BOTANY 



stretches of sand and shingle, upon which the following plants occur : 

 horned poppy (Glaucium /uteum), sea rocket (Cakile maritima), sea kale 

 (Crambe maritima), saltwort (Salsola Kali), various species of orache 

 (Atrip/ex) and sea spurge (Euphorbia Par alia*). 



Our saltings are very extensive and their flora includes scurvy grass 

 (Cocblearia anglica, C. officinalis, C. Danica), golden samphire (Inula 

 critbmoides), thrift (Armeria maritima), sea lavenders (Statice Limonium, S. 

 rariflora and S. occidentalis) , marsh samphires (Salicornia herbacea, S. radi- 

 cans), sea aster (Aster Tripolium), sea blite (Suceda maritima). 



Upon our sea walls and waste ground near the sea we find whitlow 

 pepperwort (Lepidium Draba), broad-leaved pepperwort or cress (L. lati- 

 folium), smooth sea heath (Frankenia Icevis), sea campion (Silene maritima'), 

 marsh-mallow (Altbaa officinalis), Alexanders (Smyrnium Olusatrum), sea 

 wormwood (Artemisia maritima), sea lettuce (Lactuca saligna), shrubby sea 

 blite (Suada fruticosa), shrubby sea purslane (Obione portulacoides), sea 

 dock (Rumex maritimus), asparagus (Asparagus officinalis), round fruited 

 rush (Juncus Gerardf), wild celery (Apium graveo/ens). Common mus- 

 tard (Brassica sinapioides) is said to be a native of our coast, and upon 

 sandy ground near our coast Medicago minima, M. maculata and M. denti- 

 culata occur. 



The very extensive brackish marshes, covering thousands of acres, 

 do not produce a great variety of plants ; but the rare Vicia lutea has 

 been found upon them, and the uncommon Trifolium maritimum also 

 occurs. 



The very interesting grass vetch, Lathyrus Nissolia, grows in con- 

 siderable quantities on some of these marshes. In the dikes, or at the 

 edges of the dikes bounding the marshes, the following plants are 

 abundant : Slender hare's ear (Bupleurum tenuissimum), salt marsh club 

 rush (Scirpus maritimus) and tassel pondweed (Ruppia maritima). 



Drainage and enclosure have been carried out in Essex so exten- 

 sively that the bog flora has been almost exterminated, but boggy places 

 remain at Danbury, at Warley and in Epping Forest, hence we have the 

 following representatives of the bog flora : Drosera rotundifolia, Parnassia 

 palustris, Hypericum elodes, Eriophorum angustifolium and E. latifolium. 



The old walls of Essex afford us the wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri), 

 the Spanish catchfly (Silene Otites), which latter was planted on the walls 

 in Colchester by a lepidopterist as a food plant for larvae, and has been 

 well established for twenty years. The rue-leaved saxifrage (Saxifraga 

 tridactylites), viper's bugloss (Ecbium vu/gare), mother of thousands 

 (Linaria Cymbalaria), wall pellitory (Parietaria offidnalis) and wall veron- 

 ica (Veronica arvensis). There is an abundant wood flora, waste ground 

 flora, hedge flora and cornfield flora, but space will not permit the 

 enumeration of the species which favour these situations. 



It will thus be evident that if Essex is not so rich in rarities, nor in 

 the actual number of species as some of the southern counties of England, 

 it nevertheless ranks high as a field for botanical research, and affords an 

 abundant variety of species for the lover of wild plants. 



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