A BOTANICAL STROLL. 



Not a pastoral song has a pleasanter tune 



Than ye speak to my heart, little wildings of June; 



Of old ruinous castles ye tell; 

 When I thought it delightful your beauties to find, 

 When the magic of nature first breathed on my mind, 



And your blossoms were part of the spell." 



November, 1852. 



A BOTANIOxVL STROLL FROM CAMBRIDGE TO THE 

 CHERRY-HINTON CHALK-PITS ON THE 1st. OF NOVEMBER. 



BY H. C. STDART, ESQ. 



The peculiar mildness of the present season has yet preserved some few 

 plants in flower to engage the interest of the passing botanist. It is not often 

 the 1st. of November is chosen for a botanical ramble; nor is it often 

 that the 1st. of November presents so many specimens in bloom as those 

 which compose the foUovring list. Accompanied by a friend^ who assisted me 

 in arranging the collection in the following order, we found these plants in 

 flower. They may interest some of your readers: — • 



In the lane leading out of Cambridge, Ballota nigra, Sisifmhrium officinale, 

 Lamium album, Geranium molle, Laniium purpureum, Veronica montana, 

 Lapsana communis, Papaver Rliceas, Geranium dissectum, Senecio vulgaris, 

 Cerastium viscosum. In a cultivated field beyond, Myosotis arvensis, Stellaria 

 media, Linaria spuria. Euphorbia Peplis, Linaria Elatine, llyosotis versicolor, 

 Plantago lanceolata. Reseda lutea. Euphorbia exigua, Veronica Buxbaumii. On 

 the Railway bank, Ranunculus bulbosus, Achillcea rnillefolimn, Senebiera coronopus, 

 Trifolium pratense, Anagallis arvensis, Papaver Argemone, Polygonum convol- 

 vulus, Pastinaca sativa, Viola tricolor, Bellis perennis, Galeopsis tetrahit. On 

 the bank of the stream, Leontodon taraxactim, Spircea TJlmaria. In the 

 Chalk Pits, Ranunculus acris. Verbena officinalis. Geranium Robertiajium, 

 Galamintha officinalis, Artemisia vulgaris, Verbascum Thapsus, Senecio 

 Jacobcea. 



In this place I may state that a stream^flowing rapidly over a chalky bed 

 adds an interest to the scene. It is at a great distance from the Cam; 

 nevertheless in it we perceived that extraordinary weed, the Anacharis alsinas- 

 trum. How it got there would be a tedious and I expect an impossible 

 problem. It seems to possess the attribute of ubiquity: at any rate, of being 

 found just where one would least expect to see it. The fertile plant has alone 

 been found; but this fact only adds to the mystery of its enormous increase, 

 and to the singularity of its being seen in waters entirely remote from one 

 another. The idea of water-birds carrying the roots from one place to another 

 is a mere possibility — a strong improbability. Any one who has obtained 

 specimens will recollect how tenacious the roots were to the soil, and to 

 one another; and how hard they strove to remain where they were. It is not 



