no 



HARD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



serve to indicate how very rich in wild plants the 

 place is, and what good things may reward the 

 botanist who contemplates a visit. 



First, I will enumerate some of the rare British 

 plants which are indigenous to Guernsey ; and by 

 rare I mean such as, according to the London 

 Catalogue, have a comital census not exceeding ten ; 

 in other words, plants which are only known to 

 occur in not more than ten out of the 112 counties 

 and vice-counties into which Great Britain is divided. 

 The notes appended to each species refer, of course, 

 to the island of Guernsey only. Matthiola sinuata : 

 not uncommon on the northern coast. Polycarpon 

 tetraphyllum : abundant in all parts. J/eruiaria 

 glabra: local, but plentiful where it occurs. Silene 

 conica : rather rare ; grows among short herbage on 

 commons. Hypericum linariifolium : this plant I 

 have seen only on one part of the southern cliffs, in 

 a few places. Erodium moschatum : generally dis- 

 tributed, and not uncommon. Lotus hispidus : com- 

 mon, especially on the coast. Lotus angusiissimus : 

 rare. Arthrolobium ebracteatum : I know only one 

 station for this plant, where it grows in a very 

 limited area. It occurs in the Scilly Isles, but has 

 never yet been found on the jnainland. Tilhea 

 muscosa : in several spots on the higher part of the 

 cliffs. Bupleurum aristatutn : very rare ; known as 

 yet only in one habitat. Cicendia filiformis : very 

 rare ; apparently confined to one small spot at the 

 northern end of the island. Scrophularia scorodouia : 

 tolerably frequent. Sibthorpia Europaa: very rare. 

 Rumex rupestris : in small quantity on the western 

 side. Euphorbia pcplis : recorded by Babington for 

 Guernsey, but not found by me, though no doubt it 

 still occurs on the same part of the coast. Arum 

 italicum : rare. Asparagus officinalis : noted by 

 Babington ; I have not seen it. Scilla autumnalis : 

 frequent on the coast, all round the island. Allium 

 triquetrum : abundant in all parts. Spiranthes aesti- 

 valis : plentiful in the only bog in the island. This 

 boggy piece is but a few acres in extent, and should 

 it be reclaimed, as most likely it will be before long, 

 some of the rarest plants in the Sarnian flora will be 

 lost. Trickonema columnce : common on the coast 

 line generally, but especially abundant on the cliffs. 

 Juncus capita tus : I have found it in several [places, 

 always near the sea ; probably not rare, though from 

 its diminutive size it easily escapes detection. Cypcrus 

 longus : common in wet meadows all over the island. 

 Cynodon dactylon : plentiful and fine in one place on 

 the north-western coast. Briza minor: occasional. 

 Chamagrostis minima : common on the cliffs, and 

 also here and there on sandy shores. Eolypogon 

 monspeliensis : rare. 



This is a fairly good list of British rarities for so 

 small a district, the majority of the above being 

 restricted to only a very few English stations. 



And now I will proceed to mention such plants as 

 are peculiar to the Channel Islands, or to Guernsey 



in particular ; or rather, to speak more correctly, 

 those which are not represented in any other part of 

 the United Kingdom. I have not at hand at this 

 moment detailed information upon the range of these 

 species on the Continent, so I can say nothing on 

 that point at present ; but it will be seen that this 

 list is a singularly interesting one, and, whether or 

 not these plants be accepted as properly belonging 

 to the British flora, it is at least something to know 

 that they are now to be found wild in the island ot 

 Guernsey. Ccnlaurea aspera : plentiful in the only 

 locality I know for it, on the north-western coast. 

 At a little distance it rather resembles C. nigra, 

 though it is a handsomer plant. Gnaphalium luteo- 

 album : occasional in moist places on the northern 

 side ; cannot be mistaken for anything else. Cicendia 

 pusilla : a most minute species, growing sparingly in 

 one spot only, so far as I know. It is quite hopeless 

 to look for it unless the tiny mauve-pink flowers are 

 open (July), and even then it requires some patient 

 searching on hands and knees to find it. Orchis 

 laxijlora : common in moist meadows in all parts of 

 the island, but especially abundant about the middle 

 of the north-western side, where at the beginning of 

 June the fields are quite purple with these flowers. 

 It is a most beautiful plant, and unquestionably the 

 finest of the genus as represented in Britain. Lagurus 

 ovatus : abundant in all low-lying sandy places on 

 the coast. Cynosurus echinatus : very rare, according 

 to my experience. Bromus maximus : rare, and 

 confined to a few spots at the west of the island. 

 These three grasses are quite unlike any other British 

 species. Gymuogramma leptophylla : the so-called 

 "Jersey fern;" at present known only in a single 

 station, where it grows in some plenty. Ophio- 

 glossum Lusitanicum : occurs in several places on the 

 coast line, but chiefly on exposed cliffs. It is ex- 

 tremely difficult to find this small fern, as it grows in 

 patches a few feet square with nothing to indicate 

 why it favours one spot more than another. The 

 fructification is at its best about March. Lsoeles 

 hystrix, var. subinermis : this curious plant is not 

 very uncommon on the northern coast, though not 

 easily found until the eye has learnt to recognise it, 

 for it looks very like a young plant of the common 

 thrift. But Isoetes always grows singly, and not 

 compacted into a cushion, and the large spinous bulb 

 at once distinguishes it. 



The indigenous ferns are, as I have said, eighteen 

 in number. The best worth notice, besides the two 

 just mentioned, are : Osmunda regalis, once tolerably 

 plentiful, but now nearly eradicated, thanks to the 

 insatiable rapacity of senseless fern-grubbers ; 

 Aspleuium lanceolatum, abundant everywhere; A. 

 ruta muraria, frequent, especially on the old church 

 walls ; A. marinum, common on the coast, mostly 

 now in inaccessible places ; A. trichomanes and 

 Celerach, rare ; and Ophioglossum vulgatum, very 

 local. I have collected two or three different 



