A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



rocks, but the record is a very old one, and the indigeneity of the heath has been frequently 

 discussed. 



Although the plants which are confined to this part of Cornwall are not so numerous as 

 can be cited for some of the other seven districts, they form an interesting group. Nasturtium 

 palustre, once found along the banks of the Tamar, and. at Copperhouse near Hayle, is now 

 believed to be restricted to a very circumscribed area near Lostwithiel. Brassica Cheiranthus 

 simply abounds at Par and Pentewan, and stretches away in scattered patches and single 

 plants several miles from the two centres. Since it was first noticed at Pentewan more than 

 fifty years ago as a straggler, it has seized on hedge-banks, waste-heaps, blown sand and pasture 

 land to an astonishing extent. Between Par Sation and Fowey Point Silene Armeria occupies 

 the hedges and sandhills at intervals over fifteen miles of country. This announcement was 

 made thirty years and more ago, and like many another species which has immigrated to that 

 part of the coast from the continent, the plant has settled on the soil. Two localities are 

 known for Eryngium campestre, each having two thriving colonies of plants. Near the Looe 

 locality (Enanthe silaifolia grows in tolerable quantity, and here only in the whole county. 

 Twenty-four years ago Lobelia urens was accidentally discovered between Polperro and Fowey, 

 the find bringing Cornwall into touch with Devon. To the remoteness from the track of 

 the average plant grabber of the two damp places where it grows must be attributed the 

 power of the plant to hold its own and even to increase its numbers. Hayle at one time 

 shared with St. Blazey Bay the honour of being the only bits of Cornish soil where Linaria 

 supina grew. While disappearing from the western town many years ago, it is busy extending 

 its borders in the district now under notice. Around Par village it is the commonest weed, 

 and along the roadsides two or three miles away dozens of wanderers may be found every 

 autumn. Like most ' colonists ' with a predilection for sandy soil, it is taking advantage of 

 the railway as a means of transit, and has already migrated to such distant parts as Fowey and 

 Menheniot. From near Fowey Romulea Columns and Juncus tenuis have been recorded to the 

 present writer and voucher specimens submitted. A very recent addition to the flora of 

 Cornwall and indeed to the flora of Great Britain is Bromus rigidus, found in 1901 at Par 

 by Mr. A. O. Hume. Whatever may be the means whereby it reached that locality, or how 

 long since, it has established itself beyond fear of early disappearance. 



This district marks the most western occurrence of Meconopsis cambrica, Stellaria umbrosa 

 and Atriplex portulacoides. East of it Apium inundatum, a very common plant in many parts of 

 mid and west Cornwall, and Epipactis palustris have not been found. It furnishes three of the 

 five British Lycopods, but is unaccountably barren in Charas. On the elevated moors Carex 

 dioica, C. curia, C. rostrata, Eriapborum vaginatum and E. latifoltum may be sought for. Carex 

 diluta has a home on the cliffs near Charlestown, and C. acutiformis is associated with other 

 riparian subjects at the head of the West Looe river. 



The visitor to Par on botanical intent will be struck by the number of aliens which 

 there find shelter. Perhaps the most interesting among them are Lepidium virginicum, Coronilla 

 variay Aster Novi-Belgii, Matricaria discoidea, and Cannabis sativa. In the East Looe valley, 

 above Sandplace, Impatient Roylei has become naturalized to a degree. No finer sight can be 

 conceived than the thousands of luxuriant full-flowered plants standing 7 feet and more out of 

 the streams and damp ground. Near Lostwithiel Mimulus Langsdorffii has filled a ditch along 

 one side of a meadow, and affords a splendid picture when in bloom. 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES WORTH NOTING IN THE FOWEY DISTRICT 



Ranunculus trichophyllus, Cha'tx 



Baudotii, Godr., var. confusus 



(Godr.) 



tripartitus, DC. 



Lingua, Linn. 

 Helleborus viridis, Linn, 



foetidus, Linn. 

 Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb. 

 Fumaria muralis, Sunder 

 Nasturtium sylvestre, R. Br. 

 Barbarea intermedia, Bureau 

 Alyssum incanum, Linn. 



maritimum, Linn. 

 Sisymbrium Thalianum, J. Gay 

 Brassica oleracea. Linn. 



Diplotaxis tenuifolia, DC. 



muralis, DC. 

 Lepidium ruderale, Linn. 



campestre, R. Br. 



Draba, Linn. 

 Iberis amara, Linn. 

 Teesdalia nudicaulis, R. Br. 

 Reseda lutea, Linn. 



Viola hirta, Linn. 



lactea, SOT. 

 Dianthus Armeria, Linn. 

 Cerastium quaternellum, Fenzl. 

 Stellaria umbrosa, Ofiz. 

 Hypericum dubium, Leers 



undulatum, Schousb. 



60 



Malva parviflora, Linn. 

 Geranium striatum, Linn. 



phccum, Linn. 



pratense, Linn. 



rotundifolium, Linn. 

 Erodium moschatum, L'Herit. 



maritimum, VHerit. 

 Oxalis corniculata, Linn. 

 Medicago denticulata, Willd. 

 Melilotus alba, Desr. 



arvensis, Wallr. 

 Trifolium subterraneum, Linn. 



scabrum, Linn. 



glomeratum, Linn. 

 Lotus angustissimus, Linn. 



