6 BAMBLES ROUND FOLKESTONE. 



Aphaca, but that, like so many good things, belongs 

 to the days of old ; I have never seen it, but Mr. 

 Mackeson, of Hythe, tells me he gathered it there 

 many years ago. But Nissolia is still to be seen, 

 though in greatly diminished numbers, for the path 

 has been cut close by, if not through, the very spot 

 where I saw it every year. The same place was also 

 sacred to the Deptford Pink (Dianthus Armeria) ; I 

 have never seen them elsewhere. I have not been 

 able to find either of them since 1 877, though I have 

 been told of a solitary specimen of each gathered in 

 1879 ; I would fain believe they are still lingering in 

 some unknown, and therefore safe nook. The patches 

 of V. lithynica are rather extensive ; it is a vetch 

 which attracts notice at once by the white wings of 

 the flower, backed by the purple standard. Trifolium 

 and Medicago are represented by several species, and 

 L. pratoisis is here in groves. T. arvense, the Hare's- 

 foot Trefoil grows only in one small patch near the 

 summit above the turnpike gate. 



On the slope below the Old Church the Notting- 

 ham Catchfly (Silene nutans) crowds together, and a 

 smaU patch of the fragrant Butterbur (Petasites 

 fragrans) appears quite naturalized close by. The 

 Fennel (Fceniculum officinale) betrays its presence by 

 its odour just behind the Bathing Establishment, 

 where it is surrounded by tall straggling heads of 

 Charlock (Sinapis arvensis] and its close relation 

 S. alba. A few years ago I found a grand specimen 

 of the Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis) but it has 

 since disappeared. Beyond the turnpike gate the 

 cliff face in May and June is covered with the pretty 

 pink blossoms of Thrift (Armeria maritima), and the 



