312 



THE NATURALIST. 



illustration of it, wliicb. exhibits many features of interest. Eay, in hi^ 

 ' Synopsis, takes no notice of it, nor does Dillenius ; Ms su'''>sequent editor 

 Blackstone, in 1737, records it as growing abundantly in the Old Par'i: 

 "Wood, at Harefield, Middlesex, a locality in which it may still l)e found ; 

 and in 1801, Turner, in his 'Botanist's Guide,' mentioned it, on the 

 authority of Mr. Gotobed, from the woods at Loud water, between Beaconsfield 

 and High Wycombe, a locality in which it still abounds. I have seen a 

 specimen gathered in Dane Garden or Burland's Wood, in 1852, and here it 

 was observed by the members of this society on their first ramble in the past 

 year. I have also seen it in the Winch Bottom, Oakridge, Booker, West 

 Wycombe, Bradenham, and Kingshill Woods, as well as in Wycombe Park, 

 among the trees which border the river ; and the Rev. Bryant Burgess 

 informs me that it occurs at Latimers, near Chesham. Besides the counties 

 already mentioned, Kent, and perhaps Surrey, produce this very local 

 species. Another of the most interesting plants which our county produces 

 is the Mezereon f Daphne Mtizereum, ) known almost to everyone in a cultiva- 

 ted state, but comparatively unrecognized as a wild flower. Its bright pink 

 or white blossoms, clothing the small but rugged branches before the leaves 

 venture forth, adorn nearly every cottage garden, and appearing, as they do, 

 at the present season of the year, when even the humblest flower seems a 

 treasure, it is, of course, proportionately valued. 



' Though leafless, well-attired and thick beset, 

 With blushing wreaths, investing every spray.' 



Although it has been observed in a greater number of counties than the 



Coral -root, it is perhaps really a rarer plant, inasmuch as one rarely finds 



more than two or three specimens in one spot. So popular a shrub is of 



course liable to extermination, from the fact that it is a cottage garden 



favourite ; and in many cases the cottagers inform the enquirer that their 



' Mezelion,' or 'Mazalum' trees were brought by their children out of the 



woods. Some botanists, and among them Mr. Watson, consider the Mezereum 



as introduced into the woods where it is found, by the agency of birds, an 



agency which is by some made to account for a great many facts which run 



contrary to their theories. Professor Babington, however, admits it as an 



unquestioned native. One person, living near Wycombe, who has in her 



garden a very fine Mezereum tree, assures me that she believes the birds 



brought it over from the woods, so that the poor birds seem doomed to be 



responsible in one way or another. Be that as it may, no one who has taken 



the trouble to observe for himself, can doubt that Mezereum was formerly 



