io8 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



new surroundings, and it is not impossible that in 

 years to come, when all memory of its introduction 

 is forgotten, the species will be included in the list of 

 plants indigenous to the county. Another interesting 

 plant, not figuring in the Essex flora, but whose pres- 

 ence was not to be attributed to the agency of man, 

 was accidentally lighted upon by the writer some ten 

 or twelve miles from the castle walls. Riding along 

 on his bicycle near the edge of the low-lying cliff that 

 overlooks the picturesque estuary of the Colne and the 

 wooded shore of Mersea Isle, he got off his machine 

 to admire more at ease the calm beauty of the scene, 

 when there at his feet, with the tire of the back- 

 wheel actually resting upon it, was a beautiful patch 

 of Vicia lutea, the single-flowered yellow vetch. He 

 had never seen the living plant before, and the vision 

 brought with it a surprise and pleasure not soon to 

 be forgotten. 



