1054 



Polypodium calcareum. As I was " moving on," I had not that oppor- 

 tunity of observing the neighbourhood so closely as I should other- 

 wise have desired. Amongst the grass at the foot of Rhaglan Castle 

 was one plant of Listera Nidus-avis ; tu^o or three more of these pecu- 

 liar, withered-looking plants were afterwards seen by the roadside 

 between Monmouth and Tintern. On and near the noble ruins of 

 Rhaglan, ferns are plentiful. Its walls produce Asplenium Trichoma- 

 nes, A. Rula-muraria, A. Adiantum-nigrum, Ceterach officinarum, 

 Polypodium vulgare, and its var. Camhricum, in which latter the 

 lobes are frequently bipinnatifid, and Scolopendrium vulgare ; whilst 

 at their base grew Asplenium Filix-foemina, Hook., Aspidium Filix- 

 mas, A. aculeatum, and Pteris aquilina. Besides these, the woman 

 resident in the castle informed me that a gentleman, lately there, told 

 her that "a rare fern" grew in the keep. I looked very diligently, 

 but failed to discover any other besides the above. I forgot to men- 

 tion that an old man at Goodrich Castle stated to me, that the adder's- 

 tongue grew plentifully in a wood near ; and that ointment made with 

 it was still in use amongst the poor people in that vicinity. It is fre- 

 quently asked for at chemists' shops in Worcestershire, and is made 

 by the inhabitants in some parts. 



From Monmouth I proceeded to Tintera, where, 1 believe, a bota- 

 nist might profitably spend a month or two. My stay was short ; but 

 amongst the plants I saw were the following : — Ophioglossum vulgatura 

 (sparingly in a meadow about a mile from the abbey), Anthyllis Vul- 

 nerai'ia (on a chalky bank near the base of the WyndclifF, but I could 

 see it in no other place), Listera ovata, Habenaria chlorantha, Lysi- 

 machia nemorum, Blechnum boreale, Cardamine impatiens, and 

 Melica nutans (abundant in most of the woods). Aspidium dilatatum, 

 Rubns IdaBUS, Hypericum Androsaemum, and H. pulchrum occur 

 sparingly in several places. In a wood, locally known as Blackcliff 

 Wood (I presume, from the dingy appearance of the crags that over- 

 look it, and around which the piercing cry of the kite may be fre- 

 quently heard by day, and the deep hooting of the owl by night), 

 Convallaria majalis and Allium ursinum grow in siich profusion, that, 

 in walking through them, the combined odour of garlic and lily is by 

 no means agreeable. Were it not that, as in most cases, the sweet- 

 ness predominates over the disagreeable, the pedestrian vvho had 

 once ventured would, a second time, be more careful in adhering to 

 the beaten path, and thus leave the perfume of the garlic to slumber 

 in its cells. So excessively plentiful are the lilies of the valley, that 

 children may be daily met wending their ways to Chepstow, to dispose 



