ON THE GROWTH OP PLANTS. 



41 



We should remark that this year we have a number of seedling plants which 

 have come up wildly in different parts of our experimental garden, which we 

 shall be curious to know if they become like their parents. With us it seeds 

 so enormously, that it can hardly fail to be a matter of interest as to how this 

 plant, originally noticed as from Great Ridge between Boyton House and 

 Fonthill, Wilts, should have been for so many years lost to our flora, whilst its 

 present natural habitat on artificial earthworks, though truly ancient enough, 

 would seem to point to its having been introduced to its present locality. 



Diagram showing the mode of Growth ofCarduus arvensis. 



^rd nat. size. 



Fig. 1. Seedling of the first year. 



Fig. 2. a & b. The position of the seedling plants in spring sending up secondary buds b, b. 

 Fig. 3. The secondary shoot advanced to a large plant, while the rhizome extends and ter- 

 tiary buds a, a are prepared for the following year. 



Bentham, in his description of the position of this plant, has the following 

 remarks : — 



" In moist, rich meadows, and marshy, open woods, in western and south- 

 central Europe, extending eastwards to Transylvania." 



Its position at Avebury is so very different from this, that we cannot for- 

 bear to describe it. Avebury Circles (of stones) are placed on an elevated 

 plain of chalk, around which are elevated mounds or earthworks, the whole 

 surrounded by a broad deep vallum, which is at all times perfectly dry, and it 



