446 



lage about four miles north of Doncaster, may be taken as generally 

 characteristic of the vegetation of the limestone formation ; and as I 

 have devoted some years to a diligent canvas of that neighbourhood, 

 I have pleasure in submitting the more interesting of my floral dis- 

 coveries to the notice of the readers of the ' Phy tologist.' 



Ranunculacece. The alluvial meadows near Askern offer plants of 

 Thalictrum minus. Ranunculus Lingua occurs in plenty in the 

 boggy parts of Sutton Common. It flowers very shyly. Helleborus 

 viridis abounds within the moat at Hangthwaite, covering a large 

 space, and flowering very early in the year. Aquilegia vulgaris raises 

 its clusters of beautiful blue flowers in the woods. 



CrucifercB. Cardamine amara grows beside the beck at Adwick. 

 The pink anthers of its flowers contrast pleasingly with the pale deli- 

 cate hue of the petals. 



Violacea. Viola hirta, which occurs solely in chalk districts, 

 usually flowers a few days earlier or later than the sweet violet, with 

 which it grows interspersed. 



Caryophyllea. Cerastium arvense, a true limestone plant, is 

 widely scattered throughout the neighbourhood. Stellaria glauca, 

 whose foliage accords well with the specific appellation, occurs oc- 

 casionally in ditches choked up with herbage. 



Saxifragece. The boggy pastures at Askern are rendered gay in 

 the late autumn months by the white blossoms of Parnassia palustris. 

 Saxifraga tridactylites is widely dispersed, covering old walls and mis- 

 shapen masses of stone. 



LeguminoscB. The Roman Ridge, a remnant of the old northern 

 road to Eboracum, offers many good plants. Among them I may 

 notice in this tribe Astragalus hypoglottis and A. glycyphyllos, both 

 occuring in considerable plenty. Trifolium fragiferum, so remarkable 

 when in fruit for its curiously inflated calyces, is met with in wet 

 pastures, on black boggy soil. 



Rosacea. Potentilla verna grows on the old limestone crags at 

 Smeaton. Those certain indicators of a limestone soil, Sanguisorba 

 officinalis and Poteriura Sanguisorba, are everywhere abundant. The 

 leaves of the latter, when steeped in vinegar, give to it the flavour of 

 cucumber. Rosa villosa I have occasionally noticed. Geum rivale 

 I once gathered at Owston, a village far famed for its excellent cream- 

 cheeses. 



UmbellifertB. The limestone soil is well adapted to this tribe : 

 among others I may notice Pastinaca sativa, Bupleurum rotundifolium, 

 Pimpinella magna and P. Saxifraga, and Sison Amomum. 



