FLORA OF THE RAILWAY 119 



variety of other hues. Tall red spikes of rumex shoot 

 up from among tangled masses of the white bedstraw ; 

 poppies are abundant ; the beautiful calcareous milk- 

 wort, with its variegated flowers of blue and purple and 

 white, is in full blossom ; the " speedwell's darling 

 blue " mingles with the bright yellow flowers of the 

 common rock-rose ; and from the shelter of the elder 

 bushes, now covered with snow-white blossoms, the 

 purple " foxglove spire " is conspicuous. The dog- 

 roses, great bushes of which flourish on the embank- 

 ment, are in all their glory, and along the slope will be 

 seen here and there the pale yellow flowers of wild 

 mignonette and the pink and white blossoms of the rare 

 and lovely dropwort, first cousin to the common 

 meadowsweet. But what renders the wild garden so 

 remarkable is the profusion of the bee-orchis on the 

 slope. The seed had, of course, come from the downs 

 above, where, however, the species cannot be regarded 

 as plentiful. But here on the railway embankment it 

 was abundant. The soil and situation were clearly to 

 its liking although what constitutes favourable con- 

 ditions to the species few botanists would venture to 

 declare for tall specimens, carrying five or six exquisite 

 bee-flowers, might be gathered by the handful. With- 

 in a few yards of the line a fine colony of the exceedingly 

 rare musk-orchis, Herminium Monorchis, Br., had 

 established itself. I failed, however, much to my dis- 

 appointment, to find a single specimen actually on the 

 railway. 



In very hot seasons the flora of the railway suffers 

 severely. During the dry summer of 1911 I remember 

 travelling from London to Walberswick, on the Suffolk 

 coast. All along the line were unsightly black patches, 



