BOTANY 



beautiful waterfall. Perpendicular rocks line the sides of the stream for some distance, and 

 the banks arc still craggy and precipitous almost as far down as Middleton. The river 

 receives four feeders from the north between High Force and Egglestonc — the burns of 

 Ettersgill, Bowlees, Huilshope, and Egglcsburn, in the first of which there is a pretty little 

 waterfall called Hell Cleft. Saxifraga aizoirla appears again on the rocks towards High 

 Force, and some otlicr of the rarer plants on Widdy Bank arc carried down as far as 

 Eggleston, a distance of some seven miles. Hieracium anglicum, H. iricum, Potentilla alpatrU 

 and Thtilktrum alplnum descend to Winch Bridge, a favourite station for some of the stray 

 plants from the heights of Falcon Clints ; the rare horsetail, Equhetum umhrosum, is found as 

 low as Middleton, and Siixifniga stellaria reaches to Eggleston. The flora beyond this point 

 is of a more ordinary woodland type. Jqui/i-giu vulguris should be noted truly wild in the 

 vicinity of Middleton, and Pyrus jiria at Winch Bridge. The woods near High Force 

 contain a very rich vegetation. A great wealth of many-coloured lichens clothes the black 

 smooth rocks and trunks of the trees, masses of the curious green lichen, Usnea barhata, 

 depend from many of the branches, and a rich fungus-flora is found in the damp, decaying 

 undergrowth. The wild raspberry [Rulms idieus) is common, and the lily of the valley 

 [Convallaria majalis) is plentiful in the shade of the woods, as well as Paris quadrifolia, Myosotis 

 sy/vestris, and the large Campanula latifoUa. Below High Force the valley descends rapidly 

 and soon becomes well-wooded, though still girdled by the high ridges of Newbiggin 

 (2,215 feet), Middleton {1,990 feet), and Eggleston (1,590 feet) moors. A stream rising 

 north of Barnard Castle on the edge of the moors at Langley Dale flows through Raby to 

 Staindrop, where it is joined by one flowing through Streatlam Park, and their united waters 

 enter the main river near Gainford, a station for Turritis glabra. The limestone reappears 

 below Barnard Castle, and fine cliffs border the Tees for some miles. Rumex aquaticus is an 

 uncommon northern plant descending the dale from Widdy Bank to Barnard Castle ; it is also 

 recorded at Piercebridgc (Wheldon). 



From Piercebridgc, where the magnesian limestone commences, right to the Tees 

 mouth, the river traverses flat low country through which flow many sluggish tributaries. 

 It follows a very winding course, and between Croft and Dinsdale twists and turns in truly 

 serpentine fashion. The damp woods in this district provide many specially rare plants, 

 among which may be mentioned Colch'icum autumnaky Irh fxtidlssima, Ophrys apifera^ 

 0. muscifera, Orchis ustulata, Alliutn scorodoprasum, and Rtiscus aculeatus. Other noticeable 

 plants in the locality are : Chenopodium glaucum, Spiraa Filipendula, Stachys ambigua, Euonymus 

 europaus, Trifolium fragiferum, Bryonia dioica, Hypericum Androsiemum, Linum perenne, and 

 Symphytum officinale and Rhamnus catharticus, both rare in the county. Viola odora is frequent 

 in the woods. The slowly running streams and ditches of this flat country furnish an 

 abundance of aquatic plants, a number of which have already been mentioned in connection 

 with the Skerne and Morden Carrs. The becks in the neighbourhood of Stockton, Norton, 

 BiUingham, and Greatham also provide good stations for such plants. Sparganium ramosum^ 

 S. simplex, Typha laiifolia, T. angustifolia, Qinanthe phellandrium, Zannichellia palustris, 

 Nasturtium sylvestre, N. terrestre, Samolus valerandi, Potamogeton plantagineus, P. densus, and 

 P. gramimus are among those not given previously. In the salt marshes at the mouth of the 

 Tees and salt-water ditches along the coast are : Obione portulacoides, Aster tripolium, Statice 

 limonium, Ranunculus Baudotii, Artemisia maritime, Salicornia herbacea, Sueda maritima, Atriplex 

 Uttoralis, Triglochin maritimum, Ruppia maritima, Agrostis alba, Juncus maritima, J. compressus, 

 Scirpus rufus, glaucus, znd maritimus. To the previous list of plants growing on the sand-dunes 

 the following may be added ; Glaux maritima, Armeria maritima, Plantago coronopus, Atriplex 

 portulacoides, A. Babingtonii, Glyceria distans, G. procumbens, G. loUacea, Thalictrum minus, 

 Seneheria coronopus, and Salsola Kali, Growing in the sea are the two monocotyledonous plants, 

 Zostera marina and Z. nana, 



THE DERWENT DISTRICT 

 For the greater part of its course the Derwent forms the northern limit of the 

 county, only a small area to the north-east extending the boundary along the Stanley Burn 

 to the Tyne at Wylam. The river takes its rise by two branches, the Knucton Burn on 

 the south and the Beldon Burn on the north. The latter rises beyond the county limit 

 near to Allenheads, the high ridge of Knucton Edge which separates the two streams 

 forming the western confines of the district. At the head of Knucton Burn the ridge attains 

 a height of 1,833 f'-'^') ^"'^ from this a range of high fells extends for several miles due 

 east to Bolt's Law, which has an elevation of 1,772 feet. Some interesting plants may be 



J 49 7 



