1862.] PLANTS OF BRAUNTON BURROWS. 355 



minor, Anagallis tenella, Gymnadenia conopsea, Habenaria bi- 

 folia, Isolepis setaceus, and Lastrea Oreopteris. 



10, Torrington Place, Plijmoutli, October \Qtli. 



PLANTS OF BEAUNTON BUEROWS. 



A Few Gatherings on Braunton Burrows, North Devon. 



By the Rev. T. F. Ravenshaav, M.A. 



Some years having elapsed since I had visited this sandy para- 

 dise of botanists, I gladly availed myself of an offered seat in the 

 carriage of some kind friends Avho were intending an excursion in 

 that direction. Our party consisted of four ladies, my old friend 

 and late fellow-curate (an enthusiastic naturalist), and an elderly 

 gentleman, uncle to the ladies, who, having worked botanically 

 most of the northern districts of England, was anxious to inves- 

 tigate the riches of the sandy tract he had long known by name. 



The road from Ilfracombe to Braunton is sufficiently well 

 known that I need not describe it ; enough to say, it is a long 

 pull against collar nearly all the twelve miles, but the sides of 

 the valley are richly wooded, with picturesque masses of rock at 

 intervals, quaint farmhouses, and a nice little trout-stream rip- 

 pling at the bottom, so that though one's progress is rather 

 slow, the eye has plenty of pleasant occupation, and the excur- 

 sion is exceedingly enjoyable. About a mile and a half from 

 "^Cowhe," a road branches off on the right to Mutchoe, and 

 another on the the left to — I forget where ; but on the loose 

 stone wall grows an abundance of Lastrea Fcenisecii in its most 

 recurved form, dwarf, stiflF and curly as the feathers of a Fries- 

 land fowl, scarcely to be recognized for the same plant which one 

 finds luxuriant in Clovelly Wood. Several other dwarf forms of 

 Ferns are also to be found here, e.g. of L. Filix-mas, L. multi- 

 flora, and As^ilenium Filix-foemina. However, our business lay 

 further on. Braunton itself is a large and rather untidy village, 

 lying in a richly- wooded hollow, and possesses a curious dilapi- 

 dated church which is remarkable for a very broad nave without 

 aisles, richly-covered seats, wonderfully good for their date, a.d. 

 1500, and the remains of a large stained-glass window. To get 

 to the Burrows, you have to go through the village and away to 

 the right. We noticed, in passing, several cottages almost covered 



