Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/245
parts of a fine petal-like texture. The true petals were perfectly formed, but were much smaller than usual. I have found P. Rhœas with white blossoms, Five-petalled blossoms of the Great Celandine (Chelidonium majus) have been of frequent occurrence this year: and in one such blossom the two upper petals were much larger than the three lower; thus giving it the appearance of a Violet. I gathered several specimens of Mousetail (Myosurus minimus) near Little Marlow, having the receptacle forked at the top.
A very pretty "sport" of the sweet violet (Viola odorata) was gathered in the spring near Little Marlow; this had white blossoms, beautifully striped with purple. The Wood Violet (V. sylvatica) occasionally produces petal-less blossoms late in the year in one specimen found, these blossoms grew in the axils of the leaves, and extended some way down the stem. The Bladder Campion (Silene inflata) occasionally has its calyces so much enlarged as almost to conceal the blossoms; and the White Campion (Lychnis vespertina) has been observed in two or three places this year having bright pink blossoms. The Dove's-foot Cranesbill (Geranium molle), with white flowers, is of frequent occurrence with us; and I have two or three times noticed a form of the common St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) in which the calyces were somewhat larger than usual, and of a brownish-red colour. The white-flowered variety of the Purple Clover (Trifolium pratense) has been very common hereabouts this year, appearing in almost every clover-field. Helianthemum vulgare, with white blossoms, occurs on Bledlow Ridge.
In Wycombe Park there is a Hawthorn (Cratægus oxyacantha) which presents some of the peculiarities of the far-famed Glastonbury thorn. On the 9th of January it exhibited several fully-developed leaves, and many bunches of buds, in an apparently healthy condition; but the subsequent frosts prevented them from blossoming. A bush of pink-flowered May occurs at Hazelmoor, in a hedge of the common white-flowered form. I have found the Agrimony (Agrimonia Eupatoria) with the spike forked at the top; and I also saw the Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) with the umbel foliaceous; that is to say, composed partly of blossoms and partly of leaflets.
I have this year noticed several of the Compositæ varying with white blossoms, and among them Cnicus lanceolatus (Spear Thistle), C. palustris (Marsh Thistle), and the rayed variety of the common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra, β radiata). Cnicus palustris with white flowers appears to be about as generally common as the purple-flowered form. The Stemless Thistle (C. acaulis) occurs at Whittington Park with a stem nearly a foot high. A curious form of the Autumn Gentian (Gentiana Amarella) is not unfrequent, having the central flower-head composed of numerous abortive buds; a double-flowered variety, having the stamens, &c., transformed into petals, grows on Keep Hill. Yellow Wort (Chlora perfoliata) and Yellow Pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) occasionally occur with six divisions to the corolla instead of five.
The Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamædrys) I have found with leaf-stalks nearly as long as those of V. montana. Marjoram (Origanum vulgare), with white flowers, is not unfrequent; and near Downley I found a patch in which the blossoms were almost, and in some places quite, concealed by the enlarged calyces. The Hemp Nettles (Galeopsis Ladanum and G. Tetrahit) occasionally vary with white flowers.
The Green-winged Orchis (Orchis Morio), which grows in the meadows near Whittington Park, occurs there with blossoms of widely-differing hues; the prettiest variety being that with pale pink blossoms, upon which the green veins were beautifully distinct. O. maculata frequently has the stem spotted as well as the leaves; and of the Military Orchis (O. militaris) I found a very pretty variety in Dane Gardenwood, the flowers of which were without stripes or blotches, the lip and helmet being tipped with reddish-purple. In meadows at Dinton, where the Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) grows in profusion, I gathered two or three speci. mens with pink, and one with white flowers. Herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), with three, four, five, and six leaves, is abundant in a wood near West Wycombe. I observe that the young plants, which do not blossom, usually have but three. On the edge of a pond on Naphill Common I observed a dwarf form of the Water Star-fruit (Actinocarpus Damasonium) not exceeding an inch in height, and having but one flower; its neighbours, growing in the water, were of the usual size.B.
Cretaceous Fossils.—During the course of a visit to the Pavilion at Brighton, wherein is a museum of geological specimens, I observed some fossils of the cretaceous system, and amongst them examples of Pertea and Plagiostoma, which are well delineated in Page's "Elementary Text-book of Geology." There is also a good collection of shells, by which comparison of the connective links between ancient and modern species, should such exist, may be made. The variation found in the genus Turbitella is very instructive and self-evident. I would wish, however, to ask Mr. Page, or some of your readers more conversant with geological facts than I am, how it is that the chalk or cretaceous system is said, in para. 40, group III., "to consist of remains of plants and animals, chiefly marine, and belonging to species now extinct," when both Perteæ and Plagiostomæ now exist, which are exactly similar to those in a fossil state in the chalk?—A. G. R.