Nov., 1896.] 277 



THE BOTANY OF A SCHOOI. PI,AYGROUND IN 

 THE HEART OF DUBININ. 



BY RKV. THOMAS B. GIBSON, A.M. 



Perhaps no spot of earth could be considered less likely to 

 interest the botanist than the playground of a boys' school in 

 the heart of a city. And yet I have there found material for 

 study in my leisure moments ; so that, after eighteen years 

 observations, I am disposed to show that even the most un- 

 likely hunting-grounds may afford pleasure to the enthusiastic 

 lover of nature's own process of carpeting. The school I speak 

 of is that of the King's Hospital, more commonly known as the 

 Bluecoat ; and when I say that the playground lies midway 

 betw^een Guinness's brewery and Jameson's distillery, and is 

 adjacent to the Royal Barracks, besides being bounded on all 

 sides by high walls, I think I have said enough to show that, 

 at any rate, this plot of ground has no unusual capabilities for 

 the reception, or perfection, of floral treasures. It may be 

 that some few of the plants I shall mention have been 

 introduced through my own agency ; for it has been my 

 custom, whilst enjoying my summer holidays in the country, 

 to gather the seeds of such wild flowers as pleased me, and to 

 scatter these seeds in the playground, on my return. No 

 attempt has ever been made, however, to assist any growth 

 by cultivation or protection ; and, therefore, though every- 

 thing there may not be indigenous, everything is in a sense 

 natural, or at any rate uncultivated. Of course, under the 

 circumstances, there have been in these eighteen years 

 changes of flora, and fluctuations of prosperity even in the 

 plants that are permanent, but, all things considered, there is 

 not much appreciable difference in the ge7ieral character of 

 the flora now to what it was in 1878. Therefore, I think I am 

 justified in assuming that the careful observer will find it 

 worth while to scrutinize even the waste spaces of the 

 city, when he has no opportunity of going out into the 

 country. 



A 



