Oct. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



229 



parts of a fine petal-like texture. The true petals 

 were perfectly formed, but were much smaller than 

 usual. I have found P. Rlioeas with white blossoms. 

 Five-petalled blossoms of the Great Celandine 

 (Chelldoniun majus) have been of frequent occurrence 

 this year : and in one such blossom the two upper 

 petals v/ere much larger than the three lower ; thus 

 giving it the appearance of a Tiolet, I gathered 

 several specimens of Mousetail {Mi/osivms ntluimus) 

 near Little Marlow, having the receptacle forked at 

 the top. 



A very pretty " sport " of the sweet violet {Viola 

 odorafa) was gathered in the spring near Little 

 Marlow; this had white blossoms, beautifully striped 

 with purple. The Wood Violet {F. sylvatkci) occa- 

 sionally produces petal-less blossoms late in the 

 year; in one specimen found, these blossoms grev/ 

 in the axils of the leaves, and extended some way 

 down the stem. The Bladder Campion {Silene 

 hiflata) occasionally has its calyces so much en- 

 larged as almost to conceal the blossoms ; and the 

 White Campion {Lychnis vespertina) has been ob- 

 served in two or three places this year having bright 

 pink blossoms. The Dove's-foot Cranesbili {Gera- 

 nium molle), with white flowers, is of frequent occur- 

 rence with us ; and I have two or three times 

 noticed a form of the common St. John's wort {Hy- 

 pericum perforatum') in which the calyces were 

 somewhat larger than usual, and of a brovi'nish-red 

 colour. The white-flowered variety of the Purple 

 Clover {TrifoUum pratense) has been very common 

 hereabouts this year, appearing in almost every 

 clover-field. Helianthemum vulgare, with white 

 blossoms, occurs on Bledlow Ridge. 



In Wycombe Park there is a Hawthorn {Cratagus 

 oxyaeantha) which presents some of the peculiarities 

 c£ the far-famed Glastonbury thorn. On the 9th 

 of January it exhibited several fully-developed 

 leaves, and many bunches of buds, in an apparently 

 healthy condition ; but the subsequent frosts pre- 

 vented them from blossoming. A bush of pink- 

 flowered May occurs at Hazelmoor, in a hedge of 

 the common white-flowered form. I have found the 

 Agrimony {Agrimonia Eupatorid) with the spike 

 forked at the top ; and I also saw the Hogweed 

 {Heracleum sphondylium) with the umbel foliaceous ; 

 that is to say, composed partly of blossoms and 

 partly of leaflets. 



I have this year noticed several of the Composite 

 varying with white blossoms, and among them 

 Cnicus lanceolatus (Spear Thistle), C. palustris 

 (Marsh Tliistle), and the rayed variety of the com- 

 mon Knapweed {Centaurea nigra, /3 radiata). Cnicus 

 palustris with white flowers appears to be about as 

 generally common as the purple-flowered form. 

 The Stemless Thistle (C. acaulis) occurs at Whittiug- 

 ton Park with a stem nearly a foot high. A curious 

 form of the Autumn Geutian {Gentiana Amarella) is 

 not unfrequentj having the central flower-head com- 



posed of numerous abortive buds ; a double-flowered 

 variety, having the stamens, &c., transformed into 

 petals, grows on Keep Hill. Yellow Wort {Chlora 

 perfoliata) and Yellov/ Pimpernel {Lysimachia 

 nemorum) occasionally occur with six divisions to 

 the corolla instead of five. 



The Germander Speedwell {Veronica chamcedrys) 

 I have found with leaf-stalks nearly as long as those 

 of V. montana. Marjoram {Origanum vulgare), with 

 white flowers, is not unfrequent ; and near Downley 

 I found a patch in which the blossoms were almost, 

 and in some places quite, concealed by the enlarged 

 calyces. The Plemp Nettles ( Galeopsis Ladanum and 

 G. TefraJiit) occasionally vary with white flowers. 



The Green-winged Orchis {Orchis Morio), which 

 grows in the meadows near Whittington Park, 

 occurs there with blossoms of widely-differing hues ; 

 the prettiest variety being tlsat with pale pink 

 blossoms, upon which the green veins were beauti- 

 fully distinct. 0. maculata frequently has the stem 

 spotted as well as the leaves; and of the Military 

 Orchis {0. militaris) I found a very pretty variety 

 in Dane Gardenwood, the flowers of which were 

 without stripes or blotches, the lip and helmet 

 being tipped with reddish-purple. In meadows at 

 Dinton, where the Pritillary {Fritillaria meleagris) 

 grows in profusion, I gathered two or three speci- 

 mens with pink, and one with white flowers. Herb 

 Paris {Paris quadrifolia), with three, four, five, and 

 six leaves, is abundant in a wood near West 

 Wycombe. I observe that the young plants, which 

 do not blossom, usually have but three. On the 

 edge of a pond on Naphill Common I observed a 

 dwarf form of the Water Star-fruit {Actinocarpus 

 Damasonium) not exceeding an inch in height, and 

 having but one flower ; its neighbours, growing iu 

 the water, were of the usual size. B. 



CiiETACEOus PossiLs. — During the course of a 

 visit to the Pavilion at Brighton, wherein is a 

 museum of geological specimens, I observed some 

 fossils of the cretaceous system, and amongst them 

 examples of Pertea and Plagiostoma, which are well 

 delineated in Page's "Elementary Text-book of 

 Geology." There is also a good collection of shells, 

 by which comparison of the connective links between 

 ancient and modern species, should such exist, may 

 be made. The variation found in the genus Turhi- 

 tella is very instructive and self-evident. I would 

 wish, however, to ask Mr. Page, or some of your 

 readers more conversant with geological facts than 

 I am, how it is that the chalk or cretaceous system 

 is said, in para. 40, group III., " to consist of remains 

 of plants and animals, chiefly marine, and belong- 

 ing to species now extinct," when both Perte(S 

 and Plagiostoma nQw exist, which are exactly 

 similar to those in a fossil state in the chalk?— 

 A. Q.B, 



