SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



29 



FIELD BOTANY. 



CONDUCTED BY JAMES SAUNDERS, A.L.S. 



Gagea eascicularis var. lutea in Worcester- 

 shire. — Mr. E. F. Towndrow, of Malvern Link, 

 has during the last two years, 1900 and 1901, 

 observed this species in fair abundance in a cop- 

 pice at Leigh S!nton. This was previously only 

 included in the county flora on the borders of 

 Herefordshire at MathoD. — Carlton Rea, B.C.L., 

 M.A., 34 Foregate Street, Worcester, May 13, 1901. 



Coprinus squamosus Morg. — This pretty and 

 distinct Coprinus was found by myself in Hanbury 

 Park near Stoke, Worcestershire, on September 28th, 

 1900. Previously it had been only recorded from 

 America. It is readily distinguished by its per- 

 sistent reddish-brown scales upon the pileus and 

 lower part of the stem. — Carleton Rea, B. C.L., M.A., 

 34 Foregate Street, Worcester, May 13, 1901. 



Sea Buckthorn. — Botanists who are not familiar 

 with the interesting plant (Hippopliae rliamnoides~), 

 or sallow thorn, when grown to perfection cannot 

 do better than spend a few days on the Lincoln- 

 shire coast. The seaside town of Skegness is now 

 so accessible by excursion trains, at such remark- 

 ably low fares, that a visit is rendered easy. On 

 sandhills to the south the growth is simply mag- 

 nificent. — J. T. Carrington. 



Characeae. — Those who desire to take up a 

 subject that is not overworked would do well to 

 turn their attention to the stoneworts. Every 

 real worker in this country during the last 

 two decades has added interesting information as 

 to the distribution of this group. Quite recently 

 Mr. Bullock- Webster has found " a queer Chara in 

 Hickling Broad, which seems to be rather a puzzle. 

 Professor Nordstadt cannot assign to it a name, nor 

 can the Messrs. Groves. I make little doubt it is a 

 hybrid, but the parentage is rather a puzzling 

 question" (in lit. May 15th, 1901). From this it 

 will be seen that there is still room for original 

 work in this class of plants. It is doubtless known 

 to most readers of Science-Gossip that they are 

 aquatic and submerged, and are to be found in 

 fresh and brackish water. — J. Saunders. 



Lesser Celandine.— At the field meeting near 

 Manchester on May 4th last the members present 

 were greatly interested by certain peculiarities that 

 may be observed in the lesser celandine or pile- 

 wort (Ranunculus ficaria), to which attention was 

 directed by Mr. C. Bailey. As there were many of 

 these plants growing under the oak tree, beneath 

 which the members were sitting, these points were 

 easily verified. Mr. Bailey regards it as a species 

 on the " downward grade," as its seeds are rarely 

 matured, and it is chiefly propagated by vegetative 

 reproduction — that is, by bulbils at the base of the 

 leaf stalks and by numerous small bulbous roots. 

 The meeting was evidently one that would stimu- 

 late inquiry and encourage observation. We would, 

 however, refer the members of the Manchester 



Field Club to notes on the fruiting of this plant in 

 the last and in this number of Science-Gossip. — 

 J. Saunders. 



Fritillaria meleagris. — The common fritil- 

 lary, or snake's head, is now well established in 

 Worcestershire, having migrated north from the 

 adjoining county of Oxford. It was first observed 

 by Professor Poynting in a meadow at Alvechurch a 

 few years ago, and since then Mr. John Humphreys, 

 F.L.S., has seen it in meadows at Tardebigge in 

 some abundance, especially this year. — Carleton 

 Rea, B.C.L., M.A., 34 Foregate Street, Worcester. 



Fruiting of Lesser Celandine. — I have read 

 with much interest the paper on the above subject 

 by Mr. Britton in the May number of Science- 

 Gossip, and should like to add some of my own 

 observations, which agree closely with his. In 

 Herefordshire the lesser celandine fruits abun- 

 dantly. The conclusion to which I am led by 

 observing the plant in different habitats is that it 

 fruits freely in fairly dry sunny situations. In 

 that case no axillary bulbils are present, whereas 

 in shady places the latter are formed in nearly 

 every leaf-axil, while mature fruits are less fre- 

 quent. One reason which partly accounts for the 

 infrequency of fruits is that there is a much smaller 

 production of flowers in such a situation than in an 

 open one. In sunny places the celandine grows 

 more compactly, and is extremely floriferous. 

 These plants are now laden with ripe carpels, fully 

 developed and matured, scarcely any abortive ones 

 being visible. On shady, somewhat moist banks,, 

 where no direct sunshine penetrates, the condition 

 of the plant at present shows unopened buds, a few 

 blossoms, and some very miniature carpels, a few of 

 which may ripen, as I can see in some cases one 

 or more ovules slightly larger than the rest. They 

 are straggling plants, weak-stemmed, with long 

 internodes and plenty of bulbils. The under- 

 ground tubers seem to be equally numerous, 

 whatever the situation. In my herbarium I 

 have specimens gathered quite near to each 

 other on a sloping rocky bank, those from 

 the sunnier spot being fruitful and bulbless, while 

 those which were under the shade of the rocks are 

 few T -flowered and bulbiferous. Thus I conclude 

 that exposure to sunshine is of more importance 

 for fruit formation in the lesser celandine than the 

 either damp or dry state of the soil. I certainly 

 find fruit abundant on hedge-banks ; neither can 

 I agree with Mr. Britton that the fruit stalks are 

 flaccid. The fruiting peduncles become consider- 

 ably thickened and strengthened, and are some- 

 times straight, projecting beyond the leaves, or 

 they are rigidly incurved downwards, and are then 

 more or less concealed beneath leaves and stalks. 

 This habit, and the rapid decay of the plant after 

 fruiting, may account for hasty observers having 

 concluded that fruits do not ripen. On referring 

 to Mr. Burkill's paper, already quoted from by 

 Mr. Britton, I find several statements that, if true 

 for the Yorkshire coast, are certainly not so for 

 this county, which no doubt has a much milder 

 climate. I do not find that the lesser celandine 

 "is so generally infertile," nor that the flowering 

 period is of " short duration," but very much the 

 reverse. I saw the first flower this year on 

 January 20th, and on the same day in 1898, and 

 have noted many intermediate dates between that 

 and March 12th, the latest record. These same 

 plants are still flowering abundantly, and I have 



