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Wild Plants on Waste Land in London. (Nature, August nth 

 1910, No. 2128, Vol. 84, p. 184; Sept. 22, 1910, p. 369). 



The waste ground between Aldwych and the Strand has been 

 colonised by a variety of plants most of which show luxuriant 

 growth. Many of the colonists have fruits or seeds adapted to 

 wind distribution, as in the case of the winged fruit of the sorrel 

 (Rumex Acetosd), and of the plumed seeds of the hairy willow herb 

 (Epilobium hirsutum), and French willow, or rose bay (E. angusti- 

 folium), by far the most conspicuous plant on the ground. 



It is of interest that E. angustifolium which is absent in many of 

 the waste places of London, occurs in the garden of Fountain Court, 

 near the Strand. Among wind-distributed forms are also numerous 

 Compositae, the fruits of which are furnished with a pappus ; these 

 include the spear thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum), the groundsel (Senecio 

 vulgaris) and its ally 6". viscosus, the dandelion (Taraxacum vulgar e\ 

 the butter bur (Tussilago petasites), and the Canadian fleabane (Eri- 

 geron canadensis). Fruits and seeds of these various types might be 

 blown with some readiness from neighbouring districts, or from 

 one part of London to another. 



To a varying extent, wind may be also efficient in carrying the 

 seeds of hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), London rocket 

 (S. trio), which appeared in quantity after the Great Fire of 1666, 

 arid shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)', and the same is the 

 case with chickweed (Stellaria media], white campion (Lychnis alba), 

 opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), a garden escape, frequently 

 established in waste places, great plantain (Plantago major), pale 

 persicaria (Polygonum lapathifolium), and scentless mayweed (Matri- 

 carta inodord). In several of the above the seed is small or flat- 

 tened, but it is not elaborately adapted to wind dispersal, and it 

 may be questioned whether wind alone will account for the pre- 

 sence of these plants. 



A probable auxiliary exists in the sparrow, through the alimen- 

 tary canal of which various seeds and fruits no doubt pass, and 

 it is not unlikely that others become attached to its feet by means 

 of the sticky London mud. It will be remembered that Darwin 

 in the " Origin of Species " describes eighty-two plants as spring- 

 ing from the earth obtained from the feet of a single partridge. 

 This method of distribution no doubt accounts for the presence 

 of Dutch or white clover (Trifolium repens) and of two balsams, 

 the pink-flowered Impatiens glandulifera and a white variety. The 



