Botany. 245 



Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, L., grows so plentifully in 

 woods and thickets near the city, that it may fairly be said 

 to be extremely common. The young flower spikes of this 

 plant, made up into small bundles, are sold in our market in 

 the spring as " Bath Asparagus." It is a tender and eatable 

 vegetable, but the writer has been unable to discover any 

 great resemblance in flavour to the highly and deservedly 

 esteemed plant, the name of which has been bestowed upon 

 it by some Bathonians in the past and present. There may 

 be room for differences of opinion in this as in other matters 

 of taste. It may here observed that Mercurialis annua L, 

 whose census number is 42, is sadly too common in the 

 gardens of this city. 



Botanists staying in Bath should not fail to visit the 

 Botanic Garden in the Victoria Park.* Though only laid 

 out and planted within the year the garden is already a most 

 attractive spot, and promises to be well worthy of the dis- 

 tinguished Botanist and Mycologist whose name it bears. 



List of the Rarer and More Interesting Plants Growing 

 IN THE Bath District. 



Ranunculaceae. 



Clematis Vitalba, L. 



Thalictrum flavum, L. 



Ranunculus Lingua, L. 



hirsutus, Curtis 

 parviflorus, L. 



Helleborus fcetidus, L. 



H. viridis, L. 



Aquilegia vulgaris, L. 

 Nymphsaces. 



Nuphar luteum, Sm. 

 Papaveraceae. 



Papaver Argeraone, L. 



P. dubium, L. 



Cruciferse. 



Nasturtium palustre, D.C. 

 Arabis hirsuta, Br. 

 A. perfoliata, Lamk. 

 Senebiera didyma, Pers. 

 Lepidium campestre, Br. 

 Thlaspi arvense, L. 



Resedacex. 



Reseda lutea, L. 



Caryophylleae. 



Silene anglica, L. 

 Stellaria palustris, Ehrh. 

 Sagina apetala, L. 



See p. 120. 



