[February, 1863.] 417 



LANCASIIIEE BOTANY. 

 Plants of Southport. By Joina Windsor. 



On the 21st of August, 1862, accompanied by a young and 

 ardent botanist, I visited Southport, a well-known marine loca- 

 lity on our Lancashire coast. From being a small village some 

 thirty or forty years ago, it has rather rapidly extended itself, 

 and become now comparatively a large and populous town, pre- 

 senting a very gay appearance on a fine summer's day like that 

 on which we visited it. At that season of the year especially, it 

 is much frequented by the inhabitants of Liverpool, Manchester, 

 etc., partly for health, and partly for pleasure. A few years 

 since, I had an opportunity of visiting it several times, and no- 

 ticing some of its botanical productions; but on this occasion I 

 found that spots where I had before seen several interesting 

 plants were now occupied by human habitations, already erected, 

 and many others in the process of construction. 



Notwithstanding the great increase and striking changes in 

 the town itself, Southport and its neighbourhood within a few 

 miles may still be justly considered to afford a rich field for 

 botanical exploration. I shall now proceed to enumerate the 

 plants which have there presented themselves, adding to my 

 own list the names of some others, specimens of most of wiiich 

 I have this year received from my friends Mr. Kichard Buxton 

 (the author of the 'Manchester Flora') and Mr. Edward Leeds. 

 I may take this opportunity of stating that the latter gentle- 

 man has a garden at Stretford, near Manchester, rich in the cul- 

 tivation, not only of numerous exotic, but of many rare British 

 plants. 



Immediately after our arrival at Southport, about eleven 

 o'clock A.M., we started threugh the town to the north shore 

 and its neighbourhood, to some distance towards the embouchure 

 of the river Ribble, which separates it from the opposite shore 

 of Lytham. 



Of the plants enumerated below, some I collected this year, 

 which I had not previously met with at Southport, and others 

 which I had formerly seen did not present themselves in their 

 old localities on this occasion; but as most of them have been 

 found by others this season, T shall record them here. 



N.S. VOL. VI. 3 H 



