182 



HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE - G O SSIP. 



on the boundary line of the two counties.* " Woods 

 and banks rather common, especially near the chalk " 

 (Arnold). The localities in which I have found this 

 plant have always been clay soil. 



Ulex Europczus, L. (Common Furze). The furze 

 was very early this year in flowering ; in full 

 bloom near the sea-shore, Cliff End, Winchelsea, 

 April 7th, 1890. 



Ulex Namis, Forst. (Dwarf Furze). Frequently 

 on Ashdown and Broadwater Forests. 



Ononis Arvensis, L. (Rest Harrow). Eastbourne, 

 on cliffs, August 5th, 1889. 



Rubus Idixus (Wild Raspberry). Ashdown 

 Forest, between Gill's Lap and Crowborough. 

 (A. W. Clarke.) 



Apium Graveolens, L. (Wild Celery). Winchelsea, 

 on the south side of the town near the New Gate, in 

 great abundance, and in flower, April 6th, 1890. 

 Mr. Arnold speaks of it as by no means common in 

 this part of Sussex. 



Daucus Carota, L. (Wild Carrot). Near East- 

 bourne, on cliffs, August 5th, 1889. 



Scabiosa Arvensis, L. (Field Scabious). Beachy 

 Head, August 5th, 1889. 



Centaurea Scabiosa, L. (Greater Knapweed). 

 Eastbourne, near Beachy Head, August 5th, 1889. 



C. Cyanus. Same locality and date as above. 



Campcmula Rotundifolia, ■ L. (Hare-bell). Fre- 

 quently in heathy localities such as Ashdown and 

 Broadwater Forests. 



Vaccinium Myrtillus, L. (Whortleberry). (1.) 

 Frant Forest. (2.) Ashdown Forest. (3.) Near 

 Wadhurst (A. W. Clarke). 



Erica Tetralix, L. (Cross-leaved Heath). The 

 usual habitat of this plant is said to be on the low 

 and boggy parts of moors, but on Ashdown Forest I 

 have found it growing not only in the bottoms, but 

 on higher parts, for example, near the summit of 

 Gill's Lap, and here the ground was not marshy. 



E. Cinerea, L. (Fine-leaved Heath). Ashdown 

 and Broadwater Forests, Brightling Woods, woods 

 near Bayham Abbey, on banks of lanes, especially 

 where the soil is sandy. 



Vinca Minor (Lesser Periwinkle). Near Eridge 

 Green ; roadside, April 6th, 1885. This is just one 

 of those plants the localities of which ought not to 

 be too accurately made known to the public in 

 general in districts like the south-east of England, 

 where it is not any too abundant, for the delicacy and 

 beauty of its foliage and flowers make it, as well as 

 its doubtfully native ally, V. Major, a general garden 

 favourite ; hence it is likely to fall a frequent victim 

 to plant collectors and vendors, and so become, at the 

 least, exceedingly rare. 



* Under the recent Local Government Act alterations were 

 made in the boundary line between Sussex and Kent in the 

 Tunbridge Wells district. The details of these I have not 

 ascertained, so perhaps this record may be permitted to stand 

 for Sussex, though to the best of my belief the llower was found 

 on the north, or what was the Kent, side of the stream. 



Gentiana Pneumonauthe, L. (Marsh Gentian). 

 Ashdown Forest, September 15th, 1884; Ashdown 

 Forest (A. W. Clarke). It is to be hoped that all 

 local naturalists will do their best to prevent this rare 

 and beautiful plant from becoming extinct. 



Echium Vulgare, L. (Viper's Bugloss). East- 

 bourne, August 5th, 1889. 



Linaria Vulgaris, L. (Yellow Toad-flax). Have 

 found it commonly in heathy localities. 



Primula Vulgaris, Huds. (Primrose). In localities 

 such as the neighbourhood of Wadhurst, near 

 Eridge Green, in woods about Harrison's Rocks, near 

 Groombridge, about Winchelsea, Pett, and Ickles- 

 ham, and in numerous other places with which I am 

 unacquainted, the primrose still grows in wonderful 

 luxuriance. In the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Tunbridge Wells it is certainly becoming rare. We 

 may trust that the protests that have lately appeared 

 in various journals, natural history and otherwise, 

 against the wholesale uprooting of the plants as 

 Primrose Day approaches, will have some effect in 

 the direction of the protection and consequent preser- 

 vation of a flower bereft of which the spring season 

 would be indeed a blank. 



Lysimachia Vulgaris, L. Banks of East Rother, 

 Witheringden, near Bur wash, August 8th, 1889. 



Arum Maculatum, L. (Cuckoo-pint). Seen in flower 

 near Winchelsea this year as early as April 6th. 



Ruscus Aculeatus (Butcher's Broom). Roadside 

 near Pett, on the way to Cliff End, in flower and in 

 fair abundance, April 7th, 1890. 



Scilla Nutans, Sm. (Wild Hyacinth, Blue-Bell). 

 In flower near Winchelsea, April 6th, 1890. 



Narthecium Ossifragum, Huds. (Lancashire Bog 

 Asphodel). Ashdown Forest, August 6th, 1888. 

 Two of my specimens from this locality measure 10 

 inches in length, with leaves T ' 2 inch wide, but I have 

 received a plant labelled " Hills above Bettws-y-coed, 

 N. Wales, August 19th, 18S8," the length of which is 

 4! inches and leaves about \ inch wide at the middle. 



Scolopendrium Vulgare, Sm. (Hart's Tongue 

 Fern). " Woods, walls, hedge-banks, common," 

 (Arnold). On the banks of a lane at Winchelsea, 

 January 1st, 1SS6, in fair quantity. I have never 

 found it anywhere in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge 

 Wells, and am inclined to believe that it is far from 

 common in that district. Not only this, but every 

 other species of fern that is a favourite in gardens 

 will become rare, or even extinct, in the neighbour- 

 hood of towns and villages unless landowners lend 

 their aid by rigidly protecting those growing on 

 enclosed grounds, such as woods and parks, against 

 the ravages of itinerant collectors and vendors. I 

 was told some years ago that in the Wadhurst 

 district, owing to the ruthless way in which they had 

 been uprooted, ferns had become far less numerous 



than formerly. 



Archibald L. Clarke. 



6 Courthope Rd., Mansfield Rd., Gospel Oak, N. IV 



