130 

 BOTANICAL NOTES. 



By the Rev. A. Let. 



Not many observations were possible during the drive ; but the stream at Withing- 

 ton Marsh vcas bright with the yellow flowers of a plant which is rare in 

 Herefordshire, the Great Water Nasturtium (N. amphihinm) : and at Stoke Lacy 

 the road-side was carpeted with the beautiful Rock Rose (Hclianthetmun imlgare). 

 A rare and curious variety of this was seen in two spots, of which the petals were 

 of a very pale straw colour. Here also a specimen of the pretty Orchis (O. 

 ppramidalis), which is a very local plant, was picked by a member of the Club. 

 One peculiar trait of the Bromyard district is the abundance of the annual wild 

 cabbage, which is called by botanists Brassica Brhjgsii, in all the tillage land and 

 by the road sides. This was noticed directly the neighbourhood of Bromyard was 

 reached ; and, indeed, it extends throughout the district as far as the Teme 

 Valley. Where the Brassica occupies the fields there the common Charlock 

 (Sinapis arvensis) disappears ; and when the Sinapis is in possession, there the 

 Brassica is not to be found ; but the Brassica is accompanied by another Charlock, 

 the Black Mustard (Sinapis nigra) in the tillage land ; while all the thiee species 

 grow together upon the bushy banks of the Wye. 



When Thornbury was reached, the main body of the members proceeded to 

 the Camp, where they met with a profusion of the Larger Broom-rape (Orobanche 

 major) which is a parasite upon the roots of the Common Broom. This plant has 

 been long known to inhabit Thornbury Wall Hills ; the Rev. T. Hutchinson 

 having found it there full thirty years ago. One or two zealous entomologists and 

 botanists turned aside to explore a well-known hunting field, Edwin Wood, where, 

 at least as far as botany was concerned, they were amply rewarded, in spite of 

 the heat, and the crowd of biting insects which rendered their researches a petty 

 martyrdom. Edwin Wood is one of the two sole known habitats in Herefordshire 

 for the beautiful and graceful Solomon's Seal (Convallaria multiflora) which was 

 found there years ago by the late Miss Williams, of Edwin Loach. To-day this 

 rare plant was looked for in vain, and indeed there are no recent records of its 

 having been found ; but the closely-allied and better-known Lily of the Valley 

 (Convallaria majalis) was picked. The wood is clearly part of the aboriginal 

 Herefordshire forest, being full of Ling, and overshadowed with coppice Beech 

 and Mountain-ash. But its chief treasures to the botanist are its local brambles, 

 two at least among the forms of this perplexing tribe, and those very well marked 

 and striking ones, being unique as far as the county of Hereford is concerned. We 

 will not venture upon names in these plants, but we may say that one of them is 

 at least very near the true R. suberectus, of the Devil's Bridge, and the other near 

 the It. foliosus of Warwickshire, but one or both may turn out to be forms new to 

 the British Isles. Both were found in nice flower, and were packed up and 

 brought away in triumph by the botanists. Three Hawkweeds were noticed, one 

 of which (Sieracium murorum) is quite a rare plant in this part of the county : 



