216 



Bibliographical Notices. 



plants, adds much to the value of the book. Mr. Baines's list of 

 species, and of the stations of the rarer ones, is no doubt still imper- 

 fect ; but its publication, such as it is, will be a great help to the 

 cultivators of botany within the district, and not less important to 

 those in other parts who want to know where the rarer species may- 

 be procured, or who study the geographical distribution of plants 

 over the country, and the connexion of particular species with par- 

 ticular rocks, soils, or local circumstances. 



On these points the information given is no doubt accurate ; but 

 conclusions drawn from the mere circumstance of species not having 

 been noticed in particular districts are seldom to be relied upon until 

 the statements have been some time before the public without being 

 called in question. For example, Rosa rubiginosa is quoted by Pro- 

 fessor Phillips in the introductory essay as confined in Yorkshire to 

 the north-eastern or oolitic hills, but a supplement to the work re- 

 turns it as occurring at Conisbro' in the south-western district, and 

 we have ourselves found it truly wild within a few miles of York, 

 in the great central vale. Speaking of this latter district, Professor 

 Phillips remarks, " that receiving from numerous streams the de- 

 tritus of the uplands lying east and west, the vale of York is full of 

 plants which seem derived from these districts, as well as others more 

 commonly found in lower ground. Its flora is consequently very 

 rich, and plants supposed to characterize different soils grow here 

 near together." It is, indeed, very striking to see in low moist fields 

 over this plain plants usually stated to be peculiar to limestone or 

 chalk, and to see them here attaining a magnitude and luxuriance, 

 which they seldom approach in their more appropriate stations ; but 

 the soil will be found everywhere to abound with lime, so that the 

 fact confirms the opinion (could it be supposed to need any confir- 

 mation) that certain plants require the presence of this substance for 

 their healthful growth. Campanula glomerata, Orchis ustulata, 

 which attains to remarkable size and beauty, and Poterium Sangui- 

 sorba, here growing abundantly in moist fields subject to frequent 

 overflows, (though only mentioned by Mr. Baines as appearing on 

 limestone rocks and the chalk wolds) are instances of proper lime- 

 stone plants which abound in this district. 



When Professor Phillips speaks in his essay of Dryas octopetala 

 as peculiar to Yorkshire, he, of course, means in England, which 

 should have been expressed, as most floras include plants of Scot- 

 land and Ireland, and the Dryas occurs in both countries. Even 

 with respect to England, the statement is not strictly accurate, as 

 Mr. Harriman found it in Durham. 



Arabis hispida (petrtea of DeCandolle) can only be said to be pe- 

 culiar to Yorkshire, speaking of England, exclusively of Wales as 

 well as Scotland, and Juncus polycephalus belongs to the highlands 

 of Scotland. The presence of these plants shows that Yorkshire has 

 a more alpine character than any other district of England, not even 

 excepting the Cumberland and Westmoreland mountains. 



Among the plants which attain their southern limit in Yorkshire 

 is mentioned Saxifraga umbrosa. This plant, in fact, is hardly found 

 in England, except in Yorkshire ; but it is not a northern plant, the 



