A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



of Kenwyn rises a stream which takes its name from the parish. After a course of 4 miles 

 it joins the Tresillian river at Truro. Calenick, Carnon, and Kennall streams, of about equal 

 length and all running from west to east, receive the drainage of the country lying between 

 Three Barrows and Carnmenellis and pour it into the creeks at Calenick, Carnon, and Perran- 

 wharf respectively. Mining operations in the parishes of Gwennap and Kenwyn have so 

 changed the conditions of the Carnon watershed as to make it a very poor district to botanists. 



If a definition in the terms of half a dozen plants were invited for this portion of Corn- 

 wall, Chrysanthemum segetum, Wahhnbergia hederacea, Erica ci/iaris, Sibthorpia europ&a, Linaria 

 repens, and Bartsia viscosa could be mentioned. In summer and autumn field after field is 

 transformed into a blaze of yellow with the corn marigold, to the keen chagrin of the careful 

 farmer. Pasture-land, crofts, and waysides alike bear the viscid yellow bartsia in great pro- 

 fusion, the plant being a much more abundant weed in this district than its congener. The 

 ivy-leaved campanula lurks in almost every damp waterside meadow and shady hedge, often 

 accompanied by the less obtrusive little Cornish moneywort. Erica ci/iaris is more eclectic. 

 Starting with the woods at Carclew, where it ranges over scores of acres, it stretches north- 

 ward over the crofts between Perranwell and Truro, eventually joining the ci/iaris tract of the 

 North Coast District, the offspring between it and Tetralix everywhere keeping it company. 

 While a stray patch or two of Linaria repens may be met in the parishes of Gwennap and St. 

 Gluvias, it is at Mabe and Budock that it attains its maximum frequency. In the autumn 

 mile after mile of the wayside hedges is adorned with its delicately pencilled flowers. 



Rare sylvestral plants are not to be counted on in this district. Many of the woods bear 

 Listera avata, Asperula odorata, Melittis Melissophyllum, and Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus. Neottia 

 Nidus-avis has persisted in a safe place in the woods at Enys for more than half a century, and 

 Convallaria majalis is sparingly represented near Ponsanooth. 



On the moors in the north-eastern corner of the district Ranunculus tripartitus and 

 Illecebrum verticillatum have been found, but only in small quantity. In the south-western 

 corner the latter plant is by no means uncommon, the present writer being acquainted with 

 one place where there are acres of it. Utricularia minor, by no means frequent in Cornwall, 

 can always be gathered in shallow pools in the parishes of Gwennap, St. Gluvias, Mabe, and 

 Wendron. Practically every moor of note gives Drosera rotundifolia, D. intermedia, and Pin- 

 guicula lusitanica. Quite recently a poor specimen of Hippuris vulgaris was found in a small 

 bog in the parish of Mabe, the only county record for nearly ninety years. Goss Moor is 

 the only spot in Cornwall where Nymph<sa lutea is certainly wild. 



Fifty years ago Draba muralis was reported for an old wall near Carclew. In point of 

 fact the record may have been correct, but there is much to be said for the hesitancy which 

 botanists have shown for accepting it other than as an escape. 



In no other part of the county, unless it be at Par, have so many casuals appeared as at 

 Falmouth. Every year almost their number is increased and not a few have become definitely 

 established. Aliens also run into a long list, but of these the major part are but plants of a 

 season. Rapistrum rugosum has long been a fixture, and although of more recent appearance 

 Matricaria discoidea has seized a much larger area and bids fair to become a great nuisance. 

 From Falmouth Phalaris aquatica has spread to Ponsanooth and Perranwell. 



St. Anthony-in-Roseland gives quarters to Allium Ampeloprasum var. Babingtonii, Lemna 

 gibba, Cyperus longus, and Festuca sylvatica. Ophrys apifera was found there many years ago as 

 well as near Falmouth, but there is no recent record for it at either place nor for any other 

 part of the county. That the Cornish records for so comparatively common a plant as 

 Lemna gibba should begin and end with this parish is enough to stimulate the watchfulness 

 of every west-country botanist. 



Swanpool will always repay a search. Ranunculus Baudotii, Fumaria Bortsi, Rumex limosus, 

 Ruppia spiralis, R. rcstet/ata, Briza maxima, Chara aspera, C. bispida, C. canescens, Nitella tram- 

 lucens and N. opaca are all to be found there. 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES WORTH NOTING IN THE FALMOUTH DISTRICT 



Ranunculus peltatus, Scbrank 



arvensis, Linn. 

 Helleborus viridis, Linn. 

 Papaver hybridum, Linn. 

 Glaucium phacniceum, Crantz 

 Neckeria lutea, Scop. 



claviculata, N. E. Br. 



Fumaria muralis, Sunder. 

 purpurea, Pug. 

 Nasturtium sylvestre, DC. 

 Alysmm maritimum, Linn. 

 Hesperis matronalis, Linn. 

 Sisymbrium altissimum, Linn. 

 Erysimum perfoliatum, Crantz 



66 



CameRna sativa, Crantz, var. 



faetida (Fr.) 



Diplotaxis tenuifolia, DC. [Syme 

 muralis, DC., var. Babingtonii, 

 Coronopus didymus, Sm. 



- Ruellii, All. 

 Lepidium ruderale, Linn. 



