1914] 



GATES— SOME CENOTHERAS FHOM CHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE 385 



area near a clump of small poplar trees. Near the upper end 

 of this area the plants differed in having smaller flowers (petals 

 21 mm.) and narrow leaves (20 mm. broad). The remainder of 

 the plants had somewhat larger flowers (petals usually 25-27 

 mm. long), and broader leaves (extreme width 50 mm.).i This 

 was almost the only variation observed, and the race comes very 

 close to the type of (E. biennis L. The dimensions of the buds 

 were as follows: bud cone 20 mm., hypanthium 25 mm., ovary 

 11 mm., anthers surrounding the stigma. The rosette-leaves and 

 stem-leaves all have red midribs both dorsally and ventrally. On 

 the same stem some leaves are smooth and some more or less 

 crinkled. The buds are green, devoid of red, with some long 

 hairs, and there are no red papillae on any part of the plant. 

 Some of the larger plants are well-branched and with very stout 

 stems, a huge pith and a very narrow ring of wood. 



This colony is even more uniform than the previous one, 

 and must have originated from one or a very few plants. 



Small colonies of (E. biennis were seen at Formby, near the 

 station and in other places. A race of CE. Lamarckiana also 

 grows here on the dunes, although I did not succeed in finding 

 the spot, but local gardens cultivate it. The species is depicted, 

 however, in a rose window erected in St. Luke's Church, Formby, 

 in 1898, containing representative plants of the local flora. 

 The central portion of the window is divided hexagonally and in 

 the six sections the evening primrose alternates with the sea 

 holly. The foliage and large flowers of the former are distinctly 

 shown. Around the margin of the window are Pyrola rotundi- 

 folia and irises. 



At Blundell Sands, near Crosby, a small colony of (E. Lamarck- 

 iana was seen on waste ground, and again on the extensive 

 sand dunes between Birkdale and Ainsdale, near Southport. 

 In the latter case there were only three plants, and these pos- 

 sessed red sepals, color pattern 7, green midribs, crinkled leaves, 



and about - long hairs. 

 4 



By far the greatest abundance of plants was found at St. 



1 These apparently correspond to Lysimachia virginiana altera, foliis latioribus, 

 floribus luteis majoribus, Cat. Altdorff. See Gates, R. R. The mutation factor 

 in evolution [pp. 61, 65, 70]. Maomillan. London. 



