Mr. Borrer, in the year 1848, and in the same year it was
noticed abundantly by Mr. Newbould and myself in Wales.
In common with Mr. Mitten, I was led to suppose it to be
the F. agraria (Lag.); and, upon detection of the error, was
persuaded to confound it with F. capreolata (Linn.). In the
same year that we distinguished the plant in England, it was
noticed in France, and described as a distinct species by Mr.
A. Jordan, of Lyons.
The most remarkable characteristic is found in the succulent
base by which the fruit is attached to the peduncle a structure
which it is very difficult to represent in a figure. It is
often nearly as broad as the fruit itself, and always broader
than the enlarged tip of the peduncle. The top of the fruit
is rounded continuously with the sides, so that the whole vertical
outline (excluding the base) is nearly round; there is a
minute apiculus, consisting of the persistent base of the style,
on each side of which the nut has a pit-like hollow, which
becomes conspicuous when the fleshy mesocarp has shrunk
in drying. The size and depth of these pits differ in the
several species. In F. confusa they are broad and shallow.
The colour and form of all parts of this beautiful plant are
well represented on the plate; therefore a detailed description
may be dispensed with.
The name adopted admits of no ambiguity, and has never
been used for any other plant. F. Bastardi, applied to our
plant exclusively by Boreau in the 2nd and 3rd editions of
his Flore, originally included the F. confusa and F. Borm of
Jordan. The latter botanist’s nomenclature is therefore older
than that of the former when used for the plants as now distinguished
: also it seems nearly certain that Bastard’s F.
media is what we now call F. Borm.
This plant is abundant in the Isle of Wight, Devon, and
Cornwall, along the coast of Wales, in some parts of Lancashire,
and also apparently throughout Ireland. It is also the
F. capreolata of my Flora o f the Channel Islands, as far as can
be learned from my rather numerous specimens. It flowers
from June to September, and inhabits the borders of fields and
hedge-banks. Our figure is made from specimens gathered
in the Scilly Isles, on June 1, 1862, by Mr. Fred. Townsend.
—C. C. B.