NOTES ON WILD PLANTS. 205 
still makes its appearance every Autumn, but ina 
scattered manner, in the park and in some old 
pastures in the northern part of the parish. 
A very pretty wild plant, which is very plentiful 
in the park and other old pastures is the dropwort, 
spivaea filipendula: with its delicate cream coloured 
flowers tipped with red in the bud, graceful form, 
and feathered leaves, it is one or the most elegant 
wild flowers that we have hereabouts. There are 
two British species of sfivaea: the other the 
meadowsweet, or spfivaea ulmaria, is a much more 
generally common plant than the dropwort, grow- 
ing, in wet and marshy places, about wet ditches 
and river banks. Both are to be found here in the 
park. 
The dropwort is most frequent on a chalky soil 
or subsoil, and indeed is generally considered as 
one of the chara¢teristic chalk country plants. | 
remember it is very abundant on the chalk downs 
which end in Beachey Head. At Barton, there- 
fore, it may be said to be ina congenial soil; and 
along with it grow some other plants which are. 
considered charaéteristic of the chalk, such as the 
pyramidal orchis, the clustered campanula 
(campanula glomerata), the downy oat grass (avena 
pubescens ). 
But again there is a profusion of cowslips in 
these same pastures, and they are considered to 
belong especially to a clay soil; and so is the silver 
weed ( fotentilla anserina) which grows here and 
there in low damp spots in the park. In faét, there 
