76 Mr. Stuart's Account of some rare Plants. 



glabrous as in that plant ; and the leaves, though very variable 

 in size, being often as one to four or more, are never shorter 

 than the flowers, and instead of being roundish as in verti- 

 cillatum they are oblong-lanceolate in form, and generally 

 about three times as long as broad. 



Phalaris canariensis, L., grows in great abundance at 

 Melrose, Galashiels, Selkirk, and Hawick. This belongs to 

 the same category as the others. 



Apera spica-venti, Beauv., {Spreading silky bent), a 

 rare English grass I have found in profusion in some places 

 near Galashiels ; it is exceedingly pretty, and as it has never 

 been found in Scotland before, it is a most interesting addition 

 to our Flora. It is remarkable for its long awns, they being 

 many times as long as the spikelet. It is found chiefly in 

 sandy fields near London ; and I once gathered it before 

 at Thames Ditton, in company with Mr. Naylor, when it was 

 pointed out to us by Mr. Watson, author of the Cybele 

 Britannica. 



Polypogon monspeliensis, Desf., a light and elegant 

 grass, I found in abundance all the way from Melrose to 

 Galashiels, growing along with Setaria viridis ; but it is 

 much more abundant than the last named grass. Ann 

 Pratt says : " its dense silky panicle is, in July and August, 

 beautifully tinted with different shades of green and pale 

 greyish purple, and is one or two inches long, on a stem 

 about a foot high. It has slender hairy leaves, and is a very 

 common grass in southern Europe." She adds : " it is found 

 only in a few moist meadows near the sea, in Hampshire, 

 Essex, and a few other counties." Babington gives it in salt 

 marshes near the sea, both in England and Scotland. 



Erysimum orientale,^. Brown, I picked up when in com- 

 pany with Mr. Borthwick, but it had been very much destroyed 

 by the water, the river having been flooded a day or two pre- 

 viously. It is a plant, which is said by Mr. Syme, to be 

 scarcely naturalised even in England ; but it has been found 

 on cliffs and fields near the sea, at Harwich, as also at 

 Bawdsey, near Orford, Suffolk, in fields near Godstone 

 and Marshfield, Sussex (Huds.) ; and it is also said to have 

 come up spontaneously in a field that had been ploughed to 

 form a garden, in the centre of the new square at Plymouth. 

 Lepidium ruderale, L., I found growing in two different 

 places in the bed of the Gala. It is rather uncommon, 

 though not quite new to Scotland, having been frequently 



