376 KENTISH BOTANY. {December, 



Point, or, with less risk, skirt the base of the imderclifF along 

 the beach, or leave the imprint of his foot on the sands and far- 

 famed fossil bank beyond. Everywhere he will find much to 

 interest and delight him. To the geologist and collector of fossils 

 this district is especially interesting ; every tide reveals fresh spe- 

 cimens, the constant falling of the gault brings to light others. To 

 the marine zoologist and seaweed-lover the sands and rock-puddles 

 afford, at low tide, never-ceasing sources of interest. Your cor- 

 respondents have told us what to expect in the botanical way, 

 and to their record I beg to add a few words. 



Papaver somniferum not only grows at the base of the cliff, but 

 also, as your present correspondent knows to his cost, in less 

 accessible situations. Accompanied by the partner of his joys and 

 woes, he was attempting to descend the cliff by a disused and 

 rugged pathway ; a small part of the descent had licen accom- 

 plished, when a sudden squall of wind, rain, and hail — such hail! — 

 attended by thunder and lightning, arrested their progress, and 

 compelled them to remain on a little ledge of rock, overhung by 

 a projecting block of chalk, a station which, under the circum- 

 stances, seemed anything but secure, not to say comfortable. 

 However, while waiting here, to allow the storm to abate its 

 fury a little, before retracing our steps, we caught sight of 

 Papaver somniferum and Iris foetidissima, the latter in fruit. 

 Specimens in our herbarium attest the fact, and compensate for 

 the thorough soaking, and whitewashing to boot, that we got on 

 that day. Centaurea Calcitrapa and a curious variety of Origa- 

 num, vulgare are to be found hereabouts ; the latter I think I have 

 seen named as O. vulgare, var. cylindrostachya, or prismato- 

 stachya, I do not remember which ; at any rate, the inflorescence, 

 in place of being in globular masses, is lengthened out more into 

 the form of a spike ; the bracts, moreover, being increased in 

 number, size, and intensity of colour, so that the appearance of 

 the plant differs much from that of the ordinary form. 



One of the most remarkable things to be noticed here, is the 

 well-marked difference in the vegetation of the chalk and of the 

 gault clay. Your geological readers who may have visited this 

 charming spot, will know how clearly defined is the boundary 

 between the two formations : the character of the vegetation is 

 hardly less clearly definable. On the one side are the well- 

 known chalk plants, in all their luxuriance and beauty, many of 



