2 



IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



is tlie source of most annoying errors sometimes. 

 Some slovenly, or young observer, for example, 

 gathers Vaccinmm Vitis Idaa iu fruit on a stony 

 mountain-lieatl), mistakes it for Arbutus Uva-ursi, 

 and recording it to the Mora author as such, the 

 station being a not unlikely one for the latter plant, 

 hisstatemeutpasses without question, and oncedown 

 in print, the negative is not easy of proof; the vain 

 searcher is always the "careless one," who must 

 have " missed it somehow " ! Such a mistake as 

 this I know has occurred. If botanists would only 

 be as careful and accurate in their records as Mr. 

 Baker for instance, iu the Eloras which bear his 

 name, there would be little complaint to make ex 

 cept as to the tendency of technical writers to copy 

 localities without inquiry,- — an unsafe proceeding 

 in the case of at least one out of four species, the 

 reasons for which Mr. Edwin Lees has already so 

 clearly explained at page 17. His suggestions as to 

 the latest date being given on which a rare plant 

 was seen, &c., would go hand in hand with the 

 carrying out of Mr. Blow's idea. Certainly some 

 such record is a great desideratum, for at present 

 lists of plants are excluded from all our natural his- 

 tory journals, and find expression, unluckily, in 

 the hasty attempts at partial floras, neither very 

 useful nor very accurate as such, but which, pub- 

 lished in a serial, open to correction and criticism 

 as they would be, would have a distinct value. 



It may perhaps be worth while to occupy a little 

 more space with brief remarks upon a few of our 

 rarest plants, supplementary to those mentioned by 

 Mr. Edwin Lees, localities for which are given even 

 in our latest Eloras, but in whicli it is useless now 

 to search, and of some few others which still exist 

 as of old ; — the result of excursions made by the 

 writer in search of them during the last two or 

 three years. Such a record may point out to others 

 who contemplate visiting the " book stations " the 

 probable futility or success of their search. 



To commence with the pleasanter task — enumera- 

 tion of a few species not quite eradicated as yet : in 

 Leekby Carr, near Topcliffe, Yorkshire, Scheuchzsria 

 palustris and Lysimachia thyrsiflora still find a home. 

 In 1870 the former of these was still somewhat 

 plentiful in the larger patch of peat bog farthest 

 from the river, closed in on all sides by Spruce and 

 other trees ; Lysimachia maiiily in the larger ditch 

 and watery spaces under the low brushwood at the 

 north-east corner of the Carr. Both species are ex- 

 tremely local, and preparations for drainage in the 

 sliape of tiles, &c., lying about, and brushwood 

 cleared away, seemed to point to speedy encroach- 

 ment upon the ground occupied by one, if not both, 

 of these interesting plants. 



Fotentilla riipesiris still grows in some plenty in 

 one spot on Craig Bieidden, Montgomeryshire, on 

 the slope facing west, at the northernmost corner 

 of the mountain, somewhat low down towards the 



Severn Valley ; and Lychnis viscaria also on the 

 same hill, on eruptive rock facing south-east. 



Arabis ciliata is recorded as growing onjrocks 

 near the sea at Lidstep, near Tenby. In May, 1 871, 

 I was unable to find the true plant there, however, 

 and should be glad to know when and whereabouts 

 it was last gathered. 



Euphorbia stricta was plentiful in 1871 below the 

 Wynd Cliff, and along the valley as far as Tintern 

 Abbey ; in several places where the trees had been 

 felled and a strong brushwood was growing up. 



Euphorbia pilosa, another of our most local 

 species, still flourished near Bath in May, 1871. 

 It would seem to be not nearly so common as for- 

 merly " in the lane leading west from Prior's Bank," 

 the usual locality given in manuals, and I could 

 only find two or three small flowerless shoots there ; 

 but after a weary search in many a coppice and 

 wood on that side of Bath, I at last stumbled 

 across it in great plenty in one small plantation, 

 isolated in the centre of a large pasture, next that 

 in which stands an observatory-like tower, growing 

 in profusion amongst a dense underwood of hazel 

 and briar. 



On Cheddar Cliffs, Somerset, Dianthus ctesius 

 still grows, its tufts hanging from the crevices of 

 limestone rook far beyond the reach of ruthless 

 hands. Not so the case with. Arabis stricta, which 

 was formerly I'ouud both here and on St.Vincent's 

 Bocks, Bristol, "chiefly below the sea-wall," but 

 which I sought for in vain in 1871, and which is 

 almost, if not quite, extinct now. 



Recent confirmation of the existence 'of Simethis 

 bicolor " in the fir-plantation skirting the cliffs, two 

 miles from Bournemouth, on the Poole side," also 

 seems desirable, since, minute as my direction 

 seemed, and patient as I knew my search was 

 (early in June, 1871,) it was unsuccessful. 



Again, Helianfhemitm Bretceri, and Cineraria 

 maritima are two amongst our rarer plants, rendered 

 almost, if not quite, extinct at Holyhead by the 

 alteration and disturbance of the maritime rocks 

 there for purposes of harbour improvement. 



Before leaving these notices of probable ex- 

 tinctions, two more species seem to deserve men- 

 tion. Has Isnardia pahistris or Spiranthes cestivalis 

 been seen in England for years ? I have sought 

 both in vain, though the orchid may be subject to 

 the same ghost-like uncertainty of appearance which 

 obtains with others of its tribe. 



Turning northwards, it may be interesting to 

 know that Lychnis alpina thrives as of old on the 

 steep fell south of the Keswick and Whinlatter 

 road, at a point about four miles west of Keswick ; 

 and that the very pretty Geranium Lancastriense 

 grew profusely on the western sea-bank of Waluey 

 Island, at a point opposite the Barrow ferry, in the 

 autumn of 1871. 

 And on Widdy Bank Pell, in Teesdale, not 



