On the occurrence of Mimulus luteus in South Wales. By the REV. W. T. BREE, M.A.

MR. LAWSON, in the January number of the 'Phytologist' (Phytol. ii. 389), records the fact of Mimulus luteus having been met with in several situations in Scotland "quite naturalized," and he adds, "it may be indigenous ;" and he requests that those who may have met with the plant in other situations, would communicate the circumstance through the medium of the 'Phytologist.' I take the opportunity, therefore, of stating for the information of Mr Lawson and others who may be interested in the subject, that so long ago as the summer of 1824, I met with Mimulus luteus naturalized and thriving robustly on the boggy margin of a mountain rill, not more than a mile or two from Abergavenny (see Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. v. p. 198). The plant was in flower, and attracted the eye at a distance by the profusion of its bright yellow blossoms, making a most showy appearance, far more so, indeed, than I had ever seen it do in a cultivated state. The place, in short, seemed to suit it. Not having the remotest idea that the plant was indigenous in that situation, or other than introduced by the hand of man, I did not think it worth while even to preserve specimens. It appears to me extremely improbable that a plant so conspicuous, if really indigenous, should have so long escaped the notice of botanists, or even of common observers. If truly a native, it would, I think, have been one of the oldest inhabitants of the garden, instead of being indebted to comparatively modern days for its introduction. Nevertheless, its occurrence in several distant localities favours, in some slight degree, its claims as a native. The plant near Abergavenny, I may add, so far as I have observed, appeared to be confined to one spot only, which, again, is another circumstance militating against the notion of its being truly indigenous.

W. T. BREE.

Allesley Rectory,

January 19, 1846.

Occurrence of Mimulus luteus near Stirling. By F. TOWNSEND, Esq.

You will oblige me by the insertion of the following in the next number of the 'Phytologist.'

I am happy to record another station in Scotland for Mimulus luteus, which plant I found in July, 1845, growing sparingly on the

banks of the Forth, rather less than a quarter of a mile above the bridge at Stirling. I did not pursue my course further up the river, or I might have met with other specimens. At the time of gathering the plant I supposed it to have escaped from a garden, probably carried down the river, and thence naturalized where I found it. But the additional stations given by Prof. Balfour and Mr. Lawson render the above worthy of note, tending to prove that Mimulus luteus, either will soon become generally naturalized, or has claims to be considered an indigenous genus. It appears that the plant is easily propagated, enduring the severest frosts, and requiring no particular soil, but a damp situation. Loudon gives the date of its introduction 1826, 'Bot. Reg. 1830.'

Ilmington, January 5, 1846

F. TOWNSEND.

On the occurrence of Mimulus luteus in Perthshire and Forfarshire. By WILLIAM JACKSON, JUN., Esq.

In the last number of the 'Phytologist' my friend Mr. Lawson has recorded the existence of Mimulus luteus, as being perfectly naturalized in two stations in Forfarshire. In corroboration of Mr. Lawson's statement, I may mention that it is now upwards of fifteen years since I remember first seeing the plant growing by the side of Invergowrie burn. My father tells me he recollects having found it growing to all appearance truly wild and at large, more than twentytwo years ago, in the same locality, and I believe it was known to some botanists a good many years previous to that date, and supposed to be a South American plant naturalized. At the above station the plant may be indigenous, as I am unable to procure any information of its being planted there by the hand of man, or of its escape from a garden. It may, however, have been washed down by the stream from some garden and deposited on its banks.

Last summer I found this showy plant growing luxuriantly and apparently wild, in Perthshire, occupying a considerable extent on the banks of the Tay, a little below the picturesque ruins of Kinclaven Castle, which stands at the junction of the rivers Tay and Islay, embowered amongst lovely woods and waters. At this part of the river the banks are beautifully clothed with gigantic trees, while the water runs smooth and placid over a pebbly bed. Such observations as Mr. Lawson's are extremely useful, as they tend, in a great measure, VOL. II. 3 F

to illustrate the history of numerous foreign plants, now entirely naturalized in our island, and which deserve as good a place in the British Flora as some others, such as Saxifraga umbrosa, which the Rev. W. T. Bree I think, has clearly shown to be of exotic origin (Annals Nat. History). A correspondent to Grove's 'Naturalist's Journal,' published in 1832, mentions Mimulus luteus as being “naturalized in various places throughout the country," without specifying the stations; this is the more to be regretted, as a complete list of the stations where found growing would be extremely interesting, with the dates when first found recorded.

46, Scouring burn, Dundee.

WILLIAM JACKson, Jun.

Note of a few plants growing on Helvellyn or in its vicinity. By JAMES BACKHOUSE, JUN.

DURING a short tour among the lakes and mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland, in the 7th month of last year, I left the inn at Patterdale with two companions and a guide, on a gloomy afternoon, to ascend Helvellyn. We took the course up Grisedale, and after a long, yet easy ascent, reached the foot of the "Striding Edge." Here the wind was so strong that we hesitated a little before determining to take this exposed and narrow ridge for our course, instead of the easier way of passing over the foot of Catchedicam and along the "Swirrel Edge." Yet as we learned from the guide that the former ridge was the best locality on the mountain for plants, we concluded to try it. We therefore ascended to the first point, which is the highest part of it. Here, under the shelter of the craggy rocks, we rested awhile, and enjoyed the fine prospect beneath and around. Many hundred feet below us, on one side was the beautiful valley of Grisedale, watered by a mountain stream, and backed by the towering rocks of St. Sunday, Crag and Fairfield.

