ARENABIA GOTHICA FRIES, IN BRITAIN. 355 



Prof. Babington and of Mr. F. Arnold Lees, the author of the 

 ' Flora of West Yorkshire.' Prof. Babington named it Aretiaria 

 norverjica Gunn., as also at first did Mr. F. A. Lees. The latter 

 informed me of the "find," in a letter dated July 17th. In two 

 days this letter was followed by another, and Mr. Lees therein 

 expressed a doubt whether, after all, norvegica was a true determi- 

 nation, pointing out certain features distinguishing the Ribblehead 

 plant fi'om norvegica as described in books, and from ciliata. Two 

 specimens were enclosed in the second letter, which I was asked to 

 take to Mr. Arthur Bennett, of Croydon, for his opinion upon 

 them. I went to Croydon on the evening of the same day — July 

 20th — and had a long conversation with Mr. Bennett, who seemed 

 at first to think that the plant was norvegica. Leaving the speci- 

 mecs, I went for an hour's ramble, and on returning to Mr. 

 Bennett's house was met by him with the pleasant announcement 

 that they were undoubtedly Arenaria gothica Fries, and that thus a 

 new plant, of great interest, had been added by Mr. Kotheray to 

 the British Flora. He had compared them with Fries' original 

 description and with authenticated Gothland specimens sent to him 

 in 1882 by Dr. Nilsson. 



Mr. Arnold Lees visited Ribblehead, in company with Prof. 

 Jefferson, of the Yorkshire College, on the 11th September, and 

 found Mr. Piotheray's locality — hundreds of plants growing there 

 — and also a second locality, with three plants only noticed then 

 (but the day was unfavourable to careful and extended search), 

 between 300 and 400 yards away. Both are roadside spots — of 

 7nacle ground, covered with small stones (limestone and slaty frag- 

 ments) of the size of a walnut and under. The companion growth 

 was of Areyiaria serpyllifolia, Sagina nodosa, smalV^Capsella, with a 

 little grass and moss ; no introduced plant was near. The first 

 spot is within the railway precincts but below a high embankment 

 and well away from its base. The second is on the opposite side 

 of the railway, and the embankment effectually prevents any 

 conveyance of seeds from one point to the other by the wind. The 

 station buildings, a porter's cottage, and the Ribblehead Inn, are 

 near at hand. This particularity of localisation may be dangerous to 

 the plant, but it is necessary for the proper discussion of the 

 question of its indigeneity or otherwise. The roads were made 

 about fifteen years ago. The neighbouring natural surface is partly 

 peat-moss and partly stony moorland. 



Ribblehead is a station which stands at a height above the sea 

 of about 1000 ft, upon the great Midland Railway gradient. No 

 foreign cargoes or ballast are delayed or unloaded there. My 

 friend, Mr. Arnold Lees, is consequently of opinion that the plant 

 is not a mere casual. It grows in the only kind of spot in the 

 neighbourhood likely to be suitable to it. He hopes another year 

 to be able to trace the source of the road-metal used about the 

 station, and possibly so, and by further exploration of the district, 

 to track the species to its original Yorkshire home, if such there be. 

 That it is really native to the Ribblehead region he is confident, 

 unless it has been knowingly, deliberately introduced there. 



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