[June, 1859.] 161 



NOTES ON THE BELGIAN ELORA. 



A List of Plants growing wild in Belgium, and which are either 

 rare or not indigenous in England. 



The following is not by any means a complete list of all the 

 rare or interesting plants to be found in this country^ but 

 merely such as I have collected myself, chiefly within walking 

 distance round my home, near Dinant-on-the-Meuse, in the 

 province of Namur. My guides in determining them have been 

 the ' Compendium Florae Belgicse' of Lejeune and Courtois^ and 

 the ' Flore de Namur' of the Abbe Bellynck. 



I suppose I ought to say something about climate, geological 

 formation, etc. 



With regard to the former, I can state from experience that 

 the air is pure and bracing, owing to the elevation, which is said 

 to be between 1200 and 1500 feet above the level of the sea. 

 In summer, the reflection of the sun's rays from the rocks pro- 

 duces intense heat during the midday hours, but the mornings 

 and evenings are delightfully cool, a fresh breeze springing up 

 at sunset which lasts through the night. 



The winters are generally severe, beginning with heavy falls 

 of snow, followed by long- continued frosts. The present season 

 has been here, as elsewhere, exceptionally mild. , 



I am told, and that on excellent authority, that the strata in 

 this province form part of the Old Red Sandstone system of 

 Hugh Miller. If so. Dr. Arnold was right when he said it was 

 not Sandstone but Limestone (much of it carboniferous) , for this 

 latter certainly prevails to a considerable extent, alternating with 

 a crumbling sort of slaty shale. Some of our plants grow in- 

 differently on both, while others particularly affect one or the 

 other. 



Following the example of other contributors to the ' Phy- 

 tologist,' I give my list alphabetically, without reference to any 

 system, natural or artificial. 



Actcsa spicata. Growing singly on the limestone in many 

 places. Huins of Poil-vache, etc. 



Allium sphcerocephalum. Abundant on the rocks in this neigh- 

 bourhood, which are quite gay with its globular heads of 

 pink flowers, through great part of the summer. 



N. S. VOL. III. Y 



