'77 

 NOTES UPON THE BOTANY OF DERBYSHIRE. 



Rev. W. H. PAINTER. 



The county of Derby occupies an intermediate position between the 

 northern and the midland counties. Its flora, therefore, forms a 

 link between these two great divisions of England. 



In this county the three zones of Watson's agrarian region occur; 

 the infer-agrarian zone embracing all the low-lying part of the county ; 

 the mid-agrarian zone ascending from 150 to 350 yards; and the 

 super-agrarian zone ascending from the limits of the last-mentioned 

 one to the summits of Kinder Scout (1,981 feet) and Axe Edge 

 (1,751 feet). Hence on the highest hills we meet with plants 

 both of the Highland and Scotch types of distribution, Rubus 

 chamcemorus and Arbutus uva-ursi for instance, ceasing here in 

 their march southwards, the former on Axe Edge, and the latter 

 on Kinder Scout. 



From its central position but few plants, either of Watson's 

 Germanic or Atlantic types of distribution, occur in the county ; the 

 prevailing ones being those of the British and English types. The 

 percentage may be taken thus : — Plants of the British type, 66-5 ; 

 those of the English type, 25*5 ; and the remaining types, 8*o per cent. 



The flora of the North-Western part of the county, which is 

 commonly called the Peak District, is such as might be expected 

 from its geological character. Here the Carboniferous system in 

 all its divisions occurs, with thin seams of coal near Whaley Bridge. 

 The dales for which Derbyshire is famous occur in the Greater Scar 

 Limestone ; this is surmounted by the Yoredale rocks, which again 

 are succeeded by the Grit rocks. Hence, in this part of the county 

 we have most of the plants which might be expected to be found 

 upon the Limestone, with the exception of Geranium sylvaticum, 

 which neither my fellow-workers nor myself have met with, though 

 it is recorded in Topographical Botany. 



The Hieracia are represented by H. pallidum Fr.,(?) H. argenteum 

 Fr., H. murorum L. pt., H. ccesium Fr. var. smithii Baker, the true 

 H. ccesium not having been met with ; H. vulgatum Fr. and its vars. 

 rubescens and nemorosum Back.; H. tridentatum Fr., H. prenan- 

 thoides Vill., H. umbellatum L., and H. boreale Fr. 



The Roses include R. spinosissima L. ; R. involuta Sm. and vars. ; 

 R. mollis Sm. and var. ; R. tomentosa Sm. and vars. ; R. canina L., 

 several varieties according to Mr. Baker's monograph ; and R. 

 arvensis L. In the southern part of Derbyshire, R. rubiginosa L. 

 and R. micrantha Sm., have been met with. 



June 1889. m 



