XV i. INTRODUCTION. 



Shoreham," of which there is no recent record; Fceniculum 

 vulgare, Common Fennel, in " Pevensey Marsh " ; (Enanthe 

 crocata, Hemlock Water Dropwort; Lathyrus sylvestris, 

 Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea, "I found this first near 

 Poynings " ; Chamcedrys spuria, "Wild or Bastard 

 Germander,'' " at Cockfield, Sussex"; and Filix saxatilis 

 crispa, li Small-branched Stone Fern," of which he says, 

 " I observed this first, growing on the rocks by the seaside 

 in this county, where it was sometimes dashed by the sea 

 water." This was probably Asplenium marinum, which 

 Gerarde describes as " the Female dwarfe Stone Ferae," 

 perhaps now extinct in Sussex. In Dillenius' third edition 

 of Ray's " Synopsis," 1724, a considerable number of Sussex 

 plants are given. 



Of Sussex botanists of the present century the most 

 eminent has been William Borrer, who was born at Henfield, 

 in 1781, and whose knowledge of the plants of his native 

 county was probably unequalled. His ardour in this pursuit 

 began in early life. His brother mentions " that he did not 

 remember the time when he was not enthusiastic in his love 

 for flowers and in his admiration of the vegetable world in 

 general, so that there was no muddy ditch, no old wall, no 

 stock of a tree, no rock or dell, no pool of water, or bay of 

 the sea, that did not add to his delight and open to him a 

 wide field for investigation and enjoyment." He first 

 noticed Isnardia palustris as a British plant in a pool at 

 Buxted, in 1827, and Leersia oryzoides was first discovered 

 by him in Henfield Levels. Many other species were also 

 noted by him, for the first time, as growing in Sussex. As 

 an authority on the Rubi, Rosae, and Salices, the most 

 difficult genera in our Flora, he ranks among the highest. 

 He resided at Henfield, and continued his favourite 

 recreation for more than half a century, dying in 1862. It 

 is much to be regretted that he published scarcely anything 

 in his own name in a separate form, although he was a 

 constant contributor to the scientific journals of his day. 

 " The Old Botanist's Guide," by Turner and Dilwyn, 1805, 

 afforded a list of rarer Sussex plants, with localities, chiefly 

 by Borrer ; but containing some by Goodenough, Forster, 

 and J. Woods. Watson's " New Botanical Guide," 1835-37, 

 has many additions by Rev. G. E. Smith, Sir W. C. 

 Trevelyan, Dr. W. A. Bromfield, Rev. W. H. Coleman, and 

 others. To " Horsfield's History of Sussex" (1835), Mr. T. 



