FLORA OP THE CHESIL BANK AND THE FLEET. 253 



distinct species ; it had previously been confused with (E. 

 Lachenalii, C. Gmel. a very different plant. It is implied in 

 the Flora of Dorsetshire, Ed. II., 133, that (E. pimpinelloides 

 shuns the neighbourhood of the sea, but this is by no means the 

 case ; it is plentiful on the coasts of Dorset and Hants, and less 

 so on that of South-east Devon. 



On reaching the Bank, we are at once struck by the profusion 

 of the Sea Bladder Campion (Silene maritime, With.), but the 

 plant seems not quite typical. 6". maritima is described in the 

 text books as having the petals " shortly cleft" ; in our plants 

 they are cleft nearly or quite to the base of the laminae. 



The vegetation of the inner shore of the Fleet differs much 

 from that of the outer or Chesil Bank shore ; the soil of the 

 outer shore is pebbly, with but a small admixture of sand, while 

 that of the inner shore is stony and gravelly, consisting of the 

 debris from the adjoining land banks. Consequently, in both 

 cases we miss a large proportion of sand-loving plants. 



As might be expected, the Goosefoot Tribe (Chenopodiaceoi] is 

 the best represented. Every British genus is present, including no 

 less than 14 species. One of the most interesting of these is the 

 Shrubby Sea-Blite (Suceda fruiicosa, Forsk.). It forms a hedge of 

 dense bushes a few yards above high-water mark, and is quite 

 a feature on the Chesil Bank from Smallmouth to Abbotsbury. 

 It somewhat resembles the Juniper at a little distance, and is 

 decidedly ornamental. The wood is very hard ; the young 

 branches are reddish, the seeds black and exquisitely polished. 

 It is evergreen, bearing well the exposure of this stormy coast. 

 It has a real historic interest, too, for it was discovered here- 

 abouts by that eminent physician and author of Norwich, Sir 

 Thomas Browne, the tercentenary of whose birth we are about 

 to commemorate. This was, in all probability, about the year 

 1630, on Sir Thomas' way to or from France, when, as a young 

 man, he was studying medicine on the Continent. To have had 

 amongst the recorders of our flora the author of that classic 

 volume, " Religio Medici," translated within a very short time 

 of its publication into nearly half the languages of Europe a 



