SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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WiUTK Dkahnkitie \akiki'v. — I cnclusc a sport 

 of l.ttmiiiiii alhiiiii in which tht chlorophil yrccii of 

 Ihc leaves is largely replaced by white splashes and 

 streaks giving the plant a handsome appearance. — C. 

 /•ioNti-Stnit/i, Potloitt Hciis. 



Betony Brand. — Piicdnia betonuac Alb. and 

 Schw. occurred on leaves of Stat-fiys hctoiiii'a on a piece 

 of Waste in the parish of Little Braxted, Es.sex, in the 

 month of June. — EU'win E. Titntcr^ Co);^:^hall. 



Ukyim Murai.k. — In reply to Mr. Wheldon's 

 <|ucry in his paper on " .Subspontaneous .Mosses" 

 \anlc p. 43) with regard to the occurrence of Bryuiii 

 murali- on rocks, I am able to add a little information. 

 I have found this moss growing on wall tops, and on the 

 mortar of walls, in limestone districts in Herefordshire. 

 I have also ftnmd it in small ijuantily, growing on 

 weathering sandstone rock, on a deep bank by a ro.id- 

 side, not near a wall, in the same county. — (Mhs) E. 

 Armitagi:, Dadiwr, Ross, Herefordshire. 



.•\ .N E M o N F, C I . I ' ST E R -c t' I'. — Aecidiiiiii leucosperm tint 

 1).C. is slated to he rare in this country. In fact, Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke says: — " Found it but seldom, though 

 often in search of it"' — and Plowright remarks, " rare 

 in Britain." It may be of interest to record this 

 species for the county of Es.sex, as I believe it is the 

 first time of'this leaf-fungus being reported as having 

 occurred in this county. It w.-is found on leaves of 

 Anetiioitc iicmorosa in a \\ood near Witham in May 

 and June, 1S99. — Edwin E. Turner, Co,ixes/uil!. 



Sussex anh Isi.e oi' Wioht 1'i.ants. — During 

 June and July I met with the following interesting 

 plants: June 17th. — Slellaria glaiica, ditches near 

 Amberley. Oenanihe silai/olia, meadows in the 

 same locality, very abundant. June 20th. — I'iiia 

 hilhyniia, Lathyriis hirsiiiiis, Lalhyrus apluiia and 

 Coriandriitu sa/i7'itn/, all probably introduced with 

 foreign seed, although some of them were in the same 

 place last 3'ear, on cultivated land near .Stanmer. 

 FntiKiriix pan'illora, cultivated land in Stanmer Park, 

 also in the same pl.ice in 1S93 and 1X94. I have 

 noted its persistence at this place, as I do not find it 

 recorded elsewhere as a Sussex plant. July i ith. — 

 Oenanihe silai/olia, and fris foetidissima, very 

 abundant in the east of the Isle of Wight. Oenothera 

 odorata, Orohanehe ametliystca, Eiiphori^ia parol ias, 

 Festtiea nnis^liimis, at St. Helen's Sands, Isle of 

 Wight. July 1 2th — An American bramble has taken 

 root, and was flowering freely at the foot of the clili' 

 at Shanklin. l.alhyrus sylvestris and ArWuisia 

 adsinthinm in the Landslip. Jul)' I3lh — Oroimnehe 

 hetierae, Alyssiiin ntariiiniitni : and Lavatera arborea, 

 at N'entnor. July 18th — Ulrictilaria 7.'i(!garis was 

 (lowering plentifully in a ditch between I'evensey and 

 llurstnionceux in Sussex. It has been reported from 

 the same district before, but although I have pa.ssed 

 the place occasionally for years, I have not found 

 it, which was probably due to the ditches having 

 been cleaned out. In Hurstmonceux Park were 

 Potametgeten rufeseens, SibtJiorpia enropaea, and 

 Calamagrostis laneeolala. Potainogeton Iriehoides is 

 abundant in a ditch at Iford this year. — Thomas 

 Hilton, 16, Kensington Plaee, Brighton. 



AllIi.NDA.NCE OF M ACRilCl.DSSA STKI.l.,VrAKt:M. — 

 .\ large quantity of humming-bird hawk-moths have 

 made their appearance in Northumberland. As many 

 as tivc at a lime have been seen in my gar<len, and I 

 even saw one on the Kame Islands. They are usually 

 rare in this district. E. J. IVheelei, Alnwieh. 



Ahi'NI)AN<k of Macroiji.ossa Stei.i.atarum. 

 — The humming-bird hawk-moths were very plentiful 

 during .M.ay this year, hovering over lilac flowers at 

 .Mston in Cumberland. It is unusual to see them 

 here. — C. II'. Knston-Harrison, I, Eden Mount, 

 Slanwi.x, Carlisle, 2.0th June, 1899. 



MvcoLOC.iCAL Literature.— The Yorkshire 



Naturalists' Union is arranging to aci|uire the library 

 of the late Henry Thom.as Soppitt, who died on the 

 1st of April last. The Mycological Committee of the 

 Union is anxious to secure this library on account of 

 its containing .so many works on fungi, mosses and 

 other low forms of plant life. If this can be attained, 

 it is proposed to deposit the books in a central 

 position, so as to form the nucleus of a really good 

 reference library on cry])togamniic botany. Sub- 

 .scriptions or donations of books and speci:il papers on 

 mycology may be sent through .Mr. W. IJenison 

 Roebuck, F.L.S., of Leetfs, who will gladly 

 acknowledge the gifts. 



Kasi'iateii Blossoms. — .\ plant of the thistle 

 Cniius paluslris grosving on Slade Down, N. Devon 

 had about 45 flower-heads in a cluster, of these the 

 5 central heads were united and formed a regular 

 "cockscomb." On Braunton Burrows a specimen 

 of marsh helleborine ( Epipaclis paluslris) had all the 

 blossoms of the spike, apparently four in number, 

 combined into one compound bloom ; giving the 

 jilanl a verv strange appearance. This wa.s the first 

 case of fasciation I had met with among the orchids. 

 .\nother curiostty from the same spot was a plant of 

 tway blade ( Listera m'ata), in which the outer leaf 

 was a narrow cylinder in shape, the edges being joined 

 nearly to the top. It somewhat resembled the 

 " pitcher" of a pitcher-plant. The point of the o'her 

 leaf showed over the top o( the tube. /. E. Cooper, 

 OS, Xorth Plill, Highgale, N. jtkjuly, /iig<). 



SaI'ERDA Pol'tJLNEA L. .NEAR CARLISLE. — On 

 June nth this year I was collecting insects on the 

 margin of a large wood near Carlisle, in company with 

 my friend Mr. K. H. Day, when in less than half an 

 hour we captured over ninety of this interesting long 

 horn beetle. They were flying in the hot afternoon 

 sunshine, and settling on the aspen liushes which grew 

 plentifully in the vicinity. One bush we beat, pro- 

 duced ten specimens. An examination of the aspen 

 stems revealed numerous burrows, undoubtedly caused 

 by the larvae of this beetle. I have been over the 

 same ground twice since then, but have not seen any 

 signs of the beetle again, nor am I aware of any 

 previous record, although the district h.as been well 

 worked. Canon Fowler (Col. Brit. lis. vol. 4 

 p. 253) ,s,ays : — " Lincoln, Langworth Wood ; I know 

 of no record of the capture of this in.sect further north 

 than the last mentioned locality, in which I have it 

 sparingly.".— yijj. Murray, 11, Close Street, Carlisle. 



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