collectors, and may be of much assistance to any one who shall really write a Metropolitan Flora. Mr. Cooper would confer an important obligation on the botanists of England, by undertaking this task, on a plan adequate to effect the object completely and accurately. Whosoever may undertake the task, however, ought to visit the recorded localities, as far as possible, so as to write from actual observation. He should request all botanists resident in the neighbourhood, to supply him with lists of the plants found in their own vicinities; including carefully specified localities for all the rarer species. An actual inspection of the specimens should be made in all instances that may appear doubtful, or of suspicious character for accuracy; and no localities ought to be admitted into the work, on the authority of any person who will not undertake to show either the station or a specimen from it. In addition to special localities for the less common kinds, the area, over which each species is extended, ought to be carefully ascertained; and this might be pretty well determined by comparing a number of local lists, each relating to a small extent of surface. A good method of forming such local lists would be by an enumeration of all the species found within a single parish, or other circumscribed area, with a notice of their comparative frequency or scarcity within the space, and the further addition of the nearest known localities for other species, which are not found within the particular tract in question. Book-localities and species, not very recently confirmed, might be added as an appendix; but they should find no place in the general list of the flora. In short, a Metropolitan Flora, if intended to be worth printing, ought to be a picture of the present botanical productions of the London district, and not merely a compiled list of names, indicative only of what has been written on the subject, during a century or two, as is unavoidably the case in a work like this present Guide, or in one constituted on the plan of Mr. Cooper's Flora Metropolitana. The latter includes the chief part of the metropolitan localities mentioned in the first volume of this work (from which they have been copied more frequently than appears by the references or authorities named); but it makes numerous additions to them, partly copied from older books which I had deemed it more advisable to pass over; but partly, also, from the recent observations of Mr. Cooper himself, or of his botanical friends. Such additions I have not deemed it necessary to copy into this present volume; but, instead of doing so, shall recommend to persons disposed to botanise in the neighbourhood of London, and desirous of a botanical guide-book, that they should give the preference to Mr. Cooper's work; to which the few additional metropolitan localities, contained in this volume, can easily be added with the pen. So far as the vicinity of London is concerned, the work of Mr. Cooper will be found more serviceable, and will be only a fourth of the cost. It may be worth while to mention here, that where the initials " H. W." follow any localities given in the New Botanist's Guide, they are placed in their proper counties; thus, "Thames-side above Hampton Court Bridge," or "Thames-side opposite to Sunbury," indicates the Surry side of the Thames, if introduced under the head of "SURRY." Mr. Cooper has occasionally transferred such indications to the county of Middlesex, thus directing botanists to the wrong side of the river, and to places where the plants do not grow, But trifling errors of this kind are almost unavoidable. I have fallen into similar ones myself; and Turner and Dillwyn have done the same; an example of which is instanced on page 583, of this volume. RANUNCULUS parviflorus. Page 97.) (For "London" read "Harefield.”. ADONIS autumnalis. (I never yet saw this plant near London. Mr. Pamplin. — Turner and Dillwyn's authority is Curtis. Page 97.) SISYMBRIUM Irio. (Read "Walham," not "Waltham;" and insert the reference to "Eng. Fl." after "London.”—Pages 97, 98.) SINAPIS tenuifolia. On walls east and west of the road by which one passes from Kensington, at the church, to Kensington Gravel Pits, rather more than midway of the distance. The road is called Church Lane, at the Kensington end, and Silver Street, at the end by the Pits. Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 90. muralis. Very sparingly on the gravel-bed of the Thames shortly below Hampton Court Bridge. H. W. sp. ERYSIMUM cheiranthoides. With the preceding. H. W. sp. BRASSICA campestris? See this species in "SURRY," on page 579. ULEX nanus. Hampstead Heath. G. E. Dennes, mss. ROSA systyla. (Erase "Quendon," which is in Essex. - Page 98.) gracilis. Near Blackmoor Farm, near Twickenham. R. Castles, mss. canina (Forsteri, dumetorum, sarmentacea). Twickenham. R. Castles, mss. micrantha, By the Park pales between Ditton Ferry and Kingston. R. Castles, mss. spinosissima. Hounslow, and other commons near Twickenham. R. Castles, mss. (Mr. Castles has favoured me with cultivated specimens of the several roses mentioned here, and in "SURRY," on his authority.) LYTHRUM hyssopifolium. (Read "Lalam" or Laleham. - Page 99.) MYRIOPHYLLUM verticillatum. (Read "village” for “river.” Page 99.) CALLITRICHE pedunculata. (The plant figured in the Supplement to English Botany, 2606, under the name of Cal. autumnalis, was referred to, in the second edition of the British Flora, as C. pedunculata. This led me to give the localities published for C. autumnalis, as if belonging to C. pedunculata, which appears to be wrong for the Anglesea station, "Llyn Mealog," but I am disposed still to believe that the London plant is really C. pedunculata, and that C. autumnalis of most of our Floras, and of three-fourths of the British botanists, is also referrible to the same species; while the true C. autumnalis is a very scarce plant in England, if not in Scotland also. Having received specimens of the latter from Mr. C. C. Babington, I must confess that it was previously unknown · to me, and that the only other specimen in my herbarium, out of several sent to me as C. autumnalis, and received as such, is one communicated by Mr. Stables, from Loch Clunie. C. pedunculata does grow in the vicinity of London, as will appear by reference to the list for Surry. Page 99.) BRYONIA dioica. Highgate. G. E. Dennes, mss. SIUM latifolium. Thames side between Hampton Court and village. H. W. sp. FENICULUM vulgare. Highgate. G. E. Dennes, mss. (Probably scattered in seed from some garden.) SONCHUS palustris? Among reeds, in the clay-pits of the large brickfields at Shepherd's Bush, 1834. W. Pamplin, mss. PULICARIA vulgaris. About Ealing, towards the Harrow road, plentifully. W. Pamplin, mss. VERBASCUM nigrum. By the Thames, under the wall of Hampton Court Garden. H. W. sp. SOLANUM nigrum. LYCOPUS europeus. With the preceding. H. W. sp. GALEOBDOLON luteum. SCUTELLARIA minor. Hampstead Heath. G. E. Dennes, mss. AMARANTHUS Blitum. (Read "Walham Green." Page 101.) W. Pamplin, mss. RUMEX pratensis. Road-sides about the northern outskirts of London. Br. Fl. HYDROCHARIS Morsus-ranæ. Ditches at the Neat-houses, between Chelsea and Ranelagh. W. Pamplin, mss. SAGITTARIA sagittifolia. Frequent in the county. W. Pamplin, mss. Side of the Thames between Hampton village and Court, and between Thames Ditton and Kingston. H. W. sp. SCILLA autumnalis. Query, if this has been found at Chelsea, since Gerard's time. W. Pamplin, mss. ACORUS Calamus. Along the Thames, in several places, as by the road between the village of Hampton and Hampton Court. H. W. sp. CYPERUS fuscus. More or less every year up to 1835. W. Pamplin, mss. In a field immediately at the back of the Swan Inn, Walham Green, in the ditches or drains which run across the field. G. Francis, sp. XI. HERTFORDSHIRE. ANEMONE Pulsatilla. (Perhaps Ashley Green, in the same neighbourhood as the localities for the two other species, though really within the boundaries of the next county - Buckinghamshire may be intended; but Mr. W. Pamplin suggests "Ashley, near Stockbridge, Hants." — Page 103.) TRIFOLIUM Ochroleucum. By the road-side between Baldock and Royston. W. H. Coleman, mss. VERBASCUM nigrum. Near St. Albans. J. Anderson, mss. ATROPA Belladonna. Very plentiful in Lord Melbourne's Park, Brocket Hall, near Welwyn. W. Pamplin, mss. ORCHIS pyramidalis and militaris. (By some accident these have got misplaced, the first belonging to Hants, the second to Buckingham. Page 