1857.] CHEDDAR PLANTS, 237 



CHEDDAE PLANTS. 

 By John Lloyd. 



Having a wish to attempt the cultivation of some of the smaller 

 and rarer Ferns in open borders, I decided upon taking a trip to 

 the romantic cliffs of Cheddar, both to observe the circumstances 

 under which Polypodium calcareum grows there in such profu- 

 sion, and to procure some plants, as well as to ascertain whether 

 Dianthus ceesius was or was not exterminated in this its only 

 well-authenticated locality. 



I started from Paddington station on Monday, the 22nd of 

 June, by the 6.45 a.m. train, and saw nothing worth relating, 

 except that the Ferns were then making their appearance in the 

 rocky cuttings in the neighbourhood of Bath and Bristol. 



I left the train at Yatton station, as I wished to explore a ro- 

 mantic dell called Brockley Combe, where I was informed that a 

 large quantity of Ferns grew, and which was about three miles 

 from Yatton. 



In walking through this beautiful village I was struck with the 

 superiority of growth and colour of the plants growing in the 

 gardens, compared with the same species growing in the environs 

 of London. 



Upon the sides of the low stone walls (which is there the ge- 

 neral fence to gardens and homesteads) grew Ceterach officinarum 

 in abundance ; its sober brown contrasting beautifully with the 

 more delicate greens of Scolopendrium vulgare, Asplenium Ruta- 

 muraria, and Asplenium Trichomanes ; there was here and there a 

 plant of Sedum acre, looking like a patch of gold; Cotyledon 

 Umbilicus was there in several places, as was Parietaria officinalis, 

 but the very common Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum appeared to 

 be entirely wanting. The tops of the walls were furnished with 

 a profusion of Valeriana rubra, Antirrhinum majus of various 

 colours. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, Veronica Chameedrys, 

 and several other plants of a less showy description. What I 

 have related is not confined to Yatton, but is a specimen of the 

 Flora of other villages through which I passed. When I got 

 through the village I observed that the most common Fern upon 

 the hedge-banks was Scolopendrium vulgare. I saw a few plants 

 of Polystichum angulare, but I did not see a single plant of any 

 species of Lastrea all that afternoon. 



