HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



199 



forming a kind of horse-shoe, fringed with the sticky 

 glands. The flower was completely withered ; I 

 think the petals are large and white, the loose, 

 terminal head of flowers growing in an irregular 

 corymb. I tried an experiment with one of these 

 plants. A large ant ran on a fragment of wood close 

 at hand. I carefully placed him in the centre of the 

 .Drosera leaf, where, in spite of struggles, the viscid 

 matter secured the prey ; more than this, the whole 

 horse-shoe gradually folded over the unfortunate ant, 

 revealing clearly the irritable nature of the hairy 

 leaves. I saw numberless insect cases attached to 

 other Drosera plants ; mere shells, with all juices 

 extracted. I have some recollection of a woodcut of 

 this species in Dr. Taylor's book, " The Morality 

 and Sagacity of Plants." Growing several inches 

 from the ground, hidden away in clumps of coarse 

 grass, was another form of Drosera, differing widely 

 in character from the preceding species. It was 

 D. auriculata, with spiral stem, and crescent-shaped 

 leaves on separate pedicels, having terminal pure white 

 flowers ; a rosette at the base of the plant, clinging 

 close to the soil, as with our commoner forms. 



I am convinced this plant has learned to grow- 

 upwards, the better to secure living prey — unwary 

 flies are more readily entrapped. This is not pure 

 supposition. I noticed many scores of seedlings on a 

 dry, sandy patch of ground. Here were the different 

 stages of development. Some had simply the rosette 

 of leaves ; others had an abortive spiral growth ; 

 comparatively few showed a vigorous upward growth. 

 I could have gathered a complete series, from the 

 simple rosette of leaves to the spiral plant. In my 

 opinion, they have simply learned to grow high up 

 for the special purpose of food capture. 



Another small Drosera I found in one rocky place ; 

 I cannot supply the specific name, for the plant was 

 not in the Sydney Herbarium. The roots were 

 fleshy and bulb-hke, to be compared with miniature 

 round radishes. The leaves were peltate on separate, 

 radical stems, being distinctly green, sparingly covered 

 "with brown hairs ; flowers not visible at this season 

 of the year. (D. peltata ?) 



(To be continued.') 



BOTANICAL NOTES AT HASTINGS. 

 By P. F. Gillett. 



VERY few towns have had so much attention 

 paid to their Natural History features as 

 Hastings. For this great credit is due to those un- 

 tiring workers in every branch, through whose 

 exertions the "Fauna and Flora" have appeared. 

 Additions to it are however constantly being made, 

 which are recorded in supplements, two of which have 

 been issued. To mention a few of the plants 

 observed during a visit in the early part of July is the 

 object of this paper. 



The rigid and hare's-foot trefoils ( Trifolium scabrum 

 and arvcnse) were observed on the cliffs below the 

 castle, together with a few patches oiSedum Anglicum. 

 The latter, however, grew more plentifully on the 

 East Hill and above Lover's Seat. The biting stone- 

 crop (S. acre) was abundant among the loose stones 

 near the beach at Bopeep, together with the sea 

 campion, viper's bugloss, horned poppy (Glaucium 

 luteum), and one or two spergularias. In a small 

 marsh by the cliff at Bulverhythe the glasswort, 

 sea arrow-grass (Triglochin maritimum), sea-milk- 

 wort (Glaux maritima) were met with, the latter 

 in some abundance ; while a ditch nearer Bexhill 

 produced Carex vulpina and Sc'upus maritimus. On 

 another occasion the sea-shore west of Bexhill was 

 the ground chosen. The sea-kale (Cakile maritima), 

 with its fleshy glaucous leaves, grew in several places 

 along the beach, and in moist places in the sandy 

 cliffs the brookweed (Samohis Valerandi) was to be 

 seen. 



Battle with its abbey calls for mention. Epilobium 

 montanum, Parietaria officinalis, and the ivy-leaved 

 toad-flax grew plentifully from the walls with various 

 species of fern not mature enough for identification. 

 In some muddy ground in a neighbouring lane a few 

 specimens of the water purslane (Pcplis rortula) were 

 seen. A white-flowered specimen of Epilobium 

 montanum and one of herb-Robert (Geranium 

 Robertianum) were the only albinos seen. Around 

 Battle are to be seen some of the prettiest lanes in 

 Sussex. 



A visit paid to Guestling, the home of that rarity 

 Centaurea Jacea, was productive of several unpossessed 

 specimens. Through the kindness of that veteran 

 naturalist, the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield, M.A., of 

 Guestling, I was enabled to obtain a few specimens 

 of that plant, which seems undoubtedly wild in the 

 meadows in which it grows. Another plant which 

 has only been lately noticed here, is that rare thistle 

 hybrid Cnicus Foster!, a cross between palustris and 

 pratensis, almost visual proof being afforded by the 

 occurrence of the parent plants not many yards from 

 each other. A few umbellifers seen were hemlock 

 (Conium maculatum), chervil (C/mrophyllum temu- 

 lum), water-drop wort (CEnanthe crocata), and 

 CEnanthe Phcllandrium, with its thick bamboo-like 

 stems. Trifolium hybridum, at a glance very like the 

 common Dutch clover, and T. incarnation, with its 

 tall crimson heads were evidently escapes. The 

 marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla Comarum and Corydalis 

 ctaviculata), were also found here. 



The above are of course only a few of the plants 

 noticed, and as the district is very productive in all 

 branches of natural history, Hastings can certainly be 

 recommended in answer to the " Where shall I go ? " 

 of the naturalist. The number of Phsenogamous 

 plants on the list being so great, the drying paper of 

 any one botanically avaricious would be always " in 

 active service." 



