HA R D WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G O SSIF. 



175 



viscid glands of the exquisitely sensitive tentacles. 

 Three grey-coated artists left their studies of cloud 

 on the upper rocks, to cluster over my specimens, 

 one morning as I returned. I noticed thereabouts 

 various Orchids sending up their strange flowers into 

 the brilliant sunshine ; as Orchis mascula and macii- 

 lata, Habeiiaria bifolia, with the green flowers oi Lister a 

 ovata, and Epipactis latifolia ; some of these only 

 then in flower, and many dwarfed by position. 

 Upon Mynydd Gader grows Cystopteris fragilis in 

 abundance in crevices of rocks, a pretty little fern 

 that mostly prefers pure air ; associated with Asple- 

 Jiiitni Trichoiiianes and Adianiiim-iiigriDit. I would 

 here remark that the veiy rare fern Asplciiiiuii 

 stptentrionale is to be found under the precipices of 

 Cader : its exact position botanists will mostly keep 

 silent, for I have heard of baskets, full of this choice 

 fern, being sent off to Cambridge ! Wholesale 

 slaughter ! 



About Llyn Gafr, or Goat Lake, my friend and I 

 found Erica tetralix profuse, the prevailing heath, 

 but of course not then in flower ; also great clumps of 

 that giant of mosses, Polytrichuin coiiiinunc, with its 

 spore-cases fringed with richly-brown hair. We ob- 

 served, as I have done on several other mountains, 

 that at an elevation of about 2,000 feet above the sea, 

 the Club-mosses show themselves in great force ; 

 thus about Llyn y Gadei", and elsewhere at a like 

 altitude, we found fine clumps of Lycopoditun da- 

 vatiiiii, alpinuiii, and Selago, all plants attractive by 

 their comparative rarity and beautiful mode of 

 growth ; the latter peculiarly interesting from its 

 viviparous buds, which fall from the ends of the 

 stems and form fresh plants. Some grand Lichens 

 were seen on the extraordinary rocks cast about in 

 wildest chaos ("put round the lake by previous 

 tourists," my friend suggested), and on dead sticks of 

 the peat, which I at least had neither time nor know- 

 ledge to determine. Beside the somewhat steep and 

 stony Foxes' path we found a few large tufts of 

 the Parsley Fern, AUosonis crispiis, partial only to a 

 few spots on this mountain, but which I discovered 

 in plenty subsequently upon the very summit of 

 Cyfrwy, the second in altitude of the peaks of Cader 

 Idris. 



Not far from the summit of the mountain we found 

 one specimen of Sctxifraga nivalis, and subsequently, 

 in the spring of water on the edge of rocks directly 

 above Llyn Aran, I saw a large growth of Saxi/raga 

 oppositifolia, mingled with moss ; and among the fine 

 grass of the crest I gathered a true Viola liitea, or 

 yellow Heartsease, found once before high on Radnor 

 Forest. Among the rare kinds of ferns growing in 

 favoured spots on the slopes I would mention Lastrca 

 Oreopferis and Polypodium Phegopteris ; not to omit 

 one other rare plant, found in quantity in one or two 

 peaty cups of water on the rocky moorland above 

 Dolgelly, namely, MenyantJics trifoliata, with its 

 lovely white flowers so exquisitely fringed. 



One morning, with three merry companions, I 

 stayed an hour or more at Llyn Gwernan, rowing 

 about among the waterlilies, white and yellow, 

 Nyinphica alba and Nitphar liiica, flowering in rich 

 profusion round the shores, two ladies of the party 

 vastly enjoying the fun. Presently three of us struck 

 off across the mountains to Llyn Crcigencn, a grand 

 and lonely lake, in a spot I'emarkably wild, and set 

 in crag and moorland, beneath the face of Cader 

 Idris, a pool that in dry weather becomes divided, 

 but in wet times has two outlets, one at each end — 

 an unusual condition. On the shores of this lake it 

 was that we found the finest Drosenv, with many 

 insects caught in their tentacles ; also near there, in 

 boggy ground, quite a large and beautiful mass of the 

 Bog Pimpernel, Anagallis tenella, with its delicate 

 pink flowers clustered into a showy expanse. 



Rambling one day over the high land to the north- 

 east of Cader Idris, near the little hamlet of Brithdir, 

 growing in an old pasture, we came upon Trollius 

 eiiropaus, looking very effective, with its double 

 golden flowers ; and during the same walk found 

 Linaria Cyinbalaj'ia, growing where we could not 

 doubt it was truly wild. The woods above Pont 

 Newydd were most charming in luxuriance of the 

 more common wild flowers of the woods, a fine con- 

 ti-ast to the rich brown of young oak-leaves. But space 

 presses. I would, however, allude to an old wall on 

 the way between the ancient village of Llanfachreth 

 and Nannau Park, clothed with moss, lichen, and 

 various plants, but peculiarly rich in ferns, of which 

 these at least were there in plenty : Polypodiiint vul- 

 gare and Phegopteris, Aspleniwn Trichoiiianes, Adian- 

 tuin nigrum and Ruta imiraria, Scolopendrinm vnlgare, 

 Blechniim spicant, Polystichum angulare, Lastrea 

 Oreoptcris, Filix-inas and dilataia, Athyriniii filix- 

 ficinina, and Pteris aqnilina. These, and possibly 

 one or two more kinds, were growing upon, or 

 directly at the base of, this rich old wall — verily, "a 

 sweet and lovely wall." 



I will merely add, regarding the ferns of the district, 

 that I once found a plant of the Ceterach officinarum 

 growing on Llanelltyd bridge; that abundance of the 

 pretty Oak-fern, Polypodiitin Dryopteris, may be found 

 among the disintegrated rocks below the Precipice 

 Walk, well known to tourists of this part ; and that 

 the noble Osiiutnda regalis has for untold ages had a 

 fitting home in moist depressions of the wild and 

 lofty mountain-range extending from near Dolgelly 

 to beyond Harlech. 



Stoitrbiidge. HORACE Pearce, F.L.S, 



The Colorado Beetle. — The Lords in Council 

 have issued natural history descriptions and coloured 

 drawings of this much-dreaded insect, with a view to 

 familiarizing all those whom it may concern with its 

 habits and appearance. We may observe that we 

 published a lengthy article on this beetle (illustrated) 

 in Science-Gossip for January, 1S74. 



