NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF NORTH LANCASHIRE. 15 



this delightful glen is at all times beautiful and picturesque; such as a 

 lover of nature delights to contemplate, or the painter and poet to pourtray ; 

 but at the season of my visit it was rendered highly so, as its entire surface 

 was all but clothed with a rich profusion of wild flowers, the most con- 

 spicuous of which were those of the heath and hair-bell, — 



" Oh; where is the flower that content may tell, 

 Like the laughing, the nodding, and dancing hair-hell ! " — 



whilst the air was perfumed with the fragrance of the wild thyme, that 

 grows there is great abundance. 



On entei-ing the valley, at the foot of an old wall, I met with that elegant 

 moss, Dicraniim Dillenii, and near it, Dicranuvi palustre ; the latter not in 

 fruit. A little further on, amidst a dense mass of Bog Moss, (Sphagnum 

 obtusifoliumj bloomed the pretty little Ivy-leaved Bell-flower; (Campanula 

 hederacea;) and with it, its delicate companion, the Bog Pimpernel; (Ana- 

 gallis tenella ;) also tlie trailing stems of the Cranberry ( Vaccinium Oxycoccos) 

 were there, intertwining with that singular plant, the Sundew, (Drosera 

 rotumlifoUa.) 



" Mid the wild moor, or silent glen, 

 The Sundew blooms, unseen by men; 

 Spreads there her leaf of rosy hue, 

 A chalice for the morning dew." 



A dry, sandy bank was ornamented with a few plants of the Carline 

 Thistle, (Carlina vulgaris.) This plant was rendered famous, from a Avell- 

 known tradition, that the root was pointed out by an angel to Charlemagne, 

 as a remedy for the plague that prevailed in his arm3^ 



" Hypericum, too, was there — the herb of war — 

 Pierced through with wounds, and mark'd with many a scar." 



Many of the pools were fringed round with Bartramia fontana, Bryum 

 palustre, the Arrow grass, (Triglochin palustre,) Gij^sy-Avort, {Lycopus Europcais,) 

 and the small Willow-herb, {Einlobium palustre.) At a little distance from 

 the margin of the stream were scattered, here and there, Veronica scutellata, 

 with small clumps of Onaphalium dioicum. Higher up the vale, upon a dry 

 bank, I picked up a large specimen of a common Mushroom, {Agaricus 

 campestris.) measuring, in circumference, twenty-five inches ; near to which, 

 I also gathered, Polytrichum commune, Polytriahum formosum, and Polytrichum 

 juniperinum. The stones within, and near to Leather-coat Wood, which 

 terminates the valley, were invested with Hypnum plumosum, Hypnum ruta- 

 bulum, Hypnum rusci/oUum, Bryum pnnctatum, Trichostomum aciculare, and 

 Tricliostomum fasciculare. In the wood I also met with that stately plant 

 the broad-leaved Heleborine, {Epiimctis latifoUa,) along with the Sweet 

 Woodruff, (Asperula odorata,) among which the scarlet berries of the Arum 

 macuhitum were conspicuous objects. 



