, 

 simple, or branched, roundish or angular, clothed more or less abun- 

 dantly with spreading hairs. Leaves various, those from the root 

 ovate or spatulate, on a somewhat dilated footstalk of variable length, 

 upper ones sessile, lanceolate, tapering towards the base. Racemes 

 mostly in pairs, often having one or two leaves at the base; when 



