78 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A BOTANICAL RAMBLE AROUND 

 WEYMOUTH. 



W TEYMOUTH does not seem to have attracted 

 V V much attention as a hunting ground for 

 botanists, although easy of access from London, and 

 well known as a seaside resort. Yet a few days spent 

 in its immediate neighbourhood would well reward 

 even a cursory exploration. Within a drive of eight 

 or ten miles, at the pretty little village of Abbotsbury, 

 there is a small garden belonging to Lord Ilchester, 

 so rich in botanical curiosities that it may well vie in 

 interest with the botanical gardens of many of our 

 large provincial towns. Here may be seen two or 

 three species of Eucalyptus, one of them apparently 

 E. coccifera, having greyish-green rounded leaves ; the 

 Assam tea plant looking healthy and vigorous ; 

 Camellias, forming handsome bushes, and numerous 

 medicinal and economic plants brought by a former 

 Lord Ilchester from abroad. All these flourish luxuri- 

 antly without any protection, in the open air, and 

 give a semi-tropical aspect to the garden, which is 

 still further enhanced by the fan-like leaves of the 

 pretty little palm ChaincErops Inimilis, and tufts of For- 

 tune's bamboo scattered here and there, and exotic 

 ferns climbing up the boles of the trees or peeping 

 out from among the ivy leaves on the old walls. In 

 a sheltered corner the Maidenhair fern may be 

 observed growing side by side with different species 

 of Osmunda and other rare ferns, which all seem 

 equally at home. A fine tree of the Cork oak with 

 well-developed bark, showing the formation of cork, 

 may also be observed. 



Within about a mile of these gardens a picturesque 

 ruin of a church crowns the summit of a hill 

 overlooking the ruins of the old Abbey from which the 

 village derives its name. These remains, which are 

 partly utilised by a neighbouring farmer, were ex- 

 plained to us by the Rev. G. H. Penny in a manner 

 that would have delighted the heart of an antiquary ; 

 but, being on botany intent, the discovery of the 

 rare lichen Lecanora canddaria in some abundance on 

 an apple-tree among the ruins, and of a colony^ of 

 Festiica sciiiroides on the diurchyard wall, made a 

 stronger impression on the mind than even the great 

 extent of the ruined brewery, which in its palmy days 

 must have afforded delightful employment to the 

 monks of the olden times. Probably they paid also 

 some attention to medicine and cultivated a garden of 

 herbs, judging from the abundance of Borage in the 

 lanes near by, and from the occurrence of the Sapo- 

 naria offlcinaiis in a neighbouring hedge. Not far off, 

 near the end of the long narrow strip of water that 

 runs behind Chesil beach, as the grand pebble ridge is 

 called, Althcca officinalis grows in abundance among 

 the reed beds ; the marshy ground, at the time of our 

 visit, was also gay with the lilac flowers of the wild 

 Michaelmas daisy. Aster Tripolium. Here, too, may 



be seen, under the auspices of the keepers, one of the- 

 largest swanneries in the world, numbering over two- 

 thousand birds. They are fed occasionally with maize, 

 but their proper food, or " swan's meat," as pointed 

 out to us by the keeper, is ZannichelUa pediccllata. 

 Owing to a quantity of the plant being torn up during, 

 the past stormy winter, many of the swans were 

 starved. Mr. T. B. Groves, however, informs me that 

 they also feed on the Zostera marina van angustifolia, 

 which is abundant around Weymouth ; and although 

 the keeper denied this, I myself saw them feeding on 

 a Zostera bed below Sandsfoot Castle, near Small- 

 mouth, where the Zannichellia does not grow. Close 

 by the Swannery may be seen some decoys for wild 

 ducks, reminding one of the Norfolk broads or Lin- 

 colnshire fens on a small scale. Here the bald-headed 

 coots and the half-wild decoy ducks were the solitary 

 occupants at this time of year, except two swans, 

 which we were informed by the keeper reserve this 

 piece of water as a nursery in which to teach the 

 cygnets to fly, and into which these two swans never 

 permit the others to enter or to interfere with their 

 peculiar privilege. 



On the neighbouring old elm-trees, the rare moss 

 Leptodon Smithii occurs in considerable abundance, 

 and in the marsh ditches Monostroma bullosum, with its 

 dark green blistered fronds,' forms a striking, though 

 ugly, feature. On the pebble ridge opposite could 

 be seen at a distance extensive green patches, which 

 Mr. Barrett, a Weymouth botanist, informs me con- 

 sist entirely of the sea pea, Lathyriis maritimits. The 

 yellow seaside vetch, Vicia liitea, also grows there in 

 abundance, although Vicia Icevigata seems extinct ; 

 indeed, many other rarities, which would well repay 

 the long and tiring walk along the ridge, are said to 

 grow on the pebbles. By the roadside between Wey- 

 mouth and Abbotsbury, the bullace (Prunus insititia) 

 was observed in fruit, while the graceful plumes of 

 Calamagrostis Epigcjos ornamented the damp hedge- 

 banks in several places, and the elegant drooping 

 spikes of Carex pendida attracted attention in a ditch, 

 near the corner of a shady copse. Silatis pratcnsisy 

 with its glossy green leaves, and pale yellow umbels, 

 to which it probably owes its name of sulphurwort, 

 was a conspicuous weed by the roadside, contrasting 

 prettily with the delicate sprays of Sison amoinnvi, 

 which here seems also to be an abundant species. 



A visit to Portland Island proved that this little 

 strip of land would also well repay a careful search. 

 The first object to attract attention was the pheasant's 

 eye {Adonis aiitnmnalis), its lovely crimson flowers 

 being scattered abundantly over a cornfield at the top 

 of the cliff; here too Valerianella eriocarpa occurs. 

 Lower down, below Pennsylvania Castle, the pale 

 green foliage of the wormwood, and the bright blue 

 flowers of the borage caught the eye even at a dis- 

 tance ; and close by, the plant supposed to be Staticc 

 Dodartii was shown me by Mr. W. C. P. Medleycott. 

 This, however, proved to be not that species, but 



