BOTANY 



folia, Acorus Calamus, Scirpus Holoscbaenus, Carex teretiuscula, C.paradoxa, 

 C. rigida, C. digitata, C. montana, C. strigosa, C. filiformis, Alopecurus 

 fuhus, Spartina stricta, Calamagrostis lanceolata, Equisetum hyemale, E. 

 variegatum, Selaginella selaginoides, Lycbnotbamnus stelliger. 



The comparatively late date at which anything like serious atten- 

 tion was given to Cornwall by botanists, added to the insularity of 

 its flora, would naturally provoke an inquiry as to how many and 

 what British plants were first recorded from the county. Naturally the 

 list is small. Until Ray's time Cornwall was not even dreamed of as a 

 charmed county for wild flowers, and few references to Cornish plants 

 will be found in botanical works published before the Catalogus Plan- 

 tarum Anglice (1670). Flowering plants first recorded for Great Britain 

 from Cornwall are : Fumaria confusa, Cardamine amara, Coronopus didy- 

 mus, Lepidium ruderale, Reseda alba, Viola lactea, Erodium maritimum, 

 Oxalis stricta, Trifolium Molinerii, T. Bocconi, T. strictum, Lotus bispidus, 

 Ornitbopus ebracteatus, Potentilla Fragariastrum, Agrimonia odorata, Physo- 

 spermum commutatum, Fceniculum vulgare, Valerianella dentata, Erica ciliaris, 

 E. -uagans, Microcala JUiformis, Erytbrcea pulchella, Gentiana baltica, 

 Linaria repens, Scrophularia Scorodonia, Sibthorpia europcea, Bartsia viscosa, 

 Orobanche amethystea, Pinguicula lusitanica, Littorella juncea, Illecebrum 

 verticillatum, Herniaria ciliata, Polygonum Rah', Euphorbia Peplis, Iris 

 tuberosa, Allium sibiricum, A. triquetrum, Juncus pygm&us, J. capitatus, 

 Fibicbia umbellata, Briza minor. The abbreviated character of this list 

 will be appreciated when it is understood that although the works of 

 Turner, Lobel, Bauhin, and Gerarde, ranging from 1538 to 1641, con- 

 tain several hundred first notices, Cornwall was an unknown land to 

 those authors. 



Gerarde's Herbal (1633) is the starting point of Cornish botany, 

 but it contains only one reference ; even that one, Plantago maritima, 

 belongs to the Scilly Isles. With Merrett's Pinax Rerum Naturalium, 

 Parkinson's Tbeatrum Botanicum, Ray's several works, Hudson's Flora 

 Anglica, and Withering's Arrangement, disappeared the old order. The 

 publication of the Botanist' s Guide (1805) was the beginning of that vast 

 accumulation of facts, scattered it is true, which is now at the disposal 

 of the student of the flora of Cornwall. Jones' Botanical Tour (1820) 

 and Watson's New Botanist's Guide (1835) brought the county more 

 into line with its neighbours. Then in rapid succession followed a 

 number of workers Rev. W. T. Bree, C. C. Babington, W. Borrer, 

 Rev. W. S. Hore, G. S. Gibson, Rev. C. A. Johns, W. Curnow, Dr. 

 Ralfs, F. V. Pascoe, T. R. A. Briggs, I. W. Keys, H. C. Bastian, T. Q. 

 Couch, Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, H. and J. Groves, J. Cunnack, Dr. 

 Hind, J. G. Baker, Miss Warren and others, whose contributions to 

 the Botanical Gazette, the Phytologist, the journal of Botany, and to the 

 Transactions of local scientific societies are of greatest value. The 

 most serious work on the flora was done by Mr. Keys, Mr. Briggs, 

 and Dr. Ralfs. In the Transactions of the Plymouth Institution and 

 Cornwall Natural History Society, 186571, Mr. Keys published in 



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