359 



Scotland and the north and west of England, towards the low south- 

 eastern countries lying nearest to Belgium." In Yorkshire, accord- 

 ing to the table given, there are 36 ferns and 1002 flowering plants; 

 or 1 to 28 : the Faversham and East Kent Flora, on the contrary, fur- 

 nishes only 13 ferns and 806 flowering plants, or 1 to 62 : these being 

 the extreme proportions afforded by the twenty Floras examined. — 

 The Midland Flora has 23 ferns and 840 flowering plants, or 1 to 37. 



Mr. Watson remarks that " York is pre-eminently the county of 

 ferns; " for although the author of the Yorkshire Flora "has multipli- 

 ed species more than many other writers on local Botany," the ferns 

 are really most numerous in that county. This the author attributes 

 to various causes, such as its central position, and the diversified cha- 

 racter of the country ; " the climate of its low vales being sufficiently 

 mild for the growth of species which shun the northern counties of 

 Scotland, without being too warm or dry for the growth of boreal spe- 

 cies, to which the hilly districts of its western border are particularly 

 suited, as well as to the production also of the more exclusively moun- 

 tain species." Then again its coast furnishes Asplenium marinum, 

 and its various soils and rocks are adapted for those species which are 

 attached to particular formations. 



In Cambridgeshire there are 14 ferns and 847 flowering plants, or 

 the ferns are as 1 to 60. This paucity of ferns is also explained by a 

 reference to the character of the county. A large portion consists of 

 low fens, with but little wood and few hedge-rows; "much of the rest 

 is composed of gentle undulations of chalk," of inconsiderable eleva- 

 tion, with few trees and little water. 



" Moray ranks next to Yorkshire in the high proportion of its ferns," 

 (1 to 30). This is accounted for by "the rigid exclusion of introdu- 

 ced species of flowering plants" by the author of the Moray Flora. — 

 On the other hand the number of flowering plants in Northumberland 

 and Durham is high (1030), in consequence of" the addition of many 

 species brought to the coasts of those counties in ship ballast." In 

 the absolute number of species (28) the ferns of these counties rank 

 next to Yorkshire, although, from the cause above mentioned the pro- 

 portion borne by them to flowering plants is much lower, (1 to 37). 



It is evident from the variation in the number of ferns in the seve- 

 ral districts, that some species must have a partial range ; accordingly 

 it appears that " no one of the district Floras includes all the native 

 species, whilst about half of these Floras include fewer than half of 

 the species." Some species are so widely diffused and so abundant in 

 individuals, that they are probably to be found in every county ; others 



