THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF WILTS. 381 



The flora is mostly the usual one of a southern county, having 

 large surfaces of chalky downs, about two-thirds of the county 

 being of the Cretaceous formation, a very small portion being 

 Eocene and Lias, the rest belonging to the Oolites. As usual, the 

 Batrachian Kanunculi are a difficulty, but the notes on them at 

 pp. 386 — 393 ought to be read by all British botanists ; the admission 

 of E. Lenormandi is stated in the Addenda to have been an error. 



After many of the species some interesting notes are appended, 

 either from old authors or by Mr. Preston himself. Here and 

 there a species is admitted that might well be expunged : such as 



Sisymbrium Trio (p. 29). Thlaspi perfoliatum is traced into Wilts 



on seemingly safe grounds, and is an interesting addition to the 

 county. Hypericum niontanum is afterwards noted as an error; it 

 will be strange if it is really an absentee. 



Prof. Babington is thanked for valuable assistance in drawing up 

 the list of Bubi, and this as it stands is probably ' ' the only correct list 

 of the county Bubi" since the alterations in nomenclature, &c, have 

 made old records very doubtful as to names. Are the records under 

 11 P. rudis Weihe " really the true plant, or M, echinatus Lind. ? 



At page 134 (l (Enanthe peucedanifoUa Poll. " is admitted on the 

 authority of Prof. Babington's " Flora Bathoniensis, 1834, supp. 

 1839 " ; this is probably what would now be named Lacheualii. 

 No one would be more ready to admit than Prof. Babington 

 himself, that these plants were then not properly separated in 

 Britain, as the " old series " of the ' Phytologist ' would show. 



The note on the county rarity, Carduus tuberosus, is of much 

 interest, the plant being confined on present knowledge in Britain 

 to Wilts. But I must confess that I am surprised at C. acaulis 

 having been mistaken for it. By the kindness of the Bev. W. M, 

 Rogers, I have had growing for some years a root from Mr. 

 Wheeler's garden (originally from Great Ridge Wood), and it never 

 occurred to me that at any stage of its growth it resembled acaulis ; 

 still it may be different when wild. The theory of its being a 

 hybrid is also discussed. 



Under Primula vulgaris a long note is given of its forms or 



hybrids. Mr. Preston claims Mentha pratenm Sole, for Wilts, 

 although it has been put in Hants ere this ; there is no record of it 

 since Sole's time (1798). Under Carex hwnilis, p. 333, the first 

 record is given as " Flora, 1873 " ; I think a much earlier one will 

 be found in the ' Phytologist.' The Wilts Carex, C. tomentosa, 

 seems to be extinct, from the partial drainage of the water-meadows, 

 although specimens were sent to the Record Club in 1872, " to give 

 confirmatory evidence of its recent occurrence.' ' In another edition, 

 the note under this interesting British plant might well be extended. 

 There are very few unlikely species introduced, and when given 

 some doubt or caution is expressed; hence the book is a trust- 

 worthy one. Much of course still remains to be done in confirming 

 or refuting (a difiicult matter) many records. Throughout the 

 book references are given to ' Topographical Botany,' Sy rue's 

 ' English Botany,' Flower's ■ Flora,' Babington's ' Manual,' Hooker's 

 4 Students' Flora,' and the ■ London Catalogue.' Some additions 

 have been made to the county Flora since its publication, i.e., 



