46 Mr. Winch on the Geography of Plants. [July, 



Buch assigns the river Gotha as the northern boundary of the 

 beech, and the province of Halland, in Sweden, as that of the 

 aspen and black poplar (Populus nigra). Lightfoot doubts 

 whether either the white or black poplar are natives of Scotland 

 (see p. 616 and 618) ; nor have I ever seen these trees in a 

 natural wood in the north of England. The lime (Tilea europaea), 

 the chesnut (Fagus castanea), and the hornbeam (Carpinus 

 Betulus), stand in the same predicament. 



Large holly trees (Ilex aquifolium) are among the chief orna- 

 ments of many woods in the county of Durham, as is the yew 

 (Taxus baccata) to the white calcareous cliff's in the romantic 

 Dene at Castle Eden. In Borrowdale, and on the margins of 

 the Cumberland and Westmorland lakes, the birch (Betulaalba) 

 equals in size and beauty the birches of Norway and Sweden ; 

 but it is not found on the mountains higher than the syca- 

 more (Acer Pseudo Platanus), which in these subalpine regions 

 is quite at home. Here too may be seen the mountain ash 

 (Pyrus aucuparia) ; but the white beam (Pyrus aria) may be 

 traced from the High Force of Tees to the sea coast, provided the 

 soil rests upon limestone rocks. The alder (Alnus glutinosus) 

 and marsh elder (Viburnum opulus) accompany every stream, 

 and the hazle (Corylus avellana), black cherry (Prunus cera- 

 sus), bird cherry (Prunus padus), the spindle tree (Euonymus 

 europaeus), the raspberry (Rubus idaeus), the common elder 

 (Sambucus nigra), are found in all the woods from the sea shore 

 to those situated at an elevation of 1 ,600 feet ; but the common 

 maple (Acer campestris) occurs only in the hedges of the flat 

 country which surrounds Darlington. 



The ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and white thorn (Mespilus oxy- 

 acantha), as well as the less useful crab tree (Pyrus malus) and 

 black thorn (Prunus spinosa), abound through the whole district ; 

 but the bullace tree (Prunus insititia) is extremely rare ; and the 

 plumb tree (Prunus domestica), pear tree (Pyrus communis), 

 black and red currants (Ribes nigrum and R. rubrum), the 

 barberry (Berberis vulgaris), and gooseberry (Ribes grossularia), 

 though now of frequent occurrence, I suspect were not originally 

 natives of the soil. The four following shrubs are certainly 

 indigenous : Ribes petraeum, Ribes spicatum (rare), Ribes 

 alpinum, and Ligttstrum vulgare ; but Lonicera xylosteum, 

 which stands on the authority of Wallace, should be expunged 

 from our Flora. 



On the elevated moors between Blanchland, at the head of the 

 Derwent, and Wolsingham, on the river Wear,* and even on the 

 mountains of Cross Fell, at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet, 

 the roots and trunks of very large pines (Pinus sylvestris ?) are 

 seen protruding from the black peat moss, being exposed to view 



* This is the only spot in Britain where Gyrophora glabra of Acliarius has 

 been detected in fructification. 



