398 NORFOLK BOTANY. [January, 



company ; its confederates were Koeniga maritima, Phalaris ca- 

 nariensis, Carduus marianus fSilybum niarianumj, Onopordum 

 Acanthium, Delphinium Consolida, Erysimum cheiranthoides, Mer- 

 curialis annua, and similar productions, which a genuine follower 

 of the new and improved systems of phyto-geography would be 

 ashamed to record. Ignorance of their history and of their names 

 would be a sufficient qualification, ceteris paribus, for admission 

 into the most exclusive and select of botanical coteries. 



Carduus nutans and C. tenuiflorus abound on the verge of the 

 Denes, and also where rubbish is shot. Are these not therefore 

 justly suspected and liable to be shot into the three heaps of re- 

 jectamenta of British plants called Excluded Species ? 



Carex arenaria is present everywhere on the Denes, but it 

 shuns the wet parts and nestles in the dry sands. 



Cerastium arvense is exceedingly plentiful about halfway be- 

 tween Yarmouth and Caistor, beyond the North Battery. Here 

 it is very ornamental. It is sometimes a tall plant and clings 

 to the Furze and other rigid plants like Stellaria graminea, 

 and in other places it is only a few inches high. Is it C. stric- 

 tum in this state ? If it be, it is a very accommodating plant, 

 yielding itself to tlio species-maker like plastic clay to the potter. 



Chenopodium Bonus- Henricus and C. ol'idu m are also very plen- 

 tiful. In the sand and at the bases of the walls the latter is 

 nearly as frequent as Shepherd's Purse. 



The most ornamental sea-sand plants are Eryngium maritimum 

 and Convolvulus Soldanella, the latter especially in the evening, 

 when its fine deep pink blossoms are fully expanded ; the foliage 

 of the latter is beautiful at all times. 



The commonest plants on the Denes are Galium verum — the 

 true Lady's Bedstraw, also one of the most ornamental in the 

 later summer months — and Ononis antiquorum. These luxuriate 

 in the dry sand and consolidate the loose soil. 



Trefoils also abound, but with the exception of T. suffocatum, 

 none of this genus that were seen by us are rare. The Haresfoot 

 also, both the erect form and also the bushy maritime white va- 

 riety, which was observed by Ray and the earlier botanists, but 

 which is neglected by their more learned succsssors. 



The Dog Violet, that which abounds about New Brighton on 

 the western coast, is quite as plentiful here. The long creeping 

 stems of this Violet help to retain and consolidate the shifting 

 sand. 



