50 THE GENUS FUMARIA IN BRITAIN 



southern counties. A specimen of tiiis, collected at Darenth, was 

 identified as F. Wirtgeni by Mr. E. G. Baker as long ago as 1899. 

 Some British examples that I have seen almost exactly match in 

 every respect Haussknecht's plant in Herb. Mus. Brit., but others 

 show longer sepals, and, as tends to happen in Britain with the 

 genus generally, larger fruits. As the localities where these 

 British Wirtgeni-iorm^ grow have produced, at least in some 

 cases, both F. officinalis and F. Vaillantii, it is not unlikely that 

 here, as in Germany, we may have plants of really hybrid origin. 



F. officinalis is subject to one other somewhat notable varia- 

 tion which seems to have escaped the notice of Hammar and is 

 said by Haussknecht to characterize the variety Wirtgeni. This 

 may be seen in the shape of the dried fruit, which, though typi- 

 cally slightly emarginate in profile, is occasionally, in forms 

 showing no other deviation from the type, simply truncate with 

 a persistent but very short apiculus. I have noticed this feature 

 in a few British examples not referable to var. Wirtgeni and in 

 Peterman's Leipzig specimen of Y&r.scandens, but I cannot corre- 

 late it with any other peculiarities or refer it especially to any 

 particular forms of the species other than var. Wirtgeni, where it 

 normally appears, and so, though remarkable, I doubt whether it 

 is of much importance. The dissection accompanying Eeichen- 

 bach's Icon. 4454 of F. officinalis shows this apiculate fruit, and 

 is probably drawn from life, when a slight apiculus is frequently 

 visible. It is also seen in English Bota7iy, tab. 589, and is mentioned 

 in Syme's account of the living plant. 



As noticed in the early part of this paper, F. officinalis is one 

 factor in all the hybrid Fumitories that have come under my 

 observation. The origin of the anomalous F. Painteri has already 

 been alluded to, as well as the possible parentage of the variety 

 Wirtgeni, and besides these more or less established forms, isolated 

 plants, clearly direct hybrids bearing little if any fruit, may 

 occasionally be found where two or more species grow in com- 

 pany. Mr. Andrews sent me from Guernsey in 1900 some crosses, 

 F. Borcei x officinalis, in which the flowers were only 9 mm. long 

 and of intermediate form, and the fruits entirely abortive. In the 

 autumn of 1910 I found at Mickleham, Surrey, with the parents, 

 one hybrid individual, presumably F. officinalis x parviflora. This 

 was an enormous plant, with some hundreds of racemes, but I 

 could not discover a single developed fruit. The foliage was 

 officinalis -like in form, but very small throughout ; and the flowers, 

 which were 6 mm. long, coloured as in pale F. officinalis and with 

 sepals not exceeding 1| mm., were extraordinary in that the outer 

 petals showed scarcely any spathulate dilation of the wings. I 

 also possess what I believe to be direct hybrids, F. officiyialis x 

 Vaillantii, which differ from the foregoing in that a proportion of 

 the capsules are fully developed. Of F. officinalis x micrantha, 

 which is inserted in Mr. Druce's list as F. Salmoni, I have seen 

 no unquestionable specimen, but as the two species frequently 

 grow together, it is quite likely that hybrid individuals may 

 occasionally occur. 



