54 KENTISH BOTANY. [February, 



classed^ on liigh authority, among the suspected natives, and pro- 

 bably some would not hesitate to reject its claims even to a place 

 among the excluded species. In Thanet and North Kent (be- 

 tween Lee and Keston Common, see ' Phytologist,' vol. v. p. 384) 

 it is by far the most conspicuous of its genus. In the clover- 

 fields especially, but in the fields generally, it is quite as common 

 as B. mollis. There is in these places no grass so common, 

 with the exception of the commonly cultivated Ray grass, Lolium 

 j)erenne. As a " temporary straggler'^ this plant does not appear 

 in Thanet, nor in North Kent. The corn and clover fields in the 

 island are full of it. If Bromus arvensis is not yet naturalized, it 

 is in a fair way of speedily becoming so ; no grass is more com- 

 mon here than this, except Lolium perenne as above said, which 

 is universally cultivated. Are there any botanists who question 

 its claims to rank among acknowledged British productions? 

 Lolium multiflorum., a more valuable grass than L. perenne for 

 either green or dry fodder, is neglected in Thanet : a few strag- 

 gling plants only were seen near Margate. This Grass is in- 

 creasing in the vicinity of London, a proof that it constitutes a 

 no small portion of the hay consumed in the Metropolis. When 

 the Kentish farmers have ascertained its value, we may expect to 

 see it dispersed as a weed and as plentiful in their tillage-lands as 

 is now Bromus arvensis. 



The maritime or coast plants are far more numerous and im- 

 portant than the agrarials, or than such of them as we saw in 

 Thanet last August (1861). 



From Margate we searched the entire coast by Fairness, Kings- 

 gate, the North Foreland, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, and Pegwell 

 to Pegwell Bay, with the following results. At Broadstairs 

 the entire face of the cliff, which is here nearly perpendicular, 

 and in some parts probably near two hundred feet high, was 

 covered with the following plants, viz. : — Centranthus ruber, most 

 abundant and verj luxuriant ; Cheiranthus Cheiri, very fine and 

 nearly as plentiful ; Matthiola iucana, not quite so numerous as 

 the two former, but equally well naturalized ; Beta maritima and 

 Arenaria marina grew both on the rock and also on the debris at 

 its base. 



The most remarkable maritime plants observed at Pegwell Bay 

 were Frankenia lavis, not very common ; Althaa officitialis, only 

 one plant or bush, but a large one ; Cakile maritima ; Eryngium 



