37 



FOURTH SUMMER EXCURSIOIV, 



THURSDAY, JULY 18th, 1901.— MINSTEK. 



The fourth summer excursion took place on 

 Thursday, July 18, when the party assembled 

 at lanterbury West Station, and left by 

 the 2.20 train for Minster. At Minster the 

 party met a number of scientific friends 

 from Margate and Dover, and then proceeded 

 to examine the flora and fauna whicli abound 

 in the numerous marshes that surround Minster. 

 A most enjoyable afternoon was spent, and 

 abundance of specimens were secured. These 

 marshes are simply choked with curious plants and 

 creepers, and, although it was late in the season 

 for several flowers, many were still found in bloom. 



Among other plants the following were noticed : 

 Crowfoot order ; Ranunculus circinnatus and many 

 other more common crowfoots. Water lily order : 

 Nymphxa lutea. the yellow water lily ; Crucifers : 

 Nasturtium Officinale, the watercress ; Henebiera 

 coronopus. the swine-cress. Mallows : Malva 

 Botundiflora. St. John's wort: Hypericum per- 

 foratum. Pea and bean order : Trifolium repens 

 and fiagi/erum, the yellow and the lovely little 

 strawberry - headed clover ; Ficii cracca and 

 sativa. two vetches; Lathyrus pratensis. the 

 meadow vetchling. Ononis spinosa, the prickly 

 rest harrow, many of these were pure white instead 

 of the usual purple. Willow herb order : Epilobium 

 hirsutum and others. Mare's tail order : Myrio. 

 phyllum spica(um,tbe water millfoil, so named from 

 the Greek, meaning ten thousand leaves, because 

 of its extremely numerous and delicate leaf- 

 lets. Horn wort order ; Ceratophyllum demersuni. 

 Umbelliferous order : Apium graveolens, the wild 

 celery, which, when cultivated in rich soil, and the 

 leaf stalks blanched by depriving them of the 

 light, forms the ordinary common or garden table 

 celery ; Sison amomum, stone parsley ; Pimpinella 

 saxi/raga.tbe Burnet Saxifrage; Slum lati/olium 

 andanuusH/oHum, thetwo British water parsnips; 

 (Enanthe fistulosa and pimpinelloides, the water- 

 drop worts ; Torilis anthriscus, the hedge parsley. 

 Madder order; Galium verum, the yellow bed- 

 straw, a pretty plant on salt sea shores ; this plant 

 in the Uiuhlands of Scotland mixed with alum is 

 used as a red dye, and the plant itself is also used 

 as a rennut to curdle milk. Compound flowers : 

 Inula dysenterica, flea bane; Senecio Jacobiea and 

 Aquaticus.the ragworts; Crepis I'irens, the hawk's 

 beard. Geatian order : Menyanthes trifoliata, the 

 buck bean, a plant of exceedingly beautiful flowers 

 growing out of the marshy water, whose root 

 is very^bitter, and forms one of our best tonic 

 medicines. Borage order : Myosotis palustris, the 

 true forget-me-not. Nightshade order ; Solanum 

 nigrum "and dulcamara, the black and woody 

 night shades. All the plants of this order are 

 more or less poisonous, and most of them are used 

 extensively in medicine. Many were useJ by the 

 ancients, and the mmdrake was thought to 

 possess miraculous properties, being said to 

 shriek when taken out ot the earth and to cause 



the instant death of anyone who heard its cries. 

 Hence the person who gathered it alnays stopped 

 his ears and harnessed a dog to the root, who, in 

 his efforts to escape, uprooted it, and instantly 

 fell dead. This plant is still much believed in 

 ia country districts. Figwort order: Teromca 

 bauxboumi, Bartsia odontites, red bartsia. 

 Labiate order : Lycopus Europaus, the gipsy 

 wort, named from the Greek, meaoiug wolf's 

 foot, because of a fancied resemblance of the leaf. 

 Several mints, Ballota nigra, the black horehound; 

 Prunella vulgaris, self-heal, the name from the 

 German for quinsy, for which it was thought to 

 be a speciflc. The butter-wort order : Many plants 

 in this tiibe have the property of giving con- 

 sistence to milk, and prevent it separating into 

 either whey or cream, and it is used by the Lap- 

 landers for preparing their delicious solid milk. 

 XJtricularia vulgaris, the bladder wort with its 

 pretty yellow flowers — remarkable because the 

 plant is covered with little bladders. Utricularia 

 minor, the other and rare species of this plant, 

 was also found. Primrose order : Anagallis 

 arvensis. the scarlet pimpernal, the lovely little 

 scarlet flowers of this plant only open in fine 

 weather and then, strange to say, close up almost 

 exactly at two o'clock every day, with such 

 regularity that one could almost set bis watch 

 by" it. Plantain order: Planlago Coronopsus, 

 the buckshorn plantain. Goose-foot order : Cheno- 

 polium alba. Persicaria order : Rumux Hydro- 

 lapathum, the great water dock, a picturesque 

 plant nearly six feet high with exceedingly 

 large leaves, perhaps the largest of any British 

 plant ; it is closely allied to the rhubarb of our 

 gardens. Water star wort order: Callitrichevema, 

 the spring star wort. Nettle order -.—Parietaria 

 officinalis, the wall pcUitory, with its curious little 

 hairy flowers, .vhich, if touched before their ex- 

 pansion, the filaments suddenly spring from their 

 incurved position and throw their pollen on any 

 insect or fly that may have touched the flower. 

 Many people think the effects produced from our 

 English nettles are bad enough, but they are as 

 nothing compared with the effects produced by 

 some foreign species in this order, as the deadly 

 Upas tree or the Java nettle, the sting of which 

 is like the burning of a red-hot iron.and the effects 

 of which may last for a year or even cause death. 

 Frogbit order: — Anacharis alsinastrum, an 

 American plant which was accidentally introduced 

 into Britain, but has spread so rapidly that it has 

 choked up many of our cinals and shallow rivers. 

 In this order occurs the FafHsneria, a curious plant 

 which grows under water, but allows its flowers 

 the benefit of the surlace by means of a long 

 spiral stalk, but as som as the flowers are fertilized 

 the spiral stalks contract and curl up and draw 

 the flowers to the bottom, where the seeds ripen. 

 Hydrocharis Morsus-rane. frogbit, a floating 

 aquatic with creeping stems, round leaves, and 



