434 



grass, clover, turnips, &c. (I have never seen it here in corn), more 

 rarely on dry hedge-banks and waste ground ; by no means uncom- 

 mon in the Isle of Wight, but perhaps in most cases introduced with 

 grass seeds from the mainland. On hedge-banks near Arreton. 

 Plentiful amongst vetches in a field at the south end of Newchurch, 

 June 1st, 1845, and in a grass field at Vinnicombe Barn, near that 

 village, where the proprietor of the land complained of it to me as a 

 most troublesome weed. In several places about Sandown, Shanklin, 

 Newchurch, Godshill, Swainston, Bonchurch, &c, most frequently 

 amongst clover, and hence scarcely persistent in its stations for any 

 time. Near Andover, and seen in plenty by the side of the Andover 

 road, going up the hill from the railway (Andover road) station. 

 Winchester. The fine, large, white flowers are sweet-scented, with 

 an odour, when bruised, like chamomile, but weaker, of which the 

 herbage is nearly destitute, and it is the earliest species of its tribe to 

 come into blossom, which it does here in May, if not sooner. I re- 

 marked in June, 1845, that in a field of vetches at Newchurch, upon 

 which sheep were penned to eat them off, the Anthemis arvensis was 

 cropped clean down to the roots by those animals, and though ex- 

 cessively abundant, not a plant was spared by them. This species 

 ought perhaps rather to be encouraged than otherwise in clover and 

 grass fields, as its sweet, aromatic qualities are probably salutary to 

 stock of most kinds. 



Anthemis Cotula. In waste and cultivated land, especially 

 amongst corn, by way-sides, on dunghills, &c. ; far too abundant 

 over the entire island, if not equally prevalent throughout the county, 

 as I believe it to be. Plentiful in Hayling Island, &c. Mr. Notcutt 

 could not find it about Fareham (Phytol. ii. p. 491). Var. 0. Leaves 

 fleshy, dotted, stem procumbent. In loose sand on the beach at 

 Norton Freshwater. In this variety, which I at first took for Pyre- 

 thrum maritimura, besides the above characters, the pales of the 

 receptacle appeared to be broader or less setaceous than in the usual 

 inland state of the species. This plant is a grievous nuisance to the 

 diligent and thrifty, as it is obnoxious to the negligent or slothful 

 farmer, speedily overrunning the land when not kept clean, and often 

 nearly obliterating the corn crops in this island.* Here it is but too 



* About Cowes, and in many other parts of the island, I have seen the standing 

 wheat so full of morgan as nearly to hide the ground from sight. Amongst the men 

 of the island " whose talk is of oxen,'' but few comparatively of the smaller occupiers 

 of the soil are actuated with the zeal of Triptolemus Yellowley for the advancement 

 of agricultural science, and the contention between Ceres and Flora for the possession 



