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REPORT OF THE CURATOR OE THE BOTANICAL EXCHANGE CLUB FOR THE YEAR 1870.
{Revised hy the Author^
I regret to have to notice this year a Lirge increase in the proportion of non-contributing members to those who send parcels. I would beg to suggest to the members that an increase of contributing members is essential to the continuance of the Exchange Club, and I would urge thera to try and enrol new contributors among their friends, so as to enlarge as much as possible the area from which plants can be collected for distribution. Great credit, for the numerous interesting species sent, is due to those who have collected plants for the club this year, among which the following are the most deserving of notice : —
Tlialidrtun Kocliii, Fries. " Loch Conn, co. Mayo ; new to the L'ish flora." — A. G. More.
Niiphar pnmUa, DC. "Loch Lubnaig." — A. Craig Christie. I do not recollect that this local plant has been recorded from the Loch above mentioned, though it has been long known to grow in the Loch of Menteith, in the same county, about five or six miles distant from Loch Lubnaig.
Aly-ssnm incanum, L. " Some scores of plants were seen in two clover fields in Surrey, about a dozen miles apart ; one being at Pirford, the other at Frimley. As I had never, before 1870, been within half a mile of either field, I cannot say whether the occurrence of the plant was limited to that year. Further particulars stated in the ' Jo\u-nal of Botany ' for December, 1870."— H. C. Watson.
Sisi/mbriuiii polijceratinm,!^. "Charleston, Fife, introduced with bal- last? in great quantity." — A. Craig Christie.
Erysimntii cheira)ithoides. " This plant is a common weed in and around Buxton. I have noticed it for several successive years." — Augustin Ley.
Brassica campestris, L. (?) " A sei'ies of specimens from the Thames side, in Surrey, to illustrate the gradual change, from the rough and clear green leaves of the young plant, to the smooth and subglaucous leaves of the flowering stage. This plant is plentiful in various spots along the course of the Thames, in Surrey and Middlesex, where it has been perfectly established for many years. A doubt of its original nati- vity there is suggested by the fact that it seldom (if ever) spreads more than very short distances from the river into the neighbouring fields. Except in the constantly thin and stringy root, it scarcely differs from the cultivated Turnip. In other respects it appears to have closer affinity with the Turnip than it has with the Wild Navew, or Brassica. cam pest lis, figured in ' English Botany.' All three are clearly distinct from the Swede Turnip of agriculture — easily known from them by the glaucous hue of the radical leaves, even the earliest, and the pale buff-orange tint of its considerably larger flowers. See ' Journal of Botanv ' for December, 1870."— H* C. Watson.
Polygala calcarea, F. Schultz. " Swincombe Down, Oxon." — J. F. DuTHiE. I am not aware that P. calcarea has been recorded from Oxfordshire, although it is plentiful on the Berkshire side of the river.
Dianthus prolifer, Lhm. " Near Southsea, Hants. Not very recently recorded from this coast." — Fred. Stratton.
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