278 
Aquilegia Vulgaris Dominant. 
yellow) were at work, probing the flowers from below. The well- 
grown plants were mostly about 2 feet 6 inches high ; if I were 
writing a florist’s catalogue I could say 3 feet for a few of them 
without being absolutely untruthful. The flowers were blue purple 
in colour, except for six plants with white flowers near the densest 
part of the patch. There are no cattle grazing on the hank. Wire¬ 
netting seems to exclude rabbits. 
The “wild” columbine is generally regarded as a garden escape, 
but in these valleys it is admittedly native. The circumstances 
detailed above suggest that the patch may have originated from a 
much smaller group or even a single plant, and that in some way 
the clearing of the ground has favoured them. I saw no columbines 
elsewhere in the woods that day, which rather suggests that the 
growth of overhead shade will discourage them in future years. 
Their present dominance on a restricted area suggests very 
favourable conditions for just the last few years. The sharp 
boundary of the patch suggests that even when the wind shakes the 
ripe follicles the seeds cannot be flung for more than a few yards. 
Bootham School, York. HUGH RICHARDSON. 
May, 1913. 
