1861.] KENTISH BOTANY. 183 



verge of the cliff on which this curious antique pile still remains, 

 defying alike the operations of atmospheric influences and the 

 insidious attacks of Father Time. 



On our way along the flat ground near the river, Rumex pul- 

 cher, Centaurea Calcitrapa, and Sisymbrium Sophia were seen, 

 the latter very sparingly ; also Fceniculum vulgare, Apium grave- 

 olens, Rumex Hyclrolapathum, Ononis spinosa, and Torilis nodosa, 

 in profusion ; Cynoylossum officinale, Hyoscyamus niger, and Py- 

 rethrum maritinmm, the three last-named not so plentiful. 



On the edge of the clifl", in the field close to Richboro', by the 

 hedge, we lighted on some very sturdy remains of Smyrnium 

 Olusatrwn. Not from from this place, there was a long narrow 

 patch of potato-ground, where fine, well-established plants of 

 (Enothera odorata were growing. 



The ruins or remains of Richboro' consist of an external wall, 

 nearly perfect on all sides except toward the sea, which has made 

 considerable encroachments on this part of the coast. The wall 

 is of great thickness, from twelve to twenty feet, and it is proba- 

 bly twenty to thirty feet in height. On the inner side it appears 

 mostly composed of flint, imbedded in mortar now nearly as hard 

 as the flints themselves. On the outside, there are, besides flints, 

 consecutive rows or layers of Roman brick or tile, arranged equi- 

 distantly in a double band.* The vegetation of the wall is chiefly 

 Echium vulgare, Centaurea scabiosa, and a few smaller but equally 

 common plants. 



At the base of the wall, in the interior, the ground is full of 

 Fennel of gigantic growth. This is spreading over the enclosed 

 area, which this season, 1860, was cultivated with barley. The 

 Fennel will grow in any crop, and soon overtops the tallest 

 cereals. 



Fennel, probably because it is a plant usually cultivated in 

 gardens, is a reputed introduction ; and this is probably the case. 

 But all along the coast, by the ditches, hedges, and about the 

 cliffs, it is almost as common as Ajjium graveolens. 



It is very common on the hills, and in the sand-pits between 

 Woolwich and Dartford, where the wild Celery does not grow. 



* If there be any truth in Archdeacon Battely's map, Eiehboro' has been much 

 changed since it was described by Tacitus. The coast and the river are not now 

 where they are laid down in the map of the reverend geographer, who hved many 

 centuries after the Roinan historian. 



