The Flora of England 



places by the growth of towns, and by cultivation, 

 but that is all ; they still carry on the battle of 

 life elsewhere. But if the flora of ancient Britain 

 still exists, it has been largely increased. If we 

 go to any good British Flora, such as Hooker's 

 or Babington's, we shall find so many species 

 marked as aliens or introductions, that though I 

 have not counted them, I feel sure that I am 

 right in saying that at least one-eighth or more 

 of the plants which now fairly find a place in 

 British Floras are not really indigenous. These 

 strangers have come to us in many ways. Many 

 are garden escapes, some come from the ballast 

 heaps on the sea coast, some may have been 

 brought by birds, who are everywhere great 

 distributors of seeds, and some, as on the West 

 Coast of Ireland, are waifs from the Atlantic. 

 Without going minutely into these, I will mention 

 a very few conspicuous strangers, to show how 

 our Flora is gradually being enriched. The great 

 evening primrose of the coast of Lancashire is 

 undoubtedly a garden escape, and so is the sweet- 

 scented coltsfoot, so valuable as one of our earliest 

 spring flowers. The lily of the valley is a very 

 doubtful native, while the snowdrop is certainly 

 a foreigner, and where found apparently wild is 

 probably a survivor from some old mediaeval 

 garden. And I have always felt certain that the 

 white water lily is not a true British native south 

 of the Trent, though a true native in Scotland. 

 My proof is only negative, but I cannot fancy 

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