Peacock : The Lincolnshire 0x1 ip. 



203 



crumbly marl, about 2 inches thick, resting- on a layer of rubbly 

 chalk, a few inches in thickness. My ' Graystones ' specimen 

 was slig^htly embedded in the top surface of the chalk, while my 

 Barton specimen was l}ing on the chalk, and therefore really in 

 the Black Band. Dr. Walton's find was clearly surrounded by 

 the yellowish marl and about i inch from the surface of the 

 chalk. Therefore, all three were, roughly speaking- (not taking 

 into account the physical meaning- of the m.arl), found on the 

 same line or horizon. There is a record of one being- found at 

 Barton in the higher part of the Black Band. 



It will be gathered from the above, that though the York- 

 shire Chalk keeps its secrets too well, yet with plenty of work 

 and a good stock of patience it may be made to yield some very 

 interesting and geologically important results. 



The pit in which these belemnites were found is that visited 

 by the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union in 1901, a photograph of 

 which appears in 'The Naturalist,' July 1901, page 221. Both 

 the belemnites were found in the Chalk behind the tree in the 

 left foreground. 



THE LINCOLNSHIRE OXLIP. 



l^KV. E. A. WOODRUFFE PEACOCK, F.L.S., F.G.S., 



President of the IJncolnshire Noturalists I'nion. 



The species called Primula veris by Linnaeus has always 

 interested me, and during the last twenty years I have studied 

 its forms carefully. Under this general name two common 

 plants, the Primrose (acanlis Linn.) and the Cowslip {officinalis 

 Linn.), and the much rarer Oxlip {elatior Linn.), are classed as 

 sub-species. As there is some doubt as to whether Linnaius' 

 plant was the true Oxlip or the hybrid acanlis x officinalis, the 

 sub-species is now called P. elatior Jacquin, for there is no 

 question what plant is referred to by that name. It is found in 

 England on one soil only, the Chalky Boulder Clay ; and is 

 confined to a limited area in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, 

 Cambridge, and Bedford. Elsewhere it is either an escape from 

 cultivation — a thing I have never heard of — or confounded with 

 the hybrids or sub-hybrids of the Primrose and Cowslip. The 

 hybrids and sub-hybrids may be summarised as follows: — (i) 

 The hybrid acanlis x officinalis, where the former is the seed 

 bearer from which the hybrid spring. (2) The opposite hybrid, 

 officinalis x acanlis. (3) Either of these varieties crossed with 



1905 July 1. 



