HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



i95 



purpurea, Erica cinerea, Euphrasia officinalis, Lastrea 

 dilatata, L. filix-mas, Polygala vulgaris (white), 

 Potcniilla tormcutilla, Rubiis Idceus, &c. In some 

 meadows a little lower down, Scabiosa succisa (white 

 var. among them), Rhinanthus crista-galli. We got 

 down into Ham Wood, which extends for a mile or two 

 down a lovely ravine, here we found Epilobium an- 

 gustifolium, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Cystopteris 

 fragilis (very fine), Polygonatum mult/fforum, Paris 

 qitadrifolia (and, as usual, a specimen with five leaves), 

 Allium ursinum, Eipsacus pilosus, Hypericum hirsu- 

 tum, the lilac and white vars. of Colchicum autumnale. 

 We also found a most curious frond of Scolopendrium 

 vulgare, somewhat like one figured in Science- 

 Gossip in 1879, but different. The midrib is not 

 more than f in. long, and the leaf forms two curved 

 uniform lobes on either side of it, but the midrib is 

 not bifid as in the figure alluded to and the lobes 

 curl round a great deal more. Only one frond was 

 like this, but the others on the same plant were very 

 curious. In the adjoining cliff woods grew Malva 

 moschata, Daphne law-cola-, Asplcnium Adiantum- 

 nigrum, and near here a solitary cowslip was still 

 flowering in a field. As we approached Shepton we 

 came to a wall decked with evergreen alkanet 

 (Anchusa sempervirens). 



From Shepton Mallet to Taunton the train passes 

 through uninteresting scenery, but thence to Minehead, 

 and on by coach to Porlock, the country is hilly and 

 pretty. Round Porlock the pine woods are carpeted 

 with ferns, the sheep's bit (Jasione monlana) and 

 Melampyrum pratense peeping above them, and the 

 rampant fumitory (Eumaria caprcolata) appearing in 

 places. A salt marsh by the sea seemed to contain 

 nothing botanical. Climbing Porlock Hill, we found 

 Sedum album and S. dasyphyllum in the walls. 

 Soon we emerge on open heath, purple with Erica 

 cinerea, and Calluna vulgaris, interspersed with gorse. 

 E. tetralix was very sparingly distributed, as were 

 the whortleberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus), and such 

 ferns as Lastrea dilatata, B lech man spicans. Exmoor 

 has been characterised as a " bit of Scotland dropped 

 down in Devonshire," and as we tramped along the 

 road a truly Scotch mist blew over us, which ever 

 and anon was dispersed by the sun, forming rainbows 

 at our feet where the hills sloped down seaward, and 

 as we approached Lynmouth the weather cleared up. 

 It were impossible to describe one-tenth of the 

 rambles that could be taken round this lovely spot, 

 we can therefore only mention those in which there is 

 most to be found. Leaving the Lyndale Hotel, we 

 follow up the Lyn Valley, and, among the Cotyledon 

 7imbilicus filling every hole in the walls, find some 

 specimens of the var. foliosa, in which the transition 

 from peltate radical leaves to spathulate leaves on the 

 stem is well seen, many intermediate forms of leaf 

 being present on some plants. Keeping up the road 

 we find good specimens of Asplcnium Adiantum- 

 nigrum among the rocks, and a patch of Sedum 



rupestre in fruit, some of this also appeared to grow a 

 little in my flower press ; also a plant of Artemisia 

 absynthium. On arriving at Watersmeet, where two 

 valleys join, we take a path down to the torrent and 

 find Hypcricutn Androscznum, Sanicula Europcea, 

 Lastrea oreopteris, and two micro-fungi, Phrag- 

 midium gracile, Puccinia circczcz. Had we followed 

 up the path through the woods, along the left bank, 

 we should have found Chrysosplenium oppositijblium, 

 Euphorbia amygdaloides, Angelica sylvestris, and our 

 "nine lived" friend the Sedum telephium. Con- 

 tinuing along the left bank, we find several Com- 

 posite, Serratula tinctoria, Lactuca muralis, Hiera- 

 cium sylvaticum, besides the spindle-tree [Euonymus 

 Europczus), and, among the luxuriant fronds of 

 blechnum, an occasional forked one. In a clearing, 

 we find the lovely little Wahloibergia hederacca, with 

 such an unlovely name, nestling amidst the moss. 

 "Here the silver-washed fritillary butterfly {Argynnis 

 paphia) flies in and out of the underwood, anon settling 

 on a bush and fanning its wings in the sun. We find 

 little new of interest till we come to a bog near 

 Bagworthy Wood, where, in the space of a few square 

 yards, are collected together Anagallis tenella, Drosera 

 rotundifolia, Hydrocotylc vulgaris, Hypericum elodes, 

 Narthecium ossifragicm, Pedicularis palustris, and an 

 orchis now in fruit. From this point up to the Doone 

 Valley, and round into the main road by Millslade, we 

 had no particular finds, except some white heather 

 and deep blue Polygala vulgaris. We saw a couple 

 of the red deer, natives of Exmoor. 



Or let us climb up to the town of Lynton, and 

 follow along the Valley of Rocks to the coast. The 

 rocks sloping down to the sea at this point, and the 

 bracken and heather-covered slopes at the back, with 

 thickly-wooded hills beyond, will compare not un- 

 favourably with some parts of the Riviera, though the 

 changing tints on the sea are not quite so bright as 

 on the Mediterranean. Here I found the only 

 specimen of Puccinia umbilici on Cotyledon ztmbili- 

 cus. Passing the venerable buildings of the Lee 

 Abbey, we come to a turning down to the coast 

 where some patches of meadow sweet are infested 

 with Triphragmium ulmaruz, and, on rocks close 

 down to the sea, find Silene maritima, Cochlearia 

 danica, Armcria vulgaris, Plantago coronopus, Crith- 

 mum marilimum, and Asplcnium marinum, the last 

 two named being mostly out of reach. Numbers of 

 the bristle-tail (Machilis), an insect of the order 

 Thysanura, were playing about the rocks, looking at 

 first sight like miniature greyish-brown prawns. 



From here, on to Heddon's Mouth, we had no 

 special finds, but the walk is splendid ; the path now 

 lying through gloomy pine woods, now bending round 

 a ravine with a sparkling cascade, and now rounding 

 bold headlands, from which the jagged outlines of the 

 coast are seen fading into a blue empyrean haze in 

 the far distance. 



At Lynton we also found Echium vulgare, Gera- 

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