104.) OPHRYS apifera. Chalk-pit between Preston and Gosmore, near the Hitchin. W. H. Coleman, mss. HERMINIUM Monorchis. Chalk-pit between Preston and Gosmore. W. H. Coleman, mss. CROCUS vernus. mss. At Totteridge. (Miss C. Garrow.) W. H. Coleman, FRITILLARIA Meleagris. Plentiful in meadows at Totteridge. (Miss C. Garrow.) W. H. Coleman, mss. XII. ESSEX. CLEMATIS Vitalba. Copford. C. C. Babington, mss. Essex." This seems to be a mistake for Berkhamstead, MYOSURUS minimus. Copford and Mersey Island. C. C. Babington, mss. CARDAMINE amara. TURRITIS glabra. Copford. C. C. Babington, mss. Oliver's Mount, Colchester. C. C. Babington, mss. VIOLA flavicornis. Epping Forest. Piptree Heath. ARENARIA peploides. Mersey Island. C. C. Babington, mss. C. C. Babington, mss. HYPERICUM Androsæmum. Ditch, in a lane on the left side of the road from Brentwood to Ongar, about half a mile from Ongar. B. G. ( (The same locality as the one imperfectly given in page 106.) MEDICAGO maculata. In the plantation opposite the terrace at Southend. Mag. Nat. Hist. · denticulata. Same locality and authority as the preceding. TRIFOLIUM ochroleucum. Copford. C. C. Babington, mss. scabrum. Near Southend; meadows near Saffron Walden. B. G. ornithopodioides. Piptree Heath. C. C. Babington, mss. VICIA angustifolia. Epping Forest. Eng. Bot. Supp. VICIA bithynica. Southend C. C. Babington, mss. LATHYRUS Aphaca. In the hedge, by the road-side, with the Bupleu rum falcatum. Mag. Nat. Hist. Nissolia. Also with Bup. falcatum. Mag. Nat. Hist. hirsutus. Amongst bushes, just below Hadleigh Castle. Mag. Nat. Hist. ROSA systyla. Quendon. Eng. Fl. CERATOPHYLLUM submersum. C. C. Babington, mss. BUPLEURUM falcatum.* The exact station for this plant, gathered by myself in July, is in hedgerows and borders of fields between High Ongar and Chelmsford, beginning to grow exactly at the turnpike by the third mile from Ongar, or seventh from Chelmsford. It is most abundant on the right hand of the road towards the latter town, particularly in the hedge bounding the highway, but is so confined to the field side of the hedge, that not a plant is to be seen from the road. The Bupleurum is spread over a wide extent of ground, covering the banks of the fields, but never mingling with the crops.' Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 87. rotundifolium. Amongst barley, about the locality of B. falcatum. Mag. Nat. Hist. FEDIA carinata. On a garden wall at Marden Ash, a short mile from TRAGOPOGON porrifolius. Carwey Island. C. C. Babington, mss. CREPIS biennis. Babington, mss. GNAPHALIUM gallicum. LIMBARDA crithmoides. - Page 108.) 66 (Read " Hedingham.”— Page 108.) Mag. C. C. (Refer to "Eng. Fl." instead of "B. G." W. ANCHUSA Sempervirens. Under a wall in Clay Street, Walthamstow, plentifully, but most probably the outcast of a garden. Pamplin, mss. LINARIA Spuria. Copford. C. C. Babington, mss. I give the description of this locality for this plant, exactly in the words of Dr. Bromfield, on whose authority it is introduced into the Magazine referred to. That gentleman proposes to make the Magazine a medium of communicating" the exact stations of all our rarer" species; and he adds, “ By following such a course these volumes would prove a most useful Botanist's Guide,' and faithful record of lost or still existing stations to succeeding times, in place of those vague indications which seldom conduct the botanist to the object of his search." The present work contains probably 30,000 of these vague indications. Supposing only a tenth part of them to come under Dr. Bromfield's ideas of stations of the "rarer" plants, and the descriptions to average the same number of lines as the above, they would fill a whole volume of the Magazine, to the exclusion of every thing else; or if taken in fair proportion to its other subjects, they would be scattered through a score of lusty octavos which would prove rather an inconvenient packet for the pocket of a walking botanist. I would suggest that condensed descriptions, communicated to a work like the present, are likely to become more useful to botanists. than verbose ones scattered through the miscellaneous matter of periodicals. Dr. Bromfield has himself thus made valuable additions to this Supplement. |