234 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



as compared with that of some other British writers. It should 

 be borne in mind that he has had exceptional opportunities for 

 forming a correct opinion on difficult questions of status. Eoughly 

 speaking, his estimate of species-values is rather conservative ; 

 thus Polygala oxyptera Eeichb., which seems to us very distinct, 

 is here ranked as a variety of P. vulgaris. The brackets showing 

 that its describer assigned specific rank to a given plant have some- 

 times been omitted. Aconitum Napellus is classed as indigenous; 

 this we fully believe to be its true rank in such western counties 

 as Somerset, Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Hereford. Pceonia 

 coralUna, on the other hand, is allotted a lower rank than many 

 of the annual aliens ; being enclosed in square brackets, apparently 

 because its station lies outside the map. It is at least persistent, 

 and may be an outlier, like several other rarities which occur on 

 the carboniferous limestone on either side of the Bristol Channel. 

 The author seems to have been misled, as regards Cochlearia 

 anglica, by the figure in English Botany, which represents var. 

 Hortii Syme ; from the description the British form must be 

 the Linnean type, Hort's 'var. didyma.' Huttkinsia loetrcea is 

 quite likely to grow somewhere on Cheddar cliffs, as was alleged 

 by Collins ; and Hudson's Uphill station has probably been 

 destroyed by quarrying. The seeds of Stellaria neglecta var. 

 decipiens have short, blunt tubercles, even when mature ; it may 

 be absent from the district, as this character is quite constant. 

 It would be interesting to know whether Cerastium triviale var. 

 Jwlosteoides of the Mendips is exactly the plant of Fries, usually 

 found much further north. There is a good note on Hypericum 

 calycinum (classed as an alien) : — " This species is not believed to 

 ripen seed anywhere in this country, but to spread and maintain 

 itself by root-extension only. It travels far and rapidly in a 

 favourable position." The local name Woadwaxen for Genista 

 tinctoria is an instance of Mr. White's care in collecting genuine 

 plant-words. In connection with the suggested hybrid origin of 

 Medicago sylvestris it may be noticed that M. media Pers. (pro- 

 bably M. falcata x sativa) " does not appear to produce any good 

 pods" at Burnham, where it grows with the established parents. 

 A good case is made out for Prunus domestica as a likely native on 

 cliffs near Portishead and at one or two other spots ; but the 

 absence of P. Cerasus from the whole area is surprising, though it 

 thins out westwards. The remark about Daucus gwnmifer, \^'hich 

 looks very distinct on our southern coasts (Isle of Wight, &c.), 

 and kept its main characters in cultivation at Bournemouth (E. F. 

 Linton), raises a doubt whether the Brean Down form was rightly 

 identified. There is a first-rate description of the obvious differ- 

 ences between living Valeriana officinalis (Mikanii Syme) and 

 V. sambucifolia. Valerianella carinata, though reckoned a 

 colonist, grows on rocks in North Somerset, and may be as 

 truly native there as we believe it to be near Chepstow. Inula 

 Heleniiim, on the contrary, is regarded as certainly wild in some 

 of its stations, and this view is favoured by its European distribu- 

 tion. The Somerset form of Senecio sarracenicus — which, though 



