556 



bundles or faggots of lire wood by the country people ; and parties of 

 children may often be met, coming from the copses, with their arms 

 full of these primitive ligatures, unconscious of the support they are 

 giving to the sometimes mere fanciful conjectures of the classical 

 etymologist.* 



Fraxinus excelsior. In woods, copses, hedgerows, and hilly pas- 

 tures ; everywhere common. The "Fraxinus in sylvis pulcherriraa" 

 is, next to the elm, the tree which attains to the greatest magnitude, 

 as timber, of any indigenous to this island, and is second to none but 

 the oak in value. 



Vinca minor. In woods, copses, groves, and on hedge-banks in 

 lanes, not uncommon and truly wild in various parts of the county ; 

 very rare (in that state) in the Isle of Wight, less unfrequent in a na- 

 turalized condition. Truly indigenous and profusely abundant in a 

 hilly copse called Bottomground, about half a mile west of Idlecombe 

 farm, betwixt Carisbrook and Shorwell (Phytol. i. 328). About St. 

 John's, the Priory, and at Nunwell, naturalized. In a little wood 

 near the house lately occupied by Captain Deare, West Cowes ; Miss 

 G. E. Kilderbee. I found it plentifully some years since in a lane 

 near Twyford, a few miles from Winton, and in a copse betwixt 

 Bramdean and West Meon, 1838. Millam Copse, East Meon, in 

 great plenty; Miss G. E. Kilderbee. Langrish ; Fad. !!! Sinkhorn's 

 Copse, Otterbourne, in great profusion ; Miss A. Yonge. On a high 

 bank betwixt Petersfield and Nurstead, and in a chalky pasture at 

 Privet, near Petersfield, 1848. Hale Down field. Lane betwixt 

 Warn ford and West Meon ; Miss E. Sibley. Doubtless in innume- 

 rable other places, being a plant of decidedly frequent occurence in 

 the woods of the south of England, particularly on calcareous soils, 

 often found covering the greater part of a large copse with a carpet 

 of the deepest verdure, its own lovely flowers interwoven with the 

 primrose and wild hyacinth in all the freshness of vernal bloom and 

 beauty. A native throughout central Europe, from England east- 

 ward to Poland and Russia. 



X Vinca major. Half wild on hedge-banks, in garden fences, under 

 walls, palings, and about shrubberies, frequent; also in woods, thickets, 

 and shady lanes occasionally, always with some, though often but 

 obscure, indications of having become naturalized in such stations. 

 Margin of the copse wood on the shore a little west of Ryde, but 

 sparingly, and only by a made road through the wood, and too near 



* Ligustnim, from Iigo, to tie or bind. 



