212 The Flora of the Cumbrntgc. DhtriH 



It would be well to examine the Germanic plants with a 

 view to obtaining further light on their distribution. 



They are not a simple group but fall readily into three: 



(i) Water or Fen Plants, such as: Stratinti's, /,//"///>, 

 Senecio palitdosus 1 and palustris 1 , Soitr/ftt* jmlustrlx 1 and 

 Damasoniutn, 



(ii) Wood Plants, such as : Primula elatior, Melampyrum 

 crifitatum, Hypopitys Monotropa, ////>vv/x and ('niirnlhir'm. 



(iii) Plants growing in exposed dry situations, such as: 

 SI I cue conn-it and tit 68, Medicago falcata and minima, Tri- 

 folium ochroleucon, Seseli Libanotis, Veronica triphyllos, wrmi 

 and spicata, Aceras anthropopkora, Orchis ii*t/il<it<i, Allium 

 oleraceum and Apera Spica-venti. 



The restricted distribution of the first group can be under- 

 stood when their habitat is taken into consideration. They 

 are fen plants and the fens are characteristic of the east of 

 England. 



This can be expressed numerically. If the census numbers, 

 as given in the 9th Edition of the London Catalogue, are taken 

 and the fen Germanic flora compared with the dry Germanic 

 flora, it is then found that the average number of divisions of 

 the dry Germanic flora is 18, whilst that of the fen is only 13. 



The second group is not so satisfactory, and consists of 

 but few species. Two, Primula elatior and Melampyrum 

 cristatum, seem to be almost limited to woods upon the 

 boulder clay overlying chalk, and as such their distribution 

 is understandable. Ruscus aculeatus requires a hot sun and 

 light soil to perfect its fruit. Convallaria is probably limited 

 in its range owing to the same cause. There is no one factor 

 that can be said to control the distribution of the shade 

 Germanic plants. 



The group of plants inhabiting open ground, either chalk 



or sand, is a large one. Their restricted distribution is not 



merely a question of chalk or no chalk, sand or no sand, fur 



there are extensive sandy commons in Surrey, Berkshire and 



1 Probably now extinct in the district. 



