NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 335
authentic case in which the mite has suddenly appeared in a plantation, when
the cause cannot be traced back either to propagation from infested stock, or
to the fact that the soil has been previously infected with a crop of diseased
black currants. If any correspondent who has had any experience with the
mite among his currants would be good enough to give any information on
the subject, especially with regard to the cause of its first appearance on his
bushes, and any methods he may have adopted to get rid of it, and with what
success, I feel sure that it would be of great interest not only to myself but
also to anyone who is unfortunate enough to be troubled with the pest.—E.J.
Lewis, F.E.S., Wye, Kent.
BOTANY.
Flowers on Christmas Day, 1900.—It may be of some interest to
record the following plants in actual bloom on Christmas Day in the neigh-
bourhood of Witham:—Bellis perennis, Leontodon taraxacum, Crepis virens,
Ruscus aculeatus, Sisymbrium alliaria, Chaerophyllum temulum, Poa annua, Stellaria
media, Veronica agrestis, Lamium album, Lamium purpureum, Senecio vulgaris,
Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Trisetum flavescens, Ulex nanus, Primula vulgaris, Aethusa
cynapium, Sisimbrium officinale, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Sonchus oleraceus, Daphne
mezereum, Lychnis dioica, Achillea millefolium, Matricaria chamomilla, Rubus,
Anthemis cotula, Matricaria inodora. The record of the Umbellifer—Chaero-
phyllum temulum—seems to me to be unique, as the usual one to flower out of
season is Anthriscus sylvestris.—Edwin E. Turner, Coggeshall.
Blossoming of Crab-Trees in the Forest in 1900.—I do not think that
the year 1900 should pass without some mention of the extraordinary abund-
ance of bloom and subsequently of fruit on the Crab-trees (Pyrus maius) in the
Forest. Even those well acquainted with the trees of the forest were
astonished thus to find what a large number of Crabs existed. For instance,
in May last, in the short distance, say three-fourths of a mile, from the cross-
roads diverging at the "Wake Arms" to the top of Goldings Hill, Loughton,
I, in a cursory way, noted from the road, taking each side, at least 100 trees,
and all in most luxurious blossoming. There must be many thousands in the
whole forest. Later on, when the fruit had fallen, there was a distinct smell
of the fragrant apples all over the woods. Such a sight as the forest pre-
sented last May will not I think again be possible for many years. The
"oldest inhabitants" told me that they never remembered such a show of
blossoms.—S. Arthur Sewell, Buckhurst Hill.
The Black-Currant (Ribis nigrum) in Epping Forest.—On the after-
noon of the Fungus Foray 6th October, 1900, I found Ribis nigrum growing
freely in the swamp close to the eastern side of the "King's Oak" enclosure,
High Beach. I have never before seen it in the forest.—F. W. Elliott,
Buckhurst Hill. [This appears to be a new station. We cannot find any
previous record of the Black Currant for the forest area. It occurs rarely in
several parts of Essex mostly in swampy places. Bentham and other
botanists doubt that it is truly indigenous, as it was cultivated in very early
times, and there is commonly a suspicion that plants found are aliens, escapes
from gardens—Ed.]