_—O 
353 
Mr. Broome has kindly sent in the following notes of the 
botanical part of the day’s excursion :— 
It was asked on the excursion of the Field Club on the 25th inst. to send a 
note of any plant that might tnrn up on our way which is not of every day 
occurrence. At Cheddar nothing was seen beyond the usual plants of that 
locality ; it was satisfactory, however, to see the pink growing freely on the 
rocks just out of reach of passers-by. Polypodium calcarewm was in great 
luxuriance, happily too abundant to be exterminated by collectors however 
greedy they may ve. Thalictrum minus also was conspicuous from its foliage, 
so like that of an Adiantum, but it was not yet in flower. Cistopteris fragilis 
was also there, though not very plentiful. On the heaps of rubble about the 
lead workings, Thlaspi alpestve was growing scattered about; this plant seems 
to be, so far as I can discover, new to Somersetshire, and it is somewhat sin- 
gular that it occurs about the lead- workings also in Derbyshire, as I am told 
by Mr. Blomefield; it does not appear that it could have been carried to the 
Mendips from any other locality, as no material for use in the works has been 
taken to the place; it may, therefore, be fairly considered to be indigenous. 
We passed a field full of Orchises of various colours on our way to Burrington, 
but there was no time to inspect them closely. It is observable how these 
plants abound in certain confined localities. A single meadow often contains 
great numbers of them, of perhaps four or five different species, while adjoin- 
ing fields scarcely yield any. In a meadow near Batheaston there occur 
Orchis mascula, O. maculata, O. morio, both of various colours. O. conopsea, 
0. pyramidalis, Habenaria viridis, Ophrys apifera, and Listera ovata. The 
adjoining meadows yield a few of each, while in those a few hundred yards 
away scarcely one is to be seen. The soil of the meadow so rich in these 
plants consists of a fine sandy loam. I may mention also that Nephrodium, 
Oreopteris and the dark-stemmed form of Asplenium filix femina were seen 
in Burrington Combe. 
June 22nd.—Excursion to Caerphilly Castle—This was a two 
day’s excursion, and as the Secretary was prevented from accom- 
panying the members, he is indebted to Mr. Henry Inman for 
the following notes :— 
Sixteen members of the Club met at the Great Western Rail 
way Station for the excursion to Cardiff and Caerphilly, and were 
joimed by two others at Bristol. On their arrival at Cardiff, 
they were met by Mr. Drane, one of the most active members of 
