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Queries and Answers, 



4iccount worthy of being inserted in your Magazine, you will, perhaps, do 

 so, and oblige, yours, &c. ■ — /. E. L. Richmond, March 5. 1830. 



1. i^iibus. Stem angulai', scarcely hairy j prickly. Prickles very small, 

 not hooked-, few ; glandular bristles, none. Leaves ternate, upper simple ; 

 leaflets ovate, large, rounder than in R, glandulosus, and more unequally 

 serrated, even jagged ; dark green above ; beneath, very soft, and clothed 

 with fine silky hairs. Lateral leaflets deeply lobed at the outside. Stipulas 

 linear lanceolate. Panicle dense, leafy, upper part almost umbelliferous ; 

 flower stalks very hairy, not prickly. Sepals ovate lanceolate, obtuse, un- 

 armed, but clothed with soft hairs : after flowering, deflexed. Approaches 

 near to R. leucostachys of Smith, but differs in not being at all glandular 

 (by which it may also be distinguished from R. glandulosus) or so hairy, 

 and calyx not prickly at the base. — 2. R. Stem angular, hairy, prickly, 

 reddish ; prickles numerous, hooked, particularly those on the leaves of the 

 barren stems, which ai'e quinate; the three terminal leaflets are long, 

 blackish, angular, and very prickly footstalks, also rather hairy. Leaflets 

 finely serrated, with a very prominent point, dark green above ; beneath, 

 clothed with fine white soft hairs, not woolly. Leaves of the flower stem 

 ternate, more strongly serrated. Panicle cylindrical, simply compound, 

 hairy, with a few scattered straight prickles ; bracteas linear. Sepals nar- 

 rower than in the last, and more pointed ; hairy, unarmed. This species 

 answers precisely to none of those described in Smith's Flora, — 3. R. 

 Stem angular, perfectly free from hairs or bristles ; prickles deflexed, not 

 hooked, upon the angles of the stem. Stipulas narrow. Leaves quinate ; 

 those of the flowering-stem ternate. Leaflets large, jagged at the edges ; 

 terminal one on a long hairy footstalk, the two lateral sessile ; above, dark 

 green ; below, paler ; not at all hoary, rather downy. Panicle long, strag- 

 gling, smooth, and leafy, twice compound. Sepals ovate, unarmed ; running 

 out to a very fine point, not deflexed. The two lateral leaflets not lobed, 

 as in R. cae^sius and corylifolius, which they most resemble. 



Curious Variett/ of Vlantdgo major. — Sir, I send you the following de- 

 scription of a curious variety which I met with of the Plantago major, 

 hoping that it may prove acceptable to some of your readers. I rather think 

 it is of rare or at least partial occurrence, since I have never seen any other 

 specimens except those which I have in my possession ; nor have I heard 

 of any being found. The principal difference is in its mode of inflorescence, 

 in which it disagrees very materially with the P. major. Instead of being 

 in a compact spike, it is very much branched, as it is figured beneath 

 (^g. 1 18.}, and of a light green colour. In all other respects, it agrees with 

 the species mentioned above. My specimens were 

 sent me from the neighbourhood of Durham, two 

 or three years ago. Sir Edward Smith refers to 

 Gerarde, if I mistake not, who gives a plate, and 

 description in his usually quaint manner, from which 

 a very tolerable idea of the plant may be formed : 

 he names it Plantago paniculis sparsis. For the 

 benefit of your readers who do not possess a copy, 

 I subjoin what he says upon it : — " This plantain 

 must not here be forgot, though it be somewhat 

 hard to be found : his leaves, roots, and stalks are 

 like those of the ordinarie; but, instead of a com- 

 pact spike, it hath one much divided after the man- 

 ner as you see it here expressed in the figure, and 

 the colour thereof is greenish." Perhaps this plant 

 ought hardly to be reckoned as a distinct species j 

 though it is certainly very distinct, as a variety, 

 from Plantago major. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — 

 /. E. L. Richmond, June 13. 1830. 



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