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gone. If a new plantation is made, it is in nine cases out of ten composed of 

 Larch, stiff, mononotous, wiry-looking trees, which cannot compensate by their 

 fresh verdure during the short month of spring for their dreary meagreness 

 through the rest of the year. If ornamental trees are wanted.in grounds about 

 a house, then one sees nothing but Conifers, beautiful enough in themselves, 

 still more so in contrast with deciduous trees, but gloomy in colour, monotonous 

 in outline, and fatal to all undergrowth. 



I find that Mr. Purchas in his summary enumerates 464 species of p'ants 

 as occurring in the district of Aymestrey. I suspect that by f .r the greater part 

 of that number may be found in the parish of Aymestrey alone. I have by me 

 an old list of those which I have myself observed, abounding, as I am sure 

 it does, with oversights and omissions, and yet reaching a very considerable 

 number. 



This is the very paradise of ferns. Ferns that love shade and damp ; 

 ferns that love old stumps of trees ; ferns that love crumbling rocks ; ferns 

 that love stony banks, can all find here localities to suit their tas e. Out of 26 

 species of ferns enumerated by Mr. Purchas, 21 are said to occur in the 

 Aymestrey district. Of the 5 omitted, I think I may boldly claim one, (Lastrca 

 dilatataj, as an inhabitant of our woods. It occurs, if I am not mistaken, in 

 large quantities at the bottom of the steep wood on the right of the valley 

 coming down from Lyepole to Aymestrey. On the other hand I am bound to 

 confess that I never found one which does occur in another part of the Aymestrey 

 district, viz., Cystopteris fragdis. I have also found here the club moss 

 (Lycopodium clavatum), but it is long ago, and I have since looked for it in 

 vain. The oak and the beech ferns, ( Polypodium Dryoptcris and P. Plitgoptcris), 

 grow here in great abundance, but are not very easy to find. They occur on the 

 north side of Shobdon Hill, and on the north side of the wooded hill near 

 Aymestrey village beyond the great quarry. The beech fern is the more 

 abundant of the two. They grow under the oak coppice wood, amongst dead 

 leaves and loose stones, in a dark shady spot where no sunshine can ever reach 

 them. They come up later in the woods than when cultivated in the garden, 

 and are cut by the first frosts of autumn, so that their career of beauty is bui 

 short. Another fern very common here, though somewhat rare in most places, 

 is Blechnum boreale. It thrives in very different situations ; in the damp shady 

 spots where the Oak and Beech Ferns flourish, and in Grayley Wood, where it 

 is exposed to full south sun, and sheltered from every biting wiud. Its glossy 

 barren fronds are much more numerous than the thin wiry fertile ones. 



Returning to the same place at intervals for many years, as I have done 

 to Aymestrey, one comes to greet certain plants like the well-remembered faces 

 of old friends; and so if I particularize any of them, I may run the risk of 

 mistaking my own favourites for objects of general interest. Pardon me if I 

 do so. Let me begin with one that I think is really remarkable, and that is 

 Galtopsis versicolor. Few wild flowers are so showy : its gaily contrasted tints 



