1862.] RAMBLES BY THE KIBBLE. 121 



and tlie broad-leaved Cotton- Grass {Erio2)horum latifolium). The 

 little Rock Brakes or Mountain Parsley-Fern {AUosorus crispus), 

 straggling from Cambrian ridges, where it flourishes so abundant 

 and beautiful, clings to one rock only of the Herefordshire Beacon, 

 near Little Malvern, and never spreads from that locality. In the 

 detailed 'Botany of the Makern Hills,' by E. Lees, F.L.S., pub- 

 lished in 1852, and which necessarily took a compass of some 

 miles on either side of the axial chain, the total Phanerogamic 

 Vegetation it is said comprises eight hundred and two plants ; but 

 the far greater proportion of these were gathered on the Silurian 

 strata at the western bases of the hills, and in the country be- 

 tween Malvern and the Severn, Extending botanical investiga- 

 tion to the lower country, various local and uncommon plants 

 may be gathered, especially where the Silurian limestone breaks 

 forth, and in marshy places. I may mention, (Enanthe pimpinel- 

 loides, at Maddresfield ; Bupleurum tetruissimum, below Barnard's 

 Gi-een ; Cynoglossum sylvaticam, at Longdon ; Rumex maritinfius, 

 Lathyrus pahistris (Blue Marsh Vetchling) and Cnicus pratensis, 

 in the wet meadows of Longdon Marsh ; Chrysospjlenium alter- 

 nifolium and Gagea lutea, Purlieu-lane ; Rosa scpium, at Little 

 Malvern; Erodium maritimum (Sea Stork's-bill), near Barnard's 

 Green ; Vicia sylvatica, in Mathon and Cradley Woods ; Lactuca 

 Scariola (Prickly Lettuce), near Welland ; Orchis pyramidalis, 

 at the Croft lirae-quarries; Epipactis purpurata, at Broad was, 

 etc. But I must noAv confine myself to the hills and their out- 

 cropping rocks in particular. 



A remarkable absence of some families may be noted, which 

 could scarcely have been expected. But along the whole Malvern 

 range no species of Erica (Heath) occurs ; the common Ling 

 {Culluna vulgaris) shows itself but scantily; and not a single 

 Lycopodium has been anywhere detected. 



EAMBLES BY THE KIBBLE. 



Buckley Hall, Buckley Delf, Ribchester Bridge, Ribbleton Moor, 

 Higher and Lower Brockho/es. 



About a mile or so from Longbridge, we come to Buckley Hall, 

 a whitewashed house of solid masonry, strong enough almost for 

 a fortress. Its mullioned windows and general style evidence 



N. S. VOL. VI. R 



