54 NOTES ON A SALT-MARSH AT BRANSTON. 
The little ditch No. IV., running into the marshy one near its 
rise, contained Apzum and Juncus Gerardi, this with the last being 
the only places in which we found this undoubted salt-marsh rush 
growing. The banks of the Ditches V. and VI., between the last 
one and the village of Branston, are overrun with plants of the 
wild celery, and analysis shows that the water of V. contains 106°1 
parts of chlorine, and that of VI. 74.5. The water of No. V. tastes 
strongly brackish, and that of No. VI. slightly so. 
We were unable to detect the occurrence of a single maritime 
plant on the tract of land to the north-west and north of the 
Lichfield Road with the single exception of Rumex maritimus, 
which was growing in a shallow pit, Pond No. VII., at the back of 
Branston House. umex, as we have before remarked, is not 
absolutely confined to salt water, and analysis decidedly showed 
this, for the water only contained the merest trace of chlorides. 
Though a spot to the north of this is marked as ‘‘ Branston 
Marsh” on the Ordnance Map, we were unable to find water, let 
alone marsh plants, owing, it is said, to the pumping operations of 
Messrs. Bass & Co. at Shobnall. No maritime plants could be 
found to the east and north-east of Branston, save a solitary plant 
of Scirpus Tabernemontani, which was found in a pit opposite to 
Drakelow Hall. Analysis of the water, however, showed that it 
only contained 2°3 parts of chlorine. 
The salt-marsh at Branston seems, then, to be bounded by the 
following limits :— 
On the north by the village of Branston, on the east by the 
River Trent, on its western side by the Lichfield Road, and on the 
south by a line about one mile south of Branston. It comprises 
roughly an area of 140 acres. 
The following is a table of the analytical results obtained :-— 
Chlorine. Total Solids. 
Parts per 100,000. 
Ditch No. 3, 1st Sample fe 5 MLOOZEA. eco -» 539°8 
“1 3, 2nd ee , a ETA SOF GRE nal QS 
aS 5 ae : : Saul MOOS TAs “ae : 
Stel coy A745 
ie I, 2nd Sample .. 68:20 
Spring in Ditch No. Be ol meer erat OO S20 
Ditch No. 1, Ist Sample aC «» 48°95 2 A 241°6 
