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502 Alexander Goodman More Scientific Papers. 



and the Nodes, broad flat ledges or terraces occasionally break the 

 uniformity of this stupendous barrier of chalk :..... these shelves, 

 technically known as 'meads' and 'greens,' are sometimes of con- 

 siderable extent, one of them, the largest, is called ' Rosehall green,' 

 and can only be approached from the water and in calm weather. . . . 

 A scramble of a few minutes over the huge chalk blocks and up the 

 steep bank of debris by the Wedge Rock brings you to the green, which 

 is thickly clothed with a vegetation, consisting of that staple commodity 

 Samphire, immense tufts of Beta maritima and quantities of a sturdy 

 Daucus, with prodigiously thick and hispid stems, very broad hairy 

 leaves, and great hemispherical and even globose umbels : a gigantic 

 form of Hieracium Pilosella (var. Peleterianum) . . . Parietaria offici- 

 nalis here seen in its most truly native state. . . . Picris hieracioi'des 

 with its parasite burden (Orobanche Picridis), Halimus portulacoides, 

 Sinapis nigra, and Raphanus maritimus, various forms of Artiplex, 

 Armeria vulgaris, Anthyllis Vulneraria (var.), Frankenia laevis, Hippo- 

 crepis comosa, &c., are among the prevailing species on these magnifi- 

 cent bulwarks of our southern line of coast. The influence of the sea air 

 in giving bulk and obesity to many of the plants is very remarkable." 



With reference to the last observation it may be well to mention that 

 the Daucus, and other species inhabiting a similar locality, at White- 

 cliff, are of far less dimensions and " obesity," than their represen- 

 tatives at Freshwater, where the prevailing wind blows direct upon the 

 cliffs, while the plants are growing, and that the effect of the same 

 warm and moist south-west breeze must be very different to that of the 

 chilly and shrivelling winds to which the Whitecliff is exposed in spring. 



After passing the low land at Freshwater Gate rise the Compton 

 Cliffs^ another range of perpendicular chalk, on the face of which 

 flourishes the Sea-stock, in the only station where it is indubitably wild. 



The sandy cliffs at Compton Bay offer a few trefoils, Sclerochloa 

 loliacea, and on a more limited scale resemble in their productions San- 

 down Bay. At Brook Chine reappears Erodium maritimum. At Puck- 

 aster will be noticed a remarkable form of the common Reed, whose 

 stems trail along the ground for a great distance. 



On some rocks near Niton Asplenium marinum used to be found, 

 and may still exist in some sheltered nook where it has escaped the 

 grasping hand of reckless collectors. Trifolium suffocatum has been 

 gathered by the new lighthouse, and with it Sclerochloa loliacea. 



Even at some distance from the sea several marine plants will be 

 found nestling in the crevices or upon the ledges of the overhanging 

 cliffs; Silene maritima, Crithmum, Beta, &c., and in the little coves 

 upon the beach some few others such as Armeria, Glaucium, Sclerochloa 

 loliacea, Beta, &c. ; but littoral plants are remarkably deficient on the 

 southern shores. 



Near Steephill the Sea-stock again occurs, but in a more doubtful 

 locality, and it may be seen even now establishing itself upon many of 

 the declivities about Ventnor Cove, in company with Koniga maritima 

 and the Fennel, another suspected plant. 



