Notes on British Plants. 617 



sexiae ;" (Ray's Synopsis, 106) : and I have heard of its oc- 

 currence, although sparingly, on Leith Hill Common, in Sur- 

 rey. The only place where I have ever observed it in any 

 quantity is a very wet bog on Moseley Common, in War- 

 wickshire ; where, some years ago, I collected exceedingly 

 fine specimens. 



It is rather singular that this plant should not be mentioned 

 in Turner and Dillwyn's Botanist's Guide, seeing that Ray 

 (I. c.) says it grows " on Snowdon, Cader Idris, and the other 

 nigh mountains of Wales, as also the mountains of the Peak 

 in Derbyshire, Ingleborough in Yorkshire, &c. ; " to which 

 Dillenius has added the locality above quoted. 



Lycopodium inundatum. — Mr. Cooper says, — " I do not 

 see any reason why Lycopodium inundatum, which is so 

 plentiful on Wimbledon and other commons around London, 

 should not be found on Woking common, as the sub-soil and 

 situation is very similar." There are many plants of which 

 the same remark may be made. Why should Dianthus Ca- 

 ryophyllus adorn one part of the ruinous walls of Rochester 

 castle, where it has been growing at least a hundred and se- 

 venty years, and not a single specimen be seen on other parts 

 of the same walls ? Why should Phyteuma orbiculare and 

 Campanula glomerata occur in some limited districts on the 

 Surrey chalk hills, and not throughout the whole range ? — 

 Why should the lovely Parnassia palustris grow, as I have 

 seen it growing, in profusion, in one particular part of a par- 

 ticular bog, and not an individual make its appearance in any 

 other spot for miles round, notwithstanding numerous locali- 

 ties, apparently equally well adapted for its growth, occur 

 within a few feet of the favoured one ? 



There is, indeed, something inexplicable in what may be 

 termed the capriciousness of plants in their choice of habi- 

 tats ; for that they do exercise a choice no one, I think, who 

 has studied them in the field, can reasonably doubt. A thou- 

 sand instances might be adduced to prove this ; but, in addi- 

 tion to those above cited, I will only mention a few of the 

 many which have come under my own observation in the 

 course of the past season. 



The elegant Statice spathulata is recorded by Ray (Syn. 

 202) on the authority of Mr. Dale, as growing " at Ramsgate, 

 in Kent." It still grows, in great luxuriance, on one part of 

 the chalk cliff between Ramsgate and Broadstairs, and is 

 there seen in such profusion as completely to cover several 

 yards of the face of the cliff, while on each side of this space 

 not a specimen is to be met with. Again, Crithmum mari- 

 t'nnum has long been known to grow on the chalk cliffs of the 



