THE NEW FOREST FLORA 83 



species to be regarded as a native plant. It is certainly 

 strange that so arresting and conspicuous a flower 

 should have escaped notice up to the middle of the last 

 century, and since in one locality it is found in close 

 proximity to rhododendrons, it has been suggested by 

 an eminent authority that " all the spots might be con- 

 nected with planted trees or shrubs." It is, however, 

 scattered here and there over a wide area of the Forest, 

 often in entirely natural surroundings ; and, moreover, 

 a few specimens of the plant were discovered some years 

 ago, in similar situations, on Lake Common in the Isle of 

 Wight. 



But whatever doubts may exist as to the indigenous 

 nature of Gladiolus, none rests on the marsh Ludwigia, 

 one of the rarest of British plants, and as humble and 

 retiring as the former is conspicuous and grand. It 

 was first found in England by our friend, Mr Goodyer, 

 growing along the course of a tiny stream on " the Moor 

 at Petersfield," where it continued to exist until the 

 year 1848, when owing to drainage operations it en- 

 tirely disappeared. Five years, however, before this 

 unfortunate catastrophe, the plant was discovered in 

 some swampy ground between Brockenhurst and Lynd- 

 hurst. Since then it has been found in other parts of 

 the Forest, now its only habitat in England. It is very 

 difficult to detect, especially in dry seasons, and I must 

 confess that I have never succeeded in finding it, but, to 

 quote the words of a more fortunate botanist, " it is 

 assuredly a beautiful though not a showy plant ; the 

 lucid, transparent green of its leaves, harmoniously 

 blending with suffusions of the richest olive brown and 

 bright red veined with crimson, can hardly find a 

 parallel in any other indigenous species of our land." 



