25 
Rumex maximus , Sciireb. “ Lewes, East Sussex, September, 
1875.” — J. L. Warren. And “ sandy shore, Downderry, St. Ger- 
mans, East Cornwall, August, 1875.” — T. It. Archer Briggs. 
That these two plants belong to the same form there cannot be 
the slightest doubt ; still less can there be any doubt that they are not 
the ordinary form of R. Hydrolapathum. They differ in the root- 
leaves, which are thinner in texture and more or less cordate at the base, 
though the latter character sometimes obtains in R. Hydrolapathum. 
The enlarged petals are more abrupt at the base, being truncate or even 
subcordate ; denticulate at the margins at the base, and then con- 
tracted into an entire apex something like that of R. obtusifolius. 
But I still have my doubts if this be the maximus of most Continental 
authors. In the few German and Scandinavian specimens I possess 
of that plant the stem-leaves are more decidedly cordate and the 
enlarged petals are considerably larger, more decidedly cordate at the 
base, less toothed in the upper part, less evidently contracted into an 
entire point — indeed, ovate-triangular would be the appropriate 
description of the foreign specimens, while deltoid, acuminated into a 
triangular point, would express the British R. maximus. The 
granule is considerably larger in proportion to the size of the petal in 
the British than in the foreign plant, while the whole aspect of the 
foreign plant suggests a deviation from R. Hydrolapathum in the 
direction of R. Hippolapathum, Fries ( aquations , Koch et Auct. plur. 
non Bab). The British plant, on the other hand, gives me the idea of 
a deviation from R. Hydrolapathum in the direction of R. pratensis or 
obtusifolius. Can it be that R. maximus is a series of hybrids between 
R. Hydrolapathum and other Bumices, or is it a mere variety of R. 
Hydrolapathum ? My attempts to raise this Dock from the seed of 
dried Continental specimens have failed to furnish me with seedlings, 
and it was not until this spring, that I succeeded in raising them 
from the seeds of the Lewes plant ; but this gives me some hopes 
that I may yet be able to judge from growing plants.— J. T. Bos- 
well. 
Polygonum minus , Huds. “ Gartmoon, Clackmannan, September, 
1875.” — T. Drummond. New to v.c. 87. 
Polygonum tataricum, Linn. “ Waste ground near Newport, Isle 
of Wight, September, 1875.” -F. Stratton. The seed of this plant 
seems to be frequently mixed with that of the ordinary Buckwheat 
(P. Fagopyrum ). I have rarely sown a patch of Buckwheat with- 
out finding some plants of P. tataricum come up with it. — J. T. 
Boswell. 
Ceratoph yllum aquaticum, E. B., ed. 3, b. submersum. “Brackish 
