MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OESEKVATIONS- 343 



and the water not "being clear, so little of it conld be seen, that 

 it was impossible to determine the species. 



The length of the specimen was about forty-seven feet. — J. W. 



Malaxis paludosa, Sw. — For several years I have had the plea- 

 sure of gathering a few specimens of this rare Orchid which has 

 not, I think, been noticed before in the North Tyne district. It 

 was growing on Sphagnum in a boggy place, by the side of a small 

 runner of water which drains an extensive bog near Blackstur 

 Lough. In a very limited area the specimens were very numer- 

 ous, numbering when I last counted them about sixty, forming 

 a little colony surrounded by the Buckbean, Bog Asphodel, and 

 other bog-loving plants. The roots or bulbs were imbedded in 

 the Sphagnum. This plant is no doubt often overlooked, as it is 

 difficult to detect on account of its pale delicate green colour. 

 It is to be feared that the ruthless and unwise system of con- 

 stant and general draining on our moors will soon sweep this 

 little plant and its congeners from even the most secluded bogs 

 of our moorland districts. — Richard Hoivse. 



Mimulus luteus, Linn. — Several patches of this plant, grow- 

 ing rather luxuriantly, have been observed on the banks of the 

 Rede, near East and West Woodburn, and sometimes it has been 

 found growing and in flower on small accumulations of gravel 

 and also on large stones in the bed of the river. As these plants 

 are often covered, and even rooted up by winter and summer 

 floods, its appearance in fresh, and disappearance from known lo- 

 calities, is easily explained. An extensive spread of this plant 

 grew a few years since on the north side of the road beyond 

 Horsley, and extended upwards towards a small spring on the 

 side of the fell. This American plant, not recorded in our district 

 by Winch, is no doubt an outcast of cottage and other gardens, 

 but it is singular that it should establish itself and flourish on 

 the banks of our subalpine streams only. — R. II. 



