198 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Kew Gardens Museum Number 2, a few months since, 

 and are probably still to be seen, a fasciated stem of 

 Scotch fir {Pinus sylvestris), and fasciations in the 

 stems of certain British plants, as the Convolvulus 

 arvensis, dandelion, primrose {Primula vulgaris) in 

 a species of Campanula, and in the common wall- 

 flower (Cheiranthus Cheiri), also a fasciated flower 

 stem of Lepidium campestre ; and what is yet more 

 singular, a twisted stem of the Fuller's teasel (Dip- 

 sacus fullonum), a plant not naturally a climber. 

 Herr Professor Makowsky mentions larch (Larix), 

 oak (Quercus), and also, though more rarely, an 

 Ailanthus and Rhus (Sumach), and likewise upon 

 Farsetia* Cirsium (thistle), Matricaria (Mayweed), 

 and Bupleurum (Hare's-ear), and probably fasciations 

 occur on many other trees and plants. 



SEPTEMBER AT THE ENGLISH LAKES. 



OUR stay being limited to three weeks, I de- 

 voted myself chiefly to botany, and worked 

 up the flora the more carefully, as I was dissatisfied 

 with the information on botany given in the guide 

 books. Though our visit was at the end of 

 September, I found about fifty species of plants, some 

 of them being of the less common kinds. 



We left Cambridge on the 12th of September, and 

 after breaking our journey at Northallerton, started 

 early next day for Penrith, then taking the coach to 

 Pooley Bridge. On our way we passed King 

 Arthur's Round Table, a circular plateau surrounded 

 by a trench, the use of which is still unknown, as 

 far as I can make out. On arriving at the lake, we 

 embarked in the little steam yacht and made for 

 Patterdale, where we had determined to make our 

 head-quarters. 



A few walks sufficed to make us tolerably well 

 acquainted with the general appearance and flora of 

 the neighbourhood. The rocks "are the result 

 of a chaotic intermixture of Green Slates and 

 Porphyrites," the limestone being left near Penrith. 

 The commonest plant (perhaps, excepting the 

 bracken) is the parsley fern (Cryptogrammc crispa), 

 which grows like a weed all over the rocks, accom- 

 panied on some of the slopes by the lovely little 

 Alchemilla alpina. Of the club-mosses, Lycopodium 

 clavatum, alpinum, and selago grow all over the hills, 

 whilst the closely allied Sclaginella selaginoides 

 occurs frequently in moist places. Large tufts of 

 sphagnum form a wet spongy carpeting wherever 

 water trickling down the slopes supplies them with 

 moisture ; this is tenanted by Droscra rotundifolia, 

 Eriophorum vaginatum, Narthccium ossifragum, 

 J\iniassia palustris, Pedicularis sylvatica, Pinguicula 

 vulgaris, though most of these occur frequently 

 where there is no sphagnum. In many places a 



* One of the Cruciferae. 



species of sphagnum, of a beautiful red tint, covers 

 the ground. By the streamlets on the slopes of 

 Place Fell, Anagallis tenella, Saxifraga aizoidcs 

 and stellaris, the two last named also on Helvellyn, 

 and Cochlearia cordala. In woods, Polypodium dry- 

 opteris and phegopteris, Lastrea oreopteris and 

 dilatata, Polystichum filix-mas, A thy ri urn fdix- 

 fixmina ; among the phanerogams, Solidago virga- 

 aurea. The oak fern is commoner than the beech, 

 but the above plants all grow in woods about 

 Stybarrow Crag. In open meadows, Alchemilla 

 vulgaris, Geranium sylvaticum (occasionally), San- 

 guisorba officinalis. In Patterdale, Circaa lutetiana, 

 Geranium lucidum, Jasione fnontana ; up Dovedale, 

 Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Gentian a campestris. On 

 walls, Polypodium vulgare. Less frequent are Poly- 

 gonum viviparum, Meconopsis Cambrica. 



One of our first walks was over the Grisdale Pass 

 to Grasmere. It was a lovely sunny morning as we 

 ascended the valley, and the bogs full of Parnassia, 

 Droscra, and other plants had put on a very bright 

 appearance. Some little way up the valley we came 

 upon a small plant or two of Sedum Anglicum, and 

 some of the Saxifraga stellaris and aizoidcs were 

 still in flower. After crossing the stream and 

 making a steep ascent, the view down the valley with 

 the steep rocks of Helvellyn on one side, and of St. 

 Sunday Crag on the other, and the bracken-covered 

 slopes of Tlace Fell at the bottom of the valley was 

 splendid. We passed several little cascades, and in 

 one stream I found Chrysosplenium oppositifolium 

 in leaf. At last we arrived at the little Grisdale 

 Tarn sparkling in the sun, and then at the summit 

 of the pass. In places the ground is said to be 

 carpeted with Silene acaulis in the season. 



We had to hurry down to Grasmere to meet 

 friends. After a rest we walked on past Rydal 

 Water, finding Sedum Telephium, Gentiana campestris, 

 Meconopsis Cambrica, as well as Parnassia palustris, 

 and old spikes of Narthccium ossifragum, visited 

 Rydal Falls and went on to Ambleside, a reputed 

 locality for the Hymenophyllum, which grows or grew 

 in one or two places in the neighbourhood. Next 

 morning we took a trip down Windermere Lake, but 

 it being cloudy, we did not see the largest but not 

 most beautiful lake to advantage. 



In the afternoon we walked back to Patterdale over 

 the Kirkstone Pass. The summit was enveloped in 

 a thick Scotch mist, but we managed to see the 

 indistinct form of the Kirk Stone, which certainly does 

 not look much the shape of a " kirk." Lower down 

 Brothers Water shone at our feet, and was afterwards 

 passed. Near here were a few poor plants of Achillea 

 Ptar?nica. Menyanthes trifoliata grows at the end 

 of the lake. From this point a three miles' walk took 

 us back. 



Of course we took the first fine day for going up 

 Helvellyn. And here, in the event of any of my 

 readers following my steps, let me give one piece of 



