HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE HERBARIUM. 
53 
most limited description. Now (in 1906) a splendid road traverses 
the valley from Middleton to High Force and onward, with com¬ 
fortable resting places and means of conveyance for the tourist 
who visits Upper Teesdale. 
The specimens in the herbarium from Teesdale are numerous 
and interesting. Doubts have been raised in regard to some of 
the specimens which bear the name of Teesdale. 
The name may either record a locality (Teesdale) whence the 
specimen was obtained, or denote the collector or contributor of 
the specimen (Robert Teesdale). 
As an instance of this, there is an interesting plant in the 
herbarium, viz., Ranunculus gramineus, L. (the grassy Crowfoot) 
which is marked Teesdale. 
This species was reported from Wales in 1787, but the record 
has not been confirmed. The specimen in the collection marked 
Teesdale was contributed by Robert Teesdale, and was in all 
probability a cultivated one. It came into the possession of Mr. 
Dalton shortly before or after the death of Mr. Teesdale, along 
with many other mementoes of his (Teesdale’s) work. The 
supposition of the specimen of Ranunculus gramineus , L., having 
come from the locality Teesdale, must therefore be dismissed. 
Robert Teesdale was one of the original members of the 
Linnaean Society, and gardener to the Earl of Carlisle. His leisure 
time was devoted to “ herborizing,” and his “ Plantae Eboracenses,” 
which he submitted to the Linnaean Society on February 7th, 
1793, and supplement, Dec. 4th, 1798, entitles him to rank amongst 
the “ Fathers of Yorkshire Botany.” He died in 1804. 
In his visits to Beverley, Hull and Holderness (1790-1796), Mr. 
Teesdale was frequently accompanied by Colonel Machell. It was 
during these rambles that Robert Teesdale made the acquaintance 
of such plants as “ Carex axillaris" ; sides of ditches at Beverley, 
shewn me by Colonel Machell, and “ Stellaria Media.'' Sibth. FI. 
Oxon. 141. S. Glauca. With 420 “ Marshes, near Beverley, first 
pointed out to me by Col. Machell.” Carex divisa. “ In a 
meadow called Derricots, near Hull; I never met with it in any 
other place.” 
Although Colonel Machell’s name is not attached to this species 
in supplement to the “ Plantae Eboracenses,” the specimen in the 
Dalton herbarium was contributed by R. Teesdale, and collected 
by Colonel Machell. 
