BOTANICAL NOTES. 
185 
an inquiry as to whether! it still exists there. Whether the Scotch localities, 
viz., “ About the ruins of Mugdock Castle, near Glasgow, Mr. Hopkirk,” and 4 - At 
Hunters Fryste, near Edinburgh, Hr. Hastings" (FI. Scot.), rest on^any better 
foundation than the English ones, I cannot say. 
Sargassum vulgare , Ag. ( Fucus natans , Eng. Bot.)— u This plant,” says Col. 
Velley, 44 has excited much attention in consequence of the notice bestowed upon 
it by the early navigators, who sometimes experienced great obstruction in their 
voyages from the astonishing masses in which they found it collected. This 
species, named by the Spaniards F. sargasso , has been mentioned as forming 
immense meadows on the surface of the ocean; from which circumstance it 
appears to have been described, though very unphilosophically, as originating with¬ 
out roots or base, and floating at random. Linnaeus has adopted this error, and 
having made use of the words 4 libere-ntitaM nec radicatus ’ it should seem that 
our English botanists had considered this Fucus as fera natures , and made it 
lawful game, by adopting it as a British plant. It has found its way into almost 
every collection, and stands at the head of some of our British catalogues. I 
never met with any person yet who gathered it himself on the rocks or sea-shores 
of England. I was encamped for several months on the Isle of Sheppey, wh^re 
it is said to have been found, but never had the good fortune to meet with it, 
although my researches were very constant. This fine specimen was sent me 
from Sydney Cove, Botany Bay, with some other curious plants, by Governor 
Phillips. So far from its not having a base, I found it attached to a small 
Barnacle, from which I was obliged to break it off.” Professor Hooker observes, 
in the second volume of his British Flora , that it is occasionally cast ashore on 
the Orkney islands, wafted by the currents, probably from the West Indies, along 
with other exotic productions. I have frequently had specimens given to me 
which have been brought home by sailors, and one of my botanical correspondents 
at Glasgow has sent me a specimen procured in N. Lat. 34°.30\ W. Long. 39°. 
The English name, 44 Gulf-weed,” originated in the supposition that the masses 
of this Fucus proceeded with the Gulf Stream from the Gulf of Mexico, a suppo¬ 
sition which is now proved to be groundless. 
The two British Enchanter s-nightshades ( Circcea lutetiana and C. Alpina) 
seem to be very closely allied to each other, and would almost appear to be 
connected through C. intermedia , which is often as large as C. lutetiana , but 
according to Sir W. Hooker agrees in its essential characters with C. Alpina. 
There are specimens in the herbarium at the Liverpool Botanic Gardens marked 
as Alpina Which ought certainly to be referred to intermedia or lutetiana ; and I 
have had specimens sent to me from the neighbourhood of Keswick, as Alpinaj 
which I could not distinguish from lutetiana. The true Alpina —an exceedingly 
delicate and interesting plant—I have had through the kindness of Mr. Watson,' 
