46 



Alkali Works, in Worcestershire, I found a white variety of Campanula patula. This 

 called my attention to the appearance of the species generally, and also to Campanula 

 rotundifolia, both being abundant in the neighbourhood. I observed that the flowers 

 of each species were in every instance much paler that I had been used to see them, 

 and I have not the least doubt that the chlorine, which was then thrown ofi" in great 

 abundance from the alkali works, produced this effect. I am not supposing that the 

 flowers, on expansion, were really bleached by a vitiated atmosphere ; but I believe 

 that the chlorine had an influence on the juices of the plants, and prevented the deve- 

 lopment of the usual colour of their flowers. — Id. 



13. Polypodium Dryopteris and Allosorus crispus grow among rocky debris [on the 

 Malvern Hills], a locality not mentioned in Mr. Newman's beautiful work on British 

 Ferns, and thus proving that the geographical distribution of species can hardly be sa- 

 tisfactorily determined without the extensive aid of local botanists. — Edtvin Lees ; 

 South Cottage, Malvern Wells, July 12, 1841. 



14. Asplenium viride. While on the subject of ferns I will just mention a curious 

 locality for the green spleenwort (Asplenium viride), proving at the same time the te- 

 nacity of existence exhibited by these mural insinuators. About fourteen years ago 

 some plants gathered by the late Mr. T. B. Stretch, of Worcester, fell into my hands, 

 and among them was a specimen of Asplenium viride, ticketed " Ham Bridge, Wor- 

 cestershire." This is an old stone bridge over the river Teme, near Clifton, between 

 Tenbury and Knightsford Bridge. Thinking this a curious habitat for this mountain 

 fern, I took an early opportunity of examining the bridge, and did so for two or three 

 successive years; but my search was vain, for the bridge had been recently repaired 

 and whitewashed (horribile dictu !), and no trace of any fern or even plant could I find 

 upon it. However, in 1836, happening to go that way again, I once more paused and 

 leaned over the parapet of the bridge — scarcely believing my eyes, two specimens of 

 the Asplenium were positively there and well fruited. One I gathered, and left the 

 other as an " egg in the nest." That the fern had been almost obliterated, and its 

 roots completely obscured and hindered from vegetating for some years by the villain- 

 ous whitewash, appears I think very evident ; but this fact seems to suggest that where 

 a fern has once established itself, it may probably be again found after the lapse of years, 

 though at intermediate times of examination apparently extinct. — Id. 



15. Dispersion of Seeds. The modes by which the seeds of plants are transported 

 about, are exceedingly various and well worthy of attention : and perhaps none are 

 more so than those of Syngenesious plants, most of which have a downy egret, as the 

 dandelion, thistle, groundsel, &c. I do not know a prettier sight than a dandelion- 

 seed floating along beneath its feathery plume, on a gentle breeze : now erect, now 

 lightly waving to one or the other side, yet still keeping its position, like the car of a 

 miniature balloon ; till at length it slowly descends, and fixes itself in some crevice of 

 the earth, there to be nourished, far enough from its parent flower. Some seeds have 

 attached to them a broad, thin blade (samara), as the ash, maple, &c., which forces 

 them obliquely through the air, instead of perpendicularly : others are jerked to a dis- 

 tance by a peculiar mechanism in the seed-vessel : others are carried to distances in the 

 stomachs of birds, their vegetative power increased, rather than destroyed, by the pro- 

 cess of digestion. All show a power at work, to which the wisdom of man is foolish- 

 ness. * * One of the most curious of our forest seeds is that of the bass-wood, 

 [Tilia americana, Linn.'] You may see one yonder slowly descending through the air: 

 it whirls round horizontally with great rapidity, as it falls, as if on an axis or pivot. 



