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The Naturalist. 



Notodonta dodonsea in the Roche Abbey grounds. The coleoptera 

 included Chrysomela polita (plentiful), Coccinella variabilis, C. 14- 

 guttata, C. 11-punctata, Silpha rugosa and S. thoracica, Phyllobius 

 argentatus, Timarcha coriaria, and Telephorus clypeatus. For Botany, 

 Mr. P. F. Lee, Sec. Bot, Sect. , who was absent through illness, sends the 

 following note, from data supplied by Dr. F. Arnold Lees and Mr. W. H. 

 Stott (Doncaster), wl: o reported for the Section at the meeting, and also from 

 specimens collected by the Martin Beck party : — " Altogether 117 species 

 of flowering plants were observed either in bloom or fruit, and of these 

 the notable ones were Ranunculus Lenormandi, R. auricomus, Helleborus 

 viridis, Viola canina sub-sp. sylvatica, var. Reichenbachiana, Genista 

 anglica (the needle furze), Rubus fruticosus sub-sp. sub-erectus, 

 Cratsegus oxyacanthoides, Thuill., Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Vale- 

 riana dioica, Myosotis sylvatica, Daphne laureola (the spurge laurel), 

 Myrica gale (the bog myrtle), the daffodil, or Lent lily, IS'arcissus pseudo- 

 narcissus, Paris quadrifolia (found with five and six, as well as four 

 leaves), Convallaria majalis, Fritillaria meleagris, Colchicum autumnale, 

 and Carex digitata. When my notes for the circular were sent (which 

 were cut down, as the others, for want of space), I then said with 

 reference to Primula elatior reported by a local collector, that perhaps on 

 close examination it would prove to be one of the hybrids of the Lond. 

 Cat. . the true P. elatior of the South of England having acuminate calyx- 

 teeth, and no folds at the mouth of the corolla, Mr, Lees says, after 

 seeing the plant in question, that the Primula elatior (oxlip) gathered at 

 Roche Abbey is not the true oxlip to which that name alone belongs, but 

 is the cowslip-primrose hybrid — the Primula variabilis of Goupil, and the 

 P. vulgaris var. C, intermedia of the Lond. Cat. The Fritillaria mele- 

 agris is not accepted as anything but undoubtedly introduced in England 

 north of Staffordshire and Warwick by the late H. C. Watson, the safest 

 of all authorities on plant-distribution, in his "Topographical Botany" 

 and other works. The lily looks native enough to uncritical observation, 

 in the pasture land of Sandbeck Park ; but against the probability of its 

 indigenit)^ are the facts that its locality is very near to the Hall parterres, 

 and that it does not grow scattered all over the open ground like the 

 other bulbous rooted liliaceous plant of the park — the Colchicum. The 

 very circumscribed area over which it grows (and there thickly) must be 

 taken into consideration too ; as well as the further fact that the kind of 

 station in which it is found in Sandbeck Park is not like those in the 

 Thames valley and elsewhere in the South, in which it occurs undoubtedly 

 in an indigenous state." Mr. Edward Birks, president of the Sheffield 

 Naturalists' Club, made some observations on the flora of the district and 

 the operations of the day. There was no report given for the Geological 

 Section, as none of the sectional officers were present. The proceedings 

 closed by a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman, proposed by the Rev. 

 R. M. Norman, seconded by the Rev. W. T. Travis.— W. D. R. and 

 W. E. C. 



