NOTES StrPPLEMSNTAL TO THE FLOEA. OF BRISTOL 85 



20 years ago six feet of alluvial mud covered the clay and peat below, 

 by 1917 only six inches of mud remained, and it had been necessary 

 to repeatedly underpin the outer sea-banks thus left unsupported* 

 In 1918, a thousand small tufts of Spartina were brought from 

 Poole and planted a yard apart on the inner margin of the mud in a 

 line beginning at the mouth of the river Yeo and stretching about 

 li miles to the N.N.E. along the shore. During the past four years 

 these tufts have grown vigorously, so that many of them are now a 

 yard in diameter. Sand has collected, covering the mud among the 

 stems and making it possible to stand firmly on a clump. In all it is 

 computed that at present there are 2000 tufts besides a multitude of 

 tiny ones springing either from seed or from long stolons. Another 

 remarkable fact is that although planted close to the land the grass 

 appears to have shifted its position seaward, and now occupies a line 

 50-100 yards farther out. This movement corresponds with the 

 action of the plant on the Dorset coast. By fixing mud and silt it 

 consolidates and raises the level of the ground it grows on, in time 

 rendering it habitable for other saltmarsh vegetation, whilst the 

 Spartina pursues its invasion of the ovitlying mud. In Somerset this 

 process has not yet continued long enough for us to know how 

 efficient it will prove. The waters of the Bristol Channel are less 

 calm than those of a land-locked harbour* On occasion its waves 

 show tremendous power. But if they can be withstood successfully 

 bjr the tenacious growth which is being put forth to meet them, the 

 result must be of inestimable value to the landowners concerned. 



Calamagrostis epigeios Roth. Highwood Lane, Charltoil, G. ; 

 F. Samson. In plenty along a hedgerow south of the Battleaxes Inn^ 

 Wraxall, S. Bank between the Battery point and the lake at 

 Portishead ; and a short distance along the coast-path towards Cleve- 

 don ; liev. IE. Mlman. Mr. Thos. Clark's record for the turf-mooi* 

 near Shapwick Station seems not to have been repeated until Aug. 2, 

 1913, when I found the plant extending a few yards in a rushy swamp 

 within half a mile of the Station. A few weeks later the Rev. Ei 

 S. Marshall came upon it in two very limited locations on the peat. 

 Then, in 1915, Mr. H. S. Thompson found it plentifully north of the 

 railway on a bank of the old canal. His gathering in habit somewhat 

 resembled C. lanceolata>, the panicle being quite loose and open; 

 About the same time Mrs. Sandvvith reported a small patch not far 

 from Ashcott Station. With these additions the grass has now so 

 many localities in the district that it might well be transferred from 

 the " rather rare " to the " frequent " section of our plants. 



\JPoJ\jpofjon monspeliensis Desf. Still on the rubbish of St. 

 Philip's Marsh, 1916; Misses Cohhe. A good patch in a little 

 orchard near Failaiid House, 1914 ! Miss Acpies Fry. A fair (juantity 

 near Berrow Clnn-ch, 1913 ; T. II. Grecn.^ 



Kceleria vaUcsiana Asch. & Graebn. Purn Hill, Bleadon, S. 

 1915 ; H. S. Thompson. 



Festuca arundinncea Schreb. A first record for North Somerset 

 was obtained by Miss Agnes Fry, Avho sent a specimen from the cliff 

 path near Ladye Bay, Clevedon, 1915. 



B ramus interruptus Druce. Colonist; in cultivated ground. 



