SHORT NOTES 379 



0. apifera that I have come across, either fresh or dried. — Edward 

 S. Marshall. 



P.S. — Since writing the above, Mr. J. W. White has kindly 

 lent me an excellent pen-drawing by Miss F. Cundall of the Bristol 

 plant, which is clearly a variety of 0. apifera, differing from type 

 only in the lip. It agrees well enough with the description of 

 var. Trollii Reichb. fil., but is not by any means identical with 

 0. Trollii Hegetschw. That has the bracts much longer and more 

 leafy, the sepals narrower and more acute, the lip about half as 

 broad at the base, more tapering, and rather longer. The colour, 

 as represented in M. Schulze's figure, is also brighter than that of 

 0. apifera. — E. S. M. 



Ranunculus divaricatus Schrank. — In the " List of Seed- 

 plants and Ferns " Mr. Britten and Dr. Rendle have, in deference 

 to the opinion of Continental botanists, adopted the name of 

 Ranunculus divaricatus Schrank for the species heretofore gene- 

 rally known in this country as B. circinatus Sibth. It appears to 

 us, however, that the name of B. circinatus should be retained, 

 and to elucidate the point a review of the evidence seems desirable. 

 At the outset we would recall the fact that Mr. Hiern, whose 

 opinion on such a question must carry great weight, in his paper on 

 the " Forms and Distribution of Batrachiuin" (Journ. Bot., 1871) 

 referred B. divaricatus Schrank to B. trichophyllus Chaix, quoting 

 B. divaricatus Koch, non Schrank, as a synonym of B. circinatus. 

 In a recent letter to us Mr. Hiern lias pointed out that B. tricho- 

 phyllus Chaix and B. divaricatus Schrank are both founded on the 

 same plant, i.e. Haller's No. 1162. In publishing the former 

 name, Chaix (in Villars Hist. PI. Dauph. i. p. 335, 1786) gives no 

 description, merely quoting "Hall. 1162." Schrank's original 

 description of B. divaricatus (Baiers Fl. ii. 104, 1789) is as 

 follows: — "Der Stengel schwimmend; Die Blatter zusammen- 

 gesetzet, tellerformig ; die Theile haarformig, auseinanderstehend. 

 Auseinanderfahrender Hahnenfusz. Ranunculus caule fluitante, 

 petiolis unitloris, foliis capillaribus, laciniis divergentibus. Hall, 

 hist. n. 1162. Fceniculum aquaticum Tabern. 187, ganz gut." 

 Schrank's diagnosis is equally applicable to B. trichophyllus and 

 B. circinatus, with the exception of the term " tellerformig/' i. e. 

 salver-shaped, which more aptly describes the leaves of the latter 

 species, with the segments branching laterally only, than those of 

 the former, where the branching of the segments is not in one 

 plane. This appears to be the only point in favour of B. circinatus 

 being intended. When we come to examine the citations from 

 other authors the evidence seems overwhelmingly in favour of the 

 opposite view. To begin with, no one having B. circinatus in view 

 could possibly refer to Tabernaemontanus's figure as "entirely 

 good," it being in fact an excellent representation of B. tricho- 

 phyllus. Again, the citation of Haller's type brings in Barrelier 

 Ic. 566, which is also B. trichophyllus. The strongest point, 

 however, in favour of B. circinatus only not being intended by 

 Schrank is that Haller described a var. fi of his No. 1162, which 

 from his citing Plukenet's figure (t. 55, f. 2) there is little doubt is 



