REPORT FOR 1894. 
433 
Ranunculus Ficaria, L. var. incumbens, F. Schultz. Albury, 
Surrey, nth April, 1894. — S. T. Dunn. Good specimens of the 
true plant. — W. R. L. 
Caltha radicans, Forst. In a shady, swampy place near Dundon- 
nell shooting lodge, and by a shady roadside in a marshy situation 
between Dundonnell and the head of Little Loch Broom, West Ross, 
June, 1894. The plant rooted freely from the nodes and formed an 
interlacing mass over the soft mud on which it grew. It was nearly 
over flower, but those which were still in bloom had sepals which 
were smaller in size, and also narrower, than those of C. palustris. 
The radical leaves differed in shape; some were seen which were almost 
or quite as deltoid as the one figured in English Botany, others were 
reniform-cordate and scarcely differed from those of ordinary 
C. palustris. The stem leaves above the first rooting node were 
almost invariably of a bluntly triangular form. The serration of the 
leaves also varied considerably from roundish-crenate to acutely dentate. 
This variation in the leaf margin is also found in C. palustris. The 
plant occurred over a considerable area, where it was uniformly rooting 
from its nodes. The original specimens of Don in the British Museum 
are without radical leaves, but Syme says the cultivated specimens 
(from Don) have remained true after long cultivation and differ from 
those of C. palustris. It would be interesting to see whether these 
variations in leaf character of the two Calthas can be perpetuated by 
seed. From the fact of these specimens not being constant in the 
character of the shape of the leaves it may be urged that they are not 
Forster’s plant. Against this it may be stated that a cultivated spec i- 
men of C. radicans from Kew which I have by me has a radical leaf 
which does not materially differ from some forms of C. palustris which 
I have seen, while the stem leaves are conspicuously reniform-deltoid. 
My own opinion after seeing this rooting Caltha in the place where 
my friend Mr. Graham rediscovered it in Forfarshire, and after seeing 
it in Glen More in Easterness, and here again in West Ross, is, that 
it is a marked variety of C. palustris which has been educed by the 
factors of shade and unusual moisture. In all the above localities it 
was growing on deepish mud, in dense shade, and with permanent 
moisture. It is possible in the two latter localities that it may have 
passed through a stage, as the mountain plant which has been called 
C. palustris var. minor., and have been brought down by streams to 
its present localities, for both localities are at the base of lofty hills. 
It must be mentioned that near the Ross-shire locality normal 
C. palustris occurred, that is without rooting at the joints although the 
actual place of growth was both shady and I believe permanently 
moist. F or the reasons stated above I should call this plant C. palustris., 
L., var. radicans (Forster.) — G. Claridge Druce. 
Fumaria Bored, (1) Bigbury, (2) Kingsbridge, S. Devon, 
19th and 25th June, 1894. This, a very beautiful plant when growing, 
answers admirably to Syme’s figure and description in ‘E. B.,’ ed. 3. 
I could find no true confusa in the neighbourhood, whereas this is 
by far the most abundant Fumaria throughout the district : so I 
suspect that it is what Mr. Briggs meant by the name, since he does 
