ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
luxuriant and less covered with dust, &c. 
The frequent traffic with wagons, &c., causes 
a good proportion of cornfield weeds to be 
dispersed along the way. 
In the case of (3) and (4) the effect of traffic 
is more or less negligible. 
Dispersal by Roads.—<s the media for traffic 
of all kinds it is not to be wondered at that 
roads afford one of the greatest means of 
dispersal of plants. And though this is 
obvious if one thinks about the matter at all, 
yet it does not seem, like many other facts of 
this nature to which attention is drawn in 
these notes, to have been adequately con- 
sidered. 
It should be noticed that the distribution is 
in the first instance linear, but may be later 
much more general, and the origin (via any 
particular highway) may be obscured. Another 
equally important fact is the extra protection 
afforded by the unusual closeness of the 
hedges, and the ample shelter they, and the 
ditches, afford. The greensward also is 
subject to interference from traffic by man or 
horses, &c., or mowing in summer, or the 
operations of the road-scraper, hedger, or 
ditcher. 
Man himself is responsible for some dispersal 
of seeds. Workmen carry in their bags plants 
and soil, liable to be dropped in passing to and 
fro. People using roads who have traversed 
arable or even grass fields or woods are liable 
to leave seeds behind embedded in mud from 
boots or shoes, or which have been caught in 
the clothing. Gardening operations in allot- 
ments, &c., are responsible for a good deal 
also, weeds being thrown over the hedge into 
the road. 
Birds especially are liable to carry seeds 
and drop them along the highway. Cattle, 
horses, &c., disperse them in hoofs; and in 
their coats, which are woolly or hairy, seeds 
that are furnished with hooks or spines may 
be caught, and so dispersed. The carting of 
hay, corn, stones, lime, dressings, manure, 
&c., is a very frequent source of dispersal 
on highways. 
Wind is another factor. So also is the 
drainage by ditches, water plants being intro- 
duced in this manner. 
The Hedgerows in Fields and along the 
Roadside.—Since an integral part of the 
highway is the hedgerow on each side, it 
is best to regard the hedgerows in fields as 
similar in character to the roadside hedge- 
rows, for both have the same origin. One 
feature of roadside hedges, however, is their 
continuity in a more or less parallel course, 
whilst hedgerows in fields are limited in 
extent and direction to moderately-sized rect- 
247 
angles; so that dispersal along the wayside 
is if anything more permanent. 
The roadside or border of each hedge on 
a highway is frequently the habitat of a more 
numerous ground flora, as it is less disturbed 
in rural districts, but the hedge itself is usually 
kept well trimmed and layered, whereas the 
hedges in fields are often allowed to grow 
for a long period untouched. 
Village Outskirts and their Influence on a 
Roadside Flora.—When a series of roads has 
been studied and the floras of all compared, 
one outstanding feature will become apparent. 
It will be found as a rule, allowing for the 
possible change in soil, altitude, moisture, 
&c., that the flora of the roadside is fairly 
uniform, when the immediate effect of villages 
or towns upon the route is eliminated. 
But a noticeable fact, which will soon become 
apparent, is the occurrence at variable distances 
from a village of certain plants, which do not 
travel far along the highway on either side 
of a town or village. Such plants are, for 
example, Greater Celandine, Winter Cress, 
Dwarf Elder, Tea Plant, Hop, Horse-radish, 
Chickweed, Comfrey, Borage, Alkanet, Clary, 
Black Horehound, White Horehound, Pelli- 
tory-of-the-Wall, Good King Henry, &c. 
Rarely, if ever, do these plants occur in the 
majority of districts in any other or a possibly 
native station. The probable reason of the 
occurrence at all near villages or on the high- 
ways, is the former use of these plants for 
domestic or herbal or other purposes. They 
cannot, in fact, be regarded as truly native. 
Gate-posts, Gateways, Bridges, Stone-heaps, 
&c.—The continuity of the greensward or the 
hedgerow on a highway is sooner or later 
broken by gateway, bridge, and stone-heap, 
or some other equally welcome variation of 
the general monotony. 
The gate-posts and gates on every highway 
are a frequent source of interest to the lichen- 
ologist. They afford also to the student of 
flowering plants an easy means of wandering 
for a while from the highway on either side, 
and this makes the flora to be studied along a 
highway more varied and interesting. 
About a gateway unusual plants will occur, 
such as Wart Cress, Charlock (Raphanus), 
Great Plantain, Knot Grass, various Cheno- 
podia, Docks, &c., dispersed from arable or 
similar open soil. 
Pearlwort may be found on the sides of 
bridges, or Cerastinm triviale, or Rumex 
Acetosella, and on a wet bridge over a road 
I have seen growing amongst the bricks, 
Epilobia, Scrophularia aquatica, &c. In the 
water or on the margin, aquatic plants may be 
found, such as Glyceria, Catabrosa, Lythrum, 
