171 



BOTANICAL RAMBLES 

 IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF BRIGHTON. 



NO. II. FROM BRIGHTON TO PATCHAM. 



BY J. E. SMITH^ ESQ. 



Over Churchill, and down by the Lover's Walk into the London Road, 

 is by far the most interesting way to Preston, as we shall avoid the greater 

 part of the town, have a fine prospect from the old church, and a view of 

 the valley of the I^ondon Road, the most leafy district in the immediate 

 vicinity of Brighton. Those who object to ascending the hill may proceed by 

 the enclosures, and meet us about a quarter of a mile before we reach the 

 turnpike. The Elder, {Samhucus nigra,) is one of the earliest trees to shew 

 its green leaves, whose dark tufts, sparingly scattered over the bare branches, 

 are but poor ornaments to the road side, where they flourish in spite of the 

 dust and the north-east wind. The Elms, (Uhnus campestris,) scarcely shew 

 any signs of green even at the tips of their branches, but the Hawthorn hedges, 

 {Crataegus oxyacantha,) are beginning to be spotted with the light green buds 

 of leaves, and in some warm sheltered corner you will find them completely 

 unfolded. 



There is a peculiar charm in those bright patches of green that appear 

 like oases on the dark brown hedge, here and there, as if by some freak of 

 nature. They have always appeared to me as the most pleasing harbingers 

 of the coming spring, bright gleams of her yet unripened beauties, an earnest 

 of the charms she has in store. The Honeysuckle Woodbine, (Lonicera Peri- 

 dymenum,) is a hardier shrub, and will be found everywhere in leaf clambering 

 over the hedges in the woods. 



As we have reached the London Road we can look over this wall to the 

 left, where under the elms we shall see the shining leaves of the Arum mac- 

 ulatum, and many a Violet there 



"Wastes its perfume on the desert air;" 



for here the botanist may not venture without the risk of incurring the 

 vengeance of the law against all trespassers. So we will go on through the turn- 

 pike and up the lane to the right, which will take us to the Ditchling road. The 

 first part of this lane is pleasant and shady, with high hedges on either side, 

 where we may find Viola odorata, if not already gathered; Lamium purpureum; 

 Leontodon taraxacum; and the Ground Ivy, Nepeta Qlechoma, all in flower; 

 this last contains a great quantity of camphor in the stem and leaves. It is 

 the presence of an essential oil containing camphor which gives that aromatic 

 perfume, so remarkable in the whole of the natural order Lahiatce, to which 

 Nepeta belongs; indeed the camphor is so copious in the sage and lavender, 

 that it may be extracted from their oils with considerable advantage. There 

 is not a single deleterious, or even suspicious plant in all this tribe, many of 

 them containing highly valuable properties; the Ground Ivy, for instance, that 



