14 



THE NATURALIST. 



NOTES ON BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PLANTS. 



By James Britten. 



Spring lias at last burst upon us in full beauty ; tbe reign of winter, 

 extended, as it has been, far beyond its usual limits, could no longer with- 

 stand the gentle influence of the vernal season, and suddenly gave way to 

 more genial weather. The " green things upon the earth " have commenced 

 their yearly task of praising and magnifying the Lord, and setting forth His 

 goodness towards the children of men : and the flowers that have been fast 

 bound beneath the soil spring again into life, " emblems of our own great 

 Resurrection." The first blossoms of the year have always a peculiar interest 

 for the botanist ; he regards them with renewed interest as the fore-runners 

 of the floral train, and examines them with a greater share of attention than 

 he can afford to bestow upon the multitude which appear later in the season. 

 Let me advise all those who wish to study botany, to begin as early in the 

 season as possible : they will have but few plants to study ; but this is better 

 than waiting until later in the year, Vvdien the flowers crowd round us in such 

 profusion that it is diflicult to select any for special examination, so much 

 that is new surrounding us on all sides. Any one who will carefully examine 

 the daisy, the shepherd's purse, or the groundsel, v/ill obtain more real informa- 

 tion and botanical knowledge tha.n a mere collector can gain in a whole 

 summer. 



As my rambles last year were received by the "NaturaHst" with some 

 degree of favour, I have ventured to jot down the following notes of my first 

 really spring walk this year. My " hunting-ground " is the same as that of 

 last season, the neighbourhood of High W ycombe ; and I have no hesitation 

 in saying that it would be difficult to find a place more richly endowed with 

 Nature's treasures. It was but yesterday that I took a walk — a short, but 

 most enjoyable one — to Dane Garden Wood. " Comin through the Rye " 

 (not the cereal, but a meadow so called) the Ranunculus Ficaria, or " Little 

 Celandine," as Wordsworth calls it, v^as opening its golden blossoms in 

 profusion : these may have been intended by Shakespeare when he speaks of 

 " cuckoo-buds of yellow hue." This plant has been constituted a genus by 

 some under the name of Ficaria : the characters distinguishing it from 

 Ranunculus appear to exist in the relative number of the petals and sepals, 

 Ficaria having nine of the former, and three of the latter; while Ranunculus 

 has usually five of each : but this distinction does not seem to hold good in 



