11 



BOTANICAL NOTES, 1910. 



On August 29th I was in Fredville Park, about a quarter of a mile to the east of the maneion 

 house, on the outlook for Ifungi, when I was overt iken by a shower. I took refuge under a sweet 

 chestnut tree {Castanea sativa). Whilst waiting for the shower to pass I nofcicod that the bole of 

 the tree is very thick. Measuring it with my outstretched [arms I found that it must be roughly 

 30ft. in circumference. Going back on September 10th with a tape, I found that the circumference 

 4ft. above the ground is 28ft. lin. Another tree naarer the house is 20ft. 3in. in girth at the same 

 height. There are five or six other trees in this park of considerable girth, in Knowlton and 

 Waldershare Parks there are also some pretty large sweet chestnuts. In Howletts Park, near 

 Bekesbourne, there are also some sweet chestnuts of considerable girth. One, which I measured 

 by the stretch of my arms, I found to be roughly 20ft in circumference. In the " Flora of Kent," 

 by Hanbury and Marshall, p. 315, it is stated that this tree is ''frequently planted in woods and 

 copses." Curiously, this handbook <Joes not mention that this tree is also frequently planted in 

 parks, where the oldest and the finest trees are found. In Boulger's " Familar Trees," vol. ii., p. 43, 

 it is recorded that at " Bui'gate, near Godalming, in Surrey, is a grove of some twenty splendid trees, 

 two of which exceed 19ft in girth." These trees come far short of the giant in FredviUe Park, the 

 girth of which exceeds 2Sft. It would be interesting to know the girths of the largest sweet chest- 

 nuts in Kent and to have them recorded in the proceedings of your Society with a view to determine 

 their rate of growth. No doubt the sweet chestnut is most probably an alien ; yet it is one of the 

 commonest trees in England, where it has been growing for seven hundred years at least. This 

 being the case, it is right not only that it should be mentioned in a hand book like the '* Flora of 

 Kent," as has been done, but also that one of the commonest habitats, and perhaps the most unim- 

 portant one, namely, " parks," should be recorded. 



I was told by Mr. Hanbury that Lactuca virosa (acrid lettuce) was growing on the cliffs above 

 the sea opposite Folkestone. On September 5th I went along and found it growing there pretty 

 abundantly, but I have a suspicion that it may have been sown. I found this plant also growing at 

 the eastern end of Sandgate, above the Lower Sandgate Eoad. On October 7th I found, about a 

 quarter of a mile behind the Lydden Spout Coast Guard Barracks, the closely allied species : Lactuca 

 scariola (prickly lettuce). I noticed only one plant. 



On October 26th I fouml Physalis ^>fi-«i-ia.(ia (cape gooseberry) (Kew), growing in the Coombe 

 Valley, near Dover. I found it on a rubbish heap at some distance from houses. There were two or 

 three patches of it. One remarkable thing about it is that it is not mentioned in any of the books 

 on the alien plants that I have. It was first noticed by a school boy. 



The following are believed to be new habitats for the plants mentioned : — 



Ranunculus Jluitans, Westenhanger (June 6) 



Petasiies officnalis (butter bur), behind Polton Church (April 25). 



Galium uliginosum (rough marsh bedstraw), Gibbon's Brook (June 6). 



Pedicularis sylvatica (dwarf red rattle), Gibbon's Brook (June 6). 



Lathyris silvestris (narrow leaved everlasting pea), Woolwich Wood and Eastling Wood, near 

 Whitfield. 



Alropa Belladonna (deadly nightshade), Bourne Park, in several places pretty abundantly 

 (September 19). 



The following are the most noteworty fungi I have come across during the year : — 



Boletus satanas (rare), Knowlton Park, found by Mr. Sidney Webb, identified by me. 



Poyporus chioneus (uncommon) (Kew), Eastling Wood, near Whitfield. 



Clavaria contorta in a wood at St. Alban's Court, near Chillendea, first noticed by Mr. Douglas 

 Webb, identified by me, confirmed at Kew. 



Mr. Sidney Webb and I were both struck by the paucity of mushrooms {Agaricus campestris) 

 and of faii-y ring champignons {Marasmius oreades) we saw this year in our botanical peregrinations. 



JOHN TAYLOR, M.A., B.D. 

 18, Liverpool Street, Dover, 

 December 30, 1910. 



The season of 1910 has not been very satisfactory from a botanical point of view, the continued 

 wet weather during the spring and summer has prevented me from doing much field work. Mr. W. 

 R. Jeffery, Mr. C. Viggers and I had a pleasant botanical excursion on the Downs near Crundale.Wye, 

 and Chilham on June 5, and again on July 14 (with Mr. Jeffei*y) we found many Interesting plants on 

 the chslk dov-^ns, Ruscus aealealus, Paris quadrifolia, Monotropa (growing on beech roots), and also 

 many of the common orchids Although Orchis hirdna was reported to have been found in the district 

 we were not successful in finding a single plant of that interesting species, although we traversed 

 some very likely grovind for it. The scarcity of Orchis fusca was very noticeabl-^, and on close 

 examination we found that many specimens had been systematically cut off, leaving just the radical 

 leaves. Of course, *"i.is is better than if the plants had been pulled up altogether, but some restric- 

 tion seems necess <ry to prevent extermination of this plant by mere collectors who are not botanists, 

 reserving the right to botanists to gather specimens for study. 



A suggestion has been made in the Sdhourne Magazine to devise a method to prevent the 

 extermination of rare British plants, if necessary, by legislation, and the Devonshire County Council 



