Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 9 (1871).djvu/398

 370 SHORT NOTES AND QUERIES.

certainly the position of the Plymouth plant. The chief points of dif- ference "between specimens of the two are that those of R. mniaklis i\re more setaceous, but less aciculate on the barren stems, the termmal leaflets are more frequently narrowed at the base, though occasionally they have the ovate form" usual in the Plymouth plant. The leaves are, as a rule, larger, apparently flatter, more felted and less hairy be- neath, but in the latter respect' the foreign specimens vary considerably from each other. The panicle of B. mutahilis is less corymbose, rigid, and dense at the top ; its sepals are considerably more setaceous ; mid its petals, as is still apparent on some of the specimens, are bright pink, whilst those of the other are white.

The above differences would probably make Continental botanists un- willing to join the two plants together ; but I think most British ones, had they the specimens before them that I now have, would join with me in the conclusion that the Plymouth plant is R. midabilis, Genevier.

Although spread over a considerable tract of country about Plymouth, and abundant in some spots, it yet must be considered local, as it is entirely absent from some districts", and has not yet been seen by me in Cornwall. To the stations given for it by the Rev. A. Bloxam in the article referred to above, I can now add the following : —

In the tract of country drained by the Plym. — Lower Mount Gould; Efford Lane ; Underwood ; near Herdwick Farm, Plyrapton ; between Newuhara and Crownhill Down; by Bickleigh Down, and elsewhere about Bickleigh.

In the (list\-ict of the Tavy.— Between Roborough Village and Axter Gate ; on the southern border of Roborough Down ; between Plymouth and Tavistock, about eleven miles from the former place.

In that of the Erme. — Near Hemerdon, between Lutton and Sparke- well ; Brixton Tor.

��SHORT NOTES AND QUERIES.

Botanical Terms. — There exists among English descriptive bota- nists some discrepancy as to the meaning of certain common terms used to express the outline' of leaves. The terms in question are ' lanceolate,* ' oval,' ' elliptic,' and ' oblong.' The conditions defined by the use of these'terms are the relative proportion of length and breadth, and certain forms of the base and apex. With reference to ' lanceolate,' the defini- tions given by our leading systematists agree as to the proportion of length to breadth, that the latter must not be in greater proportion to the former than as 1 to 3 : but whilst some define the two extremities as tapering equally, others require that the base shall be broader than the apex, the leaf thus having a narrowly ovate form. The definition in Professor Oliver's ' Lessons,' and in the introduction to the series of Colonial Floras, also given in Mr. Bentham's ' Handbook,' is this latter one ; whilst the late Professor Lindley, and the text-books chiefly in use in this country (Dr. Masters', Prof. Bentley's) give the former. In the practice, however, of botanists the use of this term is by no means so strict as their definitions. As to the other three terms, none are defined in the introduction to the Colonial Floras, where it is simply said that

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