250 
but some are elongated to reach the sun. 
Those that grow on the hedgebank, such as 
Hedge Mustard, are frequently much elon- 
gated when on the northern aspect. Others, 
as Herb Robert, have a straggly habit, as a 
result of their growing forward to the light 
through the hedge itself. 
Diversity of Types on the Roadside in Relation 
to Perennation.— The composite character of 
the wayside flora renders it variable in respect 
of the way in which the plants adapt them- 
selves to the growing season, or acquire their 
life duration or mode of perennation. 
The Elm, Ash, Oak, Lime, Poplar, Willows, 
Hazel, Hornbeam, Sycamore, &c., all fre- 
quently planted by the wayside, are deciduous 
trees. Holly and Yew or Pine are evergreen. 
The scrub or shrub type is similarly deciduous 
e.g. Hawthorn, Cornel, Spindle, Buckthorn, 
Apple, Field Maple, Rose, and the Bramble, 
Spurge Laurel, &c., among undershrubs, are 
all also deciduous. Box is evergreen, but is 
only native on the chalk and oolite at Boxhill 
and one or two other places. The aquatic 
vegetation is largely herbaceous and perennial. 
The sward is made up of herbaceous perennial 
or annual Grasses, and some other perennials. 
The bulk of the annuals, as Shepherd’s Purse, 
Wart Cress, &c., are derived from other sources, 
cornfields, &c. 
Pollination of Roadside Plants.—A particular 
feature of the roadsides is the wandering of 
insects along the roadside. They do not, asa 
rule, fly away over the adjoining fields, but 
continue their course along the highway. 
It is thus not surprising that the bulk of the 
wayside plants are adapted to insect visits, 
which are numerous, and that most of them 
are cross-pollinated. But since nature has 
allowed for the exigencies of the weather and 
the occurrence of rainy periods, many of these 
plants are equally adapted to self-pollination, 
as Hedge Garlic, Greater Stitchwort, Perfor- 
ate St. John’s Wort, Herb Robert, Commor 
Bramble, Crab Apple, Hedge Parsley, Cornel, 
Moschatel, and Elder and Cleavers are self- 
pollinated, as arule. In some the anthers are 
mature first, as in the Teasel, Ground Ivy, 
and Bugle, in others the stigma, as in the 
Sloe, and Hawthorn, and Lords and Ladies. 
The Ash, as well as the other hedgerow trees, 
and the Nettle are largely pollinated by aid of 
the wind. 
The Dispersal of Seeds of Roadside Plants.— 
The linear nature of a roadside, and its 
boundary on either side by hedgerows, places 
a certain restriction upon wayside plants so 
far as the dispersal of seeds is concerned; and 
it is therefore, in so far as the agency of the 
wind is concerned, more or less definite in 
HINTS AND NOTES 
direction, either along the road or from one 
side to the other. But it must be remembered 
also that the field side of each hedge acts asa 
barrier to the dispersal of seeds from the fields, 
&c., from a distance, and there may thus be 
an aggregation of seeds, stopped by such 
barriers, along the highway. Moreover, the 
very fact that a road is devoted to traffic, as 
has been shown, ensures that seeds will be 
dispersed by external artificial agency along 
the way. The Clematis, Barren Strawberry, 
Hemlock, Hogweed, Teasel, Nipplewort, Ash, 
Nettle, have their seeds or fruits dispersed by 
the wind. A large number of fruits are edible 
or have hooked fruits, and are dispersed by 
animals, e.g. Barberry, Sloe, Bramble, Rose, 
Crab Apple, Hawthorn, Bryony, Hedge Pars- 
ley, Cornel, Moschatel, Cleavers, Spurge 
Laurel, Black Bryony, Cuckoo Pint. 
In other cases, such as Hedge Garlic, 
Hedge Mustard, Greater Stitchwort, St. John’s 
Wort, Herb Robert, Trailing Vetch, Meadow 
Vetchling, Great Bindweed, Red Bartsia, Wood 
Basil, Ground Ivy, the plant has a mechanism 
of its own for dispersing its seeds. 
Soil and the Roadside.—The soil of the road- 
side is liable to much alteration, not only from 
the length and continuity of the road, and the 
existence of cuttings which expose new layers, 
but also on account of the interlacing character 
of the roads. A road taken from S.W. to N.E. 
on the east side of Birmingham would largely 
pass over the same geological formation and 
rock soil. 
A road such as the Watling Street, or Great 
North Road, which cuts across these in a S.E. 
to N.W. or S. to N. direction, however, passes 
across a number of different formations. In 
the west of England the rocks are all older, 
and contribute to form siliceous soils. A few 
plants need limestone or chalk, as Clematis or 
Wood Basil. 
A large proportion grow on humus, as Bar- 
berry, Greater Stitchwort, Herb Robert, Bry- 
ony, Cornel; and some are equally at home on 
either sand or clay, as Barbarea, Hedge Garlic, 
Spindle Tree, Rose, Hogweed, Hedge Parsley, 
Lords and Ladies. Sand without humus is 
needed by Hedge Mustard, Trailing Vetch, 
Bramble, Barren Strawberry, Hawthorn, Tea- 
sel, Nipplewort, Great Bindweed, Nettle. 
Clay or sand is the requirement of Barberry, 
Crab Apple, Elder, Cleavers, Red Bartsia, 
Ground Ivy, Black Bryony; and pure clay is 
the soil for Moschatel and Bugle, as well as 
the Ash, which grows in a native state best on 
limestone. Each plant thus has a special pre- 
dilection for some one type of soil. 
Methods of Survey.—The vegetation of the 
roadside is composite. There are zones of 
