iioa NOTITI^ BOTANIC^. 



more genial climate than can be found in any other part of this 

 kingdom. 



In proof of this assertion, it may be stated that many exotic 

 plants which, in other parts of the island, require the protection of 

 the greenhouse, flourish there in the open air, and even survive the 

 winter. Myrtles and geraniums may be mentioned as growing 

 there most luxuriantly; but more particularly Hydrangea Hortensis, 

 which may frequently be seen in cottage gardens, from six to eight 

 feet high, and completely covered with its large heads of blossoms. 

 From these circumstances, as well as from personal observation, I 

 have no hesitation in saying that the Undercliffe offers a more ad- 

 vantageous residence to the consumptive invalid, during the months 

 of winter and early spring, than any other part of the British coast. 

 My opinion on this subject is fully confirmed by Dr. James Clark, 

 in his admirable work On Climate, who thus expresses himself: — 

 " Indeed, it is matter of surprise to me, after having fully examined 

 this favoured spot, that the advantages which it possesses in so emi- 

 nent a degree, in point of shelter and exposition, should have been 

 so long overlooked in a country like this, whose inhabitants, during 

 the last century, have been traversing half the globe in search of 

 climate/' I must return, however, from this digression, and pro- 

 ceed to notice the habitats of a few of the plants that are found 

 in this interesting district. Chlora perfoliata, with its elegant pani- 

 cles of star-like flowers, adorns the road-side between Shanklin and 

 Saint Lawrence ; and near the diminutive church of the latter vil- 

 lage, may be seen Mentha rotundifolia growing in profusion. Ru- 

 bia peregrina. Inula Helenium, and Hypericum androscemum, are 

 seen plentifully between Luccomb and Bonchurch ; and under the 

 cliff* at Luccomb, Lathyrus sylvestris grows in beautiful luxuriance, 

 and in great profusion, as stated by Dillwyn and Turner, in their 

 Botanist's Guide. It is, indeed, somewhat remarkable that the 

 habitats of plants in the Isle of Wight should, for the most part, be 

 found, even now, so correct in a work which has been published 

 full thirty years. To this imperfect list of plants I will only add 

 one more, which, on account of its singularity, ought not to be 

 omitted ; it is a double variety of Potentilla repens, which, with its 

 little rose-like blossoms, is truly beautiful : it grows plentifully and, 

 apparently, wild in a wood not far from Norris Castle. 