On the other side, in a dark hollow far beneath our feet, lay the Red Tarn, hemmed in by the precipices of the Swirrell Edge and the sharply-peaked Catchedicam, behind which Skiddaw reared his head in the distance. This Tarn is more than 2400 feet above the level of the sea; its surface was agitated by the violence of the wind, which roared among the bleak and barren rocks over which we had to pass

before reaching the summit of Helvellyn. In proceeding, the first plant of interest which attracted my attention was Saxifraga stellaris, scattered in solitary tufts among the crevices of the rock. In Teesdale this plant is almost entirely confined, so far as I have seen, to boggy places, not on rocks. Further on I noticed Sedum Rhodiola and Oxyria reniformis, the latter in tolerable abundance. On the rocks towards the western extremity of the ridge I found some fine tufts of Cerastium alpinum, a plant frequently met with in Scotland, but not, that I know of, recorded in any botanical work as a native of England. I also saw a Hieracium of dwarf habit, with large downy buds, to which I should like to call the attention of those who may hereafter visit this spot. Besides these, Salix herbacea in seed, was the only plant I observed worth mentioning. When we reached the summit of the mountain we were completely enveloped with fog and cloud, so that we could see nothing but the upper part of the deep gorges and chasms in the precipitous cliffs with which the top of the mountain is faced. We therefore made our way against wind and rain, down to Grisedale Tarn, where I left my companions and the guide, and crossing the hollow between Seat Sandal and Fairfield, took the course of a mountain stream, which ultimately guided me to the Keswick road at a point between five and six miles from the summit of Helvellyn. With another five miles' walk I reached Ambleside in safety about 10 o'clock.

I may perhaps here mention a few other plants which I noticed in this district.

Ranunculus hederaceus with remarkably large flowers, probably R. hederaceus ß. grandiflorus of Babington, near the head of Coniston Lake. This may be a common mountain plant, but it was new to me.

Symphytum tuberosum, near Foxhow, the residence of the lamented Dr. Arnold. This I think was the true tuberosum; it produced solitary stems, rarely exceeding two feet in height, with flowers of a dull pale yellow, and leaves scarcely, if at all, decurrent.

Teesdalia nudicaulis, among the tumbled rocks on the face of Loughrigg Fell.

Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, of unusually large size at Dungeon Gill. The longest frond I measured exceeded 4 inches in length; some of the fronds also were strongly forked.

Pyrola minor, near Stock Gill Force.

Geranium Phæum, foot of Loughrigg Fell.

Isoetes lacustris, and Lobelia Dortmanna, in Crummock Lake.

York, 14th of 1st Month, 1846.

JAS. BACKHOUSE, Jun.

Notice of A Flora of Tunbridge Wells, being a list of indigenous Plants within a Radius of Fifteen Miles round that Place. By EDWARD JENNER, A.L.S.

THIS Flora appears to have been founded upon the original' Flora Tunbrigensis' of the late Mr. T. F. Forster, but is by no means an idle copy of that work. Most of the species and stations have been verified afresh, while many others are added to those previously recorded in the work of Mr. Forster. The additions seem partly attributable to the more extended space over which the present Flora is made to range; but several of the more recently discovered plants and localities are within the more narrow circle of the earlier work. The volume is of portable size, neatly got up, and well calculated to be serviceable to botanical collectors who may visit Tunbridge or its neighbourhood; besides supplying a very full list of species to those who may have occasion to make use of such a list at a distance. The discovery of Carex montana, the most interesting novelty of the Flora, has been already recorded in the 'Phytologist' (ii. 289).

C.

Notices of North of England Plants. By W. BORRER, Esq., F.R.S. INSTIGATED by a perusal of Mr. G. S. Gibson's 'Notes' in the 'Phytologist' of the present month, (Phytol. ii. 373), I send a few notices, chiefly of my own want of success in some recent botanical researches in the same parts of England.

At Helmsley, May 28, 1844, I was more fortunate than Mr. Gibson. The weather was fine, and James Spence, the gardener who showed Mr. Woods "the hole from which the last specimen of Cypripedium was dug in May, 1834" (Comp. to Bot. Mag. i. 192), guided me up the beautiful valley of Birkdale to the same spot, where was now coming up, weakly and with no sign of flowering, the only plant, as he stated, that he had found since Mr. Woods' visit. He had shown it in 1843 to a botanist, whom he had permitted to cut off the flowering stem, but, mindful of Mr. Woods' threat of an Act of Parliament to hang him, he had not allowed the root to be disturbed. Helleborus viridis (as remarked by Mr. Woods) and Actæa spicata abound in the wood. The old man who so carefully guards the Orchidea on the Rievaulx terrace from the sythe, by marking them with sticks, told me that he had once found a single specimen of Cypripedium.