THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 7 



of poUard-trces, and split in every direction by the 

 winter's frost. Where the sunh'ght can penetrate these 

 gloomy hollows, flowers soon open their bright petals, 

 and purple foxgloves and the yellow St. John's wort 

 lend colour to the scene. In early spring the golden 

 saxifrage blooms freely as it did a hundred years ago, 

 and on the very spot where Gilbert White found the 

 green-hellebore or Bear's-foot the plant still maintains 

 a flourishing existence. The tutsan, so precious to 

 the old herbalists, may also be found in the rocky 

 lanes, and ferns now as then abound. But though 

 abundant they are confined comparatively to but few 

 species ; and the rare moonwort, which used to grow 

 at Selborne, has not been seen for many years. 



The Forest of Wolmcr, three-fifths of which before 

 the formation of the parish of Blackmoor lay in the 

 parish of Selborne, is full of interest to the naturalist. 

 Though now partially enclosed and planted with oak 

 and larch trees, snipe and teal continue to breed there 

 in considerable numbers ; and occasionally, especially 

 in hard winters, rarer wild-fowl are seen. White 

 enumerates but few of the forest plants ; he mentions, 

 however, four as growing in the bogs of Bin's Pond. 

 Of these, the round-leaved and the long-leaved sundew 

 still exist in abundance; and the wiry stems of the 

 creeping bilberry, with its bright red flowers and small 

 evergreen leaves, of which the margins are always 

 rolled back, may also be found, but not in any 

 quantity ; while the marsh cinquefoil has altogether 

 disappeared. The fruit of the creeping bilberry makes 

 excellent tarts, and in places where the plant is 

 plentiful is much sought after. Whortleberries — first- 

 cousins to cranberries — known in the district as 

 "whorts," abound on "the dry hillocks of Wolmer 



