Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 9 (1871).djvu/351

 Rh Bromus secalinus grows in some cornfields several miles south from Forfar. In the 'Appendix to the Flora Scotica' it was mentioned to grow in similar situations behind the Botanic Garden, but I hardly think it will be found there now.

Scabiosa Columbaria was inserted in the 'Flora Scotica' on the authority of Sibbald, but no place of growth mentioned. It has been observed within a mile of Arbroath, in dry pastures.

Galium erectum, of Hudson, I was informed, had been found near Brechin, but the information cannot be altogether depended upon, as I saw no specimens. I thought, however, as it is not mentioned by Mr. Lightfoot, that this information was worthy of notice.

Lysimachia thyrsiflora grows in marshy ground beside the Schœnus Mariscus, and likewise in a similar situation betwixt Montrose and Brechin. This plant was not found by Mr. Lightfoot, nor has it, I believe, been observed by later travellers in North Britain.

Eryngium maritimum, or Sea Holly, grows plentifully on the sandy beach near Montrose, and in many other like situations on the coast.

Ligusticum scoticum was likewise observed, though very sparingly, on the coast betwixt Montrose and Arbroath.

Sium angustifolium I observed in ditches about Forfar. I do not mention this plant altogether on account of its scarcity, but because it has given rise to a mistake in the 'Flora Scotica.' This species itself is inserted in that work, and a description added which is very characteristic. But, on the authority of Mr. Yalden, the S. latifolium is mentioned in the appendix as a native of Scotland, and the only place of growth assigned is the King's Park. That the plant here called S. latifolium is nothing else than the real S. angustifolium there can be little doubt, for Mr. Yalden, in a catalogue which he has given of the plants in the King's Park, and which is published in the end of Mr. Lightfoot's work, mentions the S. latifolium, although it is well known that the S. angustifolium grows plentifully in that place, and, as far as I have observed, no other species of this genus.

Cicuta virosa is very plentiful in the ditches about Forfar, and in other parts of the country; but, although it is thus frequent, I never yet heard of its having been the cause of any fatal accident, although one of the most virulent poisons of the vegetable kingdom. In other parts of Britain it is providentially very scarce.

Linum Radiolum I likewise observed in wet ground in several parts of the country.

Drosera rotundifolia is a plant not unfrequently to be met with on marshy ground. According to Mr. Lightfoot, the longifolia is equally common in Scotland, but this is far from being really the case. It has of late been asserted that the leaves of the Drosera have the power, when a small body is applied to their upper surface, of contracting and enclosing the substance so applied, by this means in many cases proving a trap to those insects which happen to light upon them. The examination of this curious fact is certainly well worth the attention of the naturalist. In the second edition of Withering's 'Botanical Arrangement,' it is alleged that this phenomenon was observed immediately to follow the application of the substance. But it appears from works of a late German author that several hours generally elapsed before the leaf was completely folded together. The same author observes that when an insect is placed upon a