1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



619 



would be to its rapid ditJusion, whilst in the other 

 case, it would be to its destruction. 3rd. The ac- 

 tion of poil upon the excrenieniilious matier de- 

 posited by plants, will also affect their distribution. 

 As has been remarked in a previous part of this 

 essay, this e.\crenientiiious matter ditiers much in 

 the case ofditierent plants; in son)e cases pos- 

 sessinif an alkaline, in others an acid character. 

 If it be of an acid character, and the soil coniains 

 some salefiable base with which that acid may 

 unite, and by which it m ly be neutralized, such 

 for instance as lime, the aciion of the soil will be 

 ol" such a nature as to favor the plant's ijrowlh 

 and increase ; but if on the other hand the soil al- 

 ready contain an acid, its action, or rather its want 

 of action will be of such a nature as to result in 

 the entire extirpation of the plant. In such ways 

 as these, the nature of the soil, must always have 

 great influence in deiermining the habitation of 

 plants. 



As a thorough knowledge of this matier will 

 admit of some important practical applications, 

 and as I am not aware that any extensive series 

 of observations on this subject has ever been made 

 in this couniry, I will give a list of those plants 

 which are considered peculiar to particular soils in 

 England, extracted from Loudon's Encyc!opa3dia 

 of Agriculture; substituting fi^r the common Eng- 

 lish names, those which are common in this coun- 

 try, so far as they are known. Loudon's ar- 

 rangement of soils is, as clayey, calcareous, sandy, 

 feruginous, peaiy, salirje, moist or aquatic and 

 dry. 



1st. "An argillaceous or clayey soil may be distin- 

 guished in most parts of Europe by the growtli of 

 the (bllovving plants. 



Tussilago farfara, (colts-foot.) 

 Thalictrum flavum, (yellow-flowered meadow 

 rue.) 

 Polentilla anserina, (tansey chinquefoil.) 



" argentea, (silver five-finger.) 

 Carex, (many species,) (sedge grass.) 

 Juncus, (many species,) (buUrush.) 

 Orobus tuberosus, (tuberous bitter-vetch.) 

 Lotus major, (no common name known.) 



" corniculatus, " 



Saponaria officinalis, (soap-wort bouncing-bet.) j 

 Of these, the first mentioned, viz. the Tussilago 

 farfara, is a certain and universal sign of an ar- 

 gillaceous soil, and is the chief plant found on the 

 alluminous grounds of Brittain, France and Italy. 

 2nd. Plants indicative of a calcareous soil. 

 Veronica spicata, (spiked brook lime.) 

 Gallium pusillum, (little bed-straw.) 

 Comparula glomerata, (no common name 

 known.) 



Prismatocarpus hybridus, " 



Phyteuma orbiculare, '■' 



Verbascum lychnilis, (lychnitis mullein.) 

 Viburnum lantana, (hobble-bush.) 

 Berberis vulgaris, (barbeny.) 

 Helianthemum vulgare, (no common name 

 known.) 



Anemone Pulsatilla, " 



Clematis vitalba, (white-veined Virgins bower.) 



Onobrychis saliva, (no common name known.) 



Of these, the last mentioned is considered the 



surest indicator of a calcareous soil in England. 



The first mentioned, viz. the Veronica spicata, I 



am inclined to think is the Marl Indicator. At 



any rate, this much is certain ; that the V. spicata 



is a species not described in any American botany 

 to which I have had access, and the specific name 

 spicata, would apply to the Marl Indicator, (judg- 

 ing Irom the engraving given in the Kegisler,) as 

 properly as to any other species of Veronica; and 

 moreover the fact that the V. spicata indicates the 

 presence of calcareous mailer in the soil has been 

 observed in Europe, and lately the same observa- 

 tion has been made resfieciing the Marl Indicator, 

 which is ascertained to be a species of Veronica, 

 in this country. From my own observation, I 

 would place among the foremost in the list of 

 plants indicating calcareous soil, one which Loudon 

 liiis not mentioned; the Lithospernyum officimale, 

 (stone seed or Gromwell.) This is a plant very 

 atjundani in all the lime-stone portions of the val- 

 ley, and I never have seen it but once in Eastern 

 Virginia, and that was in the county of Prince 

 Edward, on a narrow vein of a peculiar species of 

 marl, the only calcareous soil in all that section of 

 country. If it indicates the presence of calcareous 

 matter in the soil, it will do so, not by growing in 

 a stream which in some part of its course haf? 

 flowed throucrli a marl bed, but by growing on the 

 very spot where the marl exists. The L. offici- 

 male grows to the height of from 6 to 12 inches, is 

 a tough looking hairy plant, has its leaves situa- 

 ted in pairs on opposite sides of its stem, blossoms 

 very early in the season, continues in blossom 5 

 or 6 weeks, and bears a bunch of cup-shaped flow- 

 ers of a peculiar orange-yellow color. Later in the 

 season, four hard shining black seeds may be found 

 in the bottom of each of the persistent calices, and 

 hence its common name of stone-seed. Whether 

 it <rrows in all calcareous soils I cannot tell, but of 

 this I am quite certain, that it grows in none but 

 soils of that character. 



3id. Plants indicative of a silicious soil. 



Veronica triphyllos, (three-leaved speedwell.) 

 " verna, (summer speedwell.) 



Echium italicum, (no common name known.) 



Herniaria glabra, " 



" hirsuta, " 



Silene anglica, (catch-fly. J 



Arenaria rubra, f red sand-worf.) 



Spergula arvensis, (corn spurry.) 



Papaver hybridum, (hybrid poppy.) 



Of these, the Arenaria rubra, is considered in 

 Europe, the unfailmg indicator of a poor sandy 

 soil. 



4ih. Plants indicative of a ferruginous soil, i. e. 

 a soil containing a large portion of oxide of iron. 



Rumex acetosa, (horse sorrel.) 

 " acetosella, (sheep sorrel.) 



5th. Plants indicative of a peaiy soil. 



Vaccinium myrlillus, (myrtle-leaved whortle- 

 berry.) 



Vaccinium uliglnosum, (winter-green whortle- 

 berry.) 



Oxycoocus palustris, (craneberry or cranberry.) 



Spergula subniaia, (no common name known.) 



Tormentilla oflicinalis, " 



6ih. Plants indicative of a saline soil. 



Salicornia herbacea, (samphire, glasswort.) 



Salsola kali, (saltwort.) 



Zostera marina, (Sea-eel-grass.) 



Pulmonaria niaratima, (sea lungvvort.) 



Calystegia soidanella, (no common name 

 known) 



Illecebrum verticillatum, " 



Sison verticillatum, "^ 



