73 



Mr. Babington makes two varieties : a. ccesia proper, the panicle 

 of which is rather spreading, and the spikelets four- or five-flowered 

 — to this he refers the E. B. figure 1719 and that on Mr. Parnell's 

 plate 40: — /8. glauca, distinguished by the broader leaves, the 

 closer panicle, and the spikelets two- or three-flowered only. The 

 habitats given by him for a, are Ben Lawers and Clova; for /8, 

 Ben Nevis and Snowdon. The diflferences are so liable to altera- 

 tion by season and situation as to be of small account, in respect, 

 at least, to the recognition of a plant so variable as to be alike 

 identical with the figures both of Mr. Parnell and of the elder 

 Mr. Sowerby. The Snowdon district about Llanberis will be 

 found to yield both of the varieties named in the ' Manual.^ 



Perennial. Flowers about July. Occasionally viviparous. 



Poa cmsia of Sir J. E. Smith, as associated with the ' English 

 Botany ' figure 1719, has been very unfortunate in its recognition 

 among later botanists, as indicated by the variety of synonyms 

 above quoted; a circumstance possibly due to the unusually luxu- 

 riant state of the panicle represented, which is, however, identical 

 with that of the specimen from which the drawing was made. 



In considering the characters by which the Grasses of this 

 section are distinguished from each other, their structural value is 

 surely deserving of our closest investigation, before admitting them 

 to be decisive of separation between species. It is unfortunate 

 for botanical science, so far as regards the correct appreciation of 

 specific limits, that few plant-collectors are either plant-cultivators 

 or vegetable physiologists ; and that the enthusiasm which inspires 

 them to the rapid enlargement of their Herbariums, too often 

 leads them to imagine differences where such do not exist, or are 

 only denoted by features so prone to vary as to be utterly value- 

 less in a physical point of view. Our island Plora is rich and 

 varied, and commercial intercourse, aided by natural causes con- 

 tinually in operation, is slowly, from time to time, adding to its 

 extent by introductions from other lands ; but few of such immigra- 

 tions of flowering plants contribute to swell the four volumes of 

 the Supplement to ' English Botany,^ or the descriptive ' Ma- 

 nuals ' of some of our modern botanical authors. The nineteen 

 British wild roses, forty-one brambles, and indefinite alpine saxi- 

 frages, would be sadly diminished if subjected to the test of ana- 

 tomical investigation. The greater number of these figure as 

 species upon trivial differences in the form and proportions of a 

 leaf or a calyx, or perhaps the presence of a few hairs or gland- 

 like excrescences on a part that is usually smooth. 



The discussion of the subject at length is not calculated for the 

 pages of this work, but the rising botanist would do well to regard 



