Note 2455 — I.—PHÆNOGAMOUS OR FLOWERING PLANTS. (continued 20)

From observations made at Florence in the spring of 1872, I am led to regard the three species here named as quite distinct. The following comparative characters are perhaps worth recording:—

I. germanica—flower-stem scarcely 1½ times as tall as leaves; flowers more crowded than in I. pallida, varying in depth of colour but never pale blue.

I. pallida—bracts brown and scariose; flower-stem twice as high as leaves.

I. florentina—bracts green and fleshy; flower-stem short as in I. germanica; is a more tender plant than the other two, and blossoms a little later.—D. H.