A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



five parts a ' Flora of Devon and Cornwall.' The effort was a very am- 

 bitious one, but while in many respects a valuable piece of work it was 

 marred by grave defects. Intended as a guide to the flora of both 

 counties, it gives only a few localities for each plant, and while showing 

 some acquaintance with the writings of older botanists, it omits men- 

 tion of many valuable records. Briggs' Flora of Plymouth on the other 

 hand is the work of a man who is careful, thorough, methodical, and 

 trustworthy. It deals only with that portion of the county lying within 

 twelve miles of Plymouth, but that area has been most exhaustively 

 treated both as regards field work and reference literature. Dr. Ralfs' 

 industry is shown by the MS. Flora of West Cornwall, running into 

 ten volumes, now in the possession of the Penzance Library Committee. 

 Few more enthusiastic botanists have explored the hills and valleys of 

 Cornwall, and none have left behind a more lasting monument of their 

 labours. 



To Mr. F. Townsend must be given credit for the first serious attempt 

 to compile a flora of the Scilly Isles. Before his visit in 1864 the 

 literature bearing on the subject was aggravatingly restricted. Borlase's 

 Observations on the Ancient and Present State of the Islands of Scilly (1756) 

 makes mention of just a handful of plants. North's Week in the Isles 

 of Scilly (1850) adds many species, particularly in the way of ferns, 

 and a great fillip was given to the study in 1852 by the publication of 

 a paper by Misses L. and M. Millett in the Report of the Penzance 

 Natural History and Antiquarian Society. Twelve years later the 

 Journal of Botany printed Mr. Townsend's contribution, and for the first 

 time ' Lyonesse ' had received justice. Further discoveries have since 

 been announced by Dr. Ralfs, Mr. A. Somerville, and Rev. H. Boyden. 



It is but fair to add that in June 1902 the writer of this article 

 printed for private circulation among the ever-increasing band of 

 workers who are assisting him in elucidating the flora of Cornwall A 

 Tentative List of the Flowering Plants, Ferns, etc. This volume of about 

 300 pages summarizes all that has been done in connection with the 

 flora of the county from earliest times down to the commencement of 

 the year 1902. 



Grateful acknowledgment is here made of valuable assistance re- 

 ceived by the writer from botanists long recognized as specialists in 

 certain branches of the science. To Mr. E. M. Holmes, of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society's Museum, he is indebted for the valuable lists of mosses, 

 marine and freshwater algag, fungi, lichens, etc. Mr. Holmes has long been 

 an industrious worker at these sections, and his contributions to this 

 article will afford an excellent bird's-eye view of the richness and almost 

 unique character of the Cornish flora. The Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, 

 whose unrivalled knowledge of the genus Rubi is too widely known to 

 call for comment here, has prepared a capital summary of what has been 

 done regarding the brambles of the county ; and Messrs. H. and J. Groves 

 of Chara fame have very kindly corrected the list of plants with whose 

 distribution they are so intimately acquainted. 



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