284 NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 



of Plymouth somewhat favours the view of its being a hybrid 

 between V. odorata and V. hirta. Its scentless flowers are of a 

 bright slaty blue, and make a fine show at the end of March and 



early in April*" 



To his enumeration of the Epilohia Mr. Briggs appends the 



following note: — "I believe hybrids are frequently produced among 



the Epilohia, as is known to be the case in Carchtus, Verbascum, and 



some other genera. I have frequently met with specimens looking 



like hybrids between E. montanum and E. lanceolatum growing with 



these two ; also with others apparently between E. lanceolatum, and 



E. obscurum ; and less frequently with specimens having characters 



between E. parviflorum and E. lanceolatum; and E. parviflorum and 



E. tetragonum. I have several apparent hybrids preserved in my 



herbarium. " 



As bearing out this suggestion, it may be noted that Prof. 

 Haussknecht, who has lately been visiting the herbaria of this 

 country in connection with his study of the genus Epilobium, has 

 named specimens collected at Plymouth by Mr. Briggs and 

 presented by him to the British Museum herbarium E. lanceolatum 

 X obscurum, E. lanceolatum x parviflorum, and E. obscurum X 

 parviflorum. Among other hybrids in the same herbarium are 

 curious cultivated specimens from Mr. Watson's garden, named by 

 the same authority E. palustre x obscurum; and one from the 

 Cheviots, on which N. J. Winch notes, "proved by three years' 

 cultivation to be very distinct from E. montanum" and which is 

 named by Haussknecht E. palustre x alsinifolium. This is the 

 plant from which the figure in 'Eng. Bot.' (t. 2000) was principally 

 made; two of Sowerby's specimens of " alsinifolium" are named by 

 Haussknecht E. anagal I idi folium and E. ahinifolium X palustre, the 

 third being the true plant. 



The points which seem to us to suggest criticism are very few. 

 We observe that Polygonum maculatum has attached to it, as an 

 authority, the name "Dyer" in inverted commas; in this Mr. 

 Briggs has (as usual) exactly followed the 'London Catalogue/ 

 But a reference to this Journal for 1871 (p. 36), where this was 

 first published, shows that the authority should be "Dyer and 

 Triinen," the name occurring in a paper which was the joint pro- 

 duction of the authors named. Although retaining it as a species, 

 Mr. Briggs says, " I believe this graduates into lapathifolium, a? 

 plants with characters more or less intermediate occur. I would 

 regard it as a variety only." It is only fair to point out that, 

 although numbered as a species in the ' London Catalogue/ its 

 authors claimed for it only subspecific rank. 



In one particular only we have to complain of incompleteness; 

 the two Indexes are not so full as they should be. We have never 

 been able to understand why an index of genera should be 

 considered all that is needed in a local flor; ; but in such a book 

 as the present, where ttubm extends over twenty-two pages and 

 Bom occupies sixteen, and there is in each case a good deal ot 

 synonymy, a more detailed index is certainly required. Still more 

 unfortunate, as it seems to us, is the omission from the Index 



