72 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



increasing weight renders them more and more 

 pendulous, they fold over each other and form too 

 unbroken a surface for picturesque beauty, and 

 hence Gilpin's remark that the lime-tree " has an 

 uniformity of surface without any of those breaks 

 and hollows which the most picturesque trees 

 present, and which give their foliage so much 

 beauty." This, however, is less the case as the 

 tree advances into old age, the gradual lengthening 

 of the branches, and the dying away of their lower 

 branchlets and spray contribute to a greater variety 

 of surface and lightness of effect. 



What has been said in this paper must be 

 understood to apply in the first instance to the 

 wild or small-leaved lime T. parvifolia, Ehrh. The 

 general mode of branching is, however, much the 

 same in the other two kinds, T. intermedia, D.C., 

 and T. grandifolia, Ehrh. The differences in the 

 general effect of the two latter trees from that of 

 the former is due in some measure to their more 

 robust growth in all parts, but more particularly 

 to the larger size of the leaves and their compara- 

 tively shorter stalks, on account of which the 

 leaves tend more to overlap each other and to 

 give a dense and crowded aspect to the young 

 shoots compared with the more light and open 

 growth of T. parvifolia. In neither of the limes, 

 however, do we observe that diminishing of the 

 leaves towards the tip of the young shoots in early 

 summer which has been spoken of as characteristic 

 of the beech. 



{To be continued.) 



A RAMBLE IN EAST ANGLIA. 



A FINE day and a sky deep blue saw me on a 

 ramble round Hawstead, a village which 

 Queen Elizabeth visited near the once-famous 

 town of Bury St. Edmunds. Soon being in the 

 country, with the call of the cuckoos keeping me 

 company, I began my search in quest of plants. I 

 was not disappointed, for soon I came across a 

 hedge in which the wayfaring tree, Viburnum 

 lantmia, and numerous small green flowers of 

 the spindle-tree [Euonymus europceus) played no 

 unimportant part. Underneath these the woodruff 

 {Asperula odorata) showed its little white flowers 

 and the wild clematis [Clematis vitalha) wreathed 

 the branches with its tender shoots, later to be 

 expanded with elegant flowers. 



In the adjoining field butterflies were frequent. 

 There I have caught the common blues, red 

 admirals, peacocks, common whites, painted lady, 

 with others ; and sometimes a beautiful swallow- 

 tail [Papilio machaon) fell to my net as well. 



The corn crowfoot {Ranunmlus arvensis) , with its 

 curious and prickly seed-vessels, finds a habitat in 

 a field there with the tiny venus-comb [Scandix 



pecten-veneris), and on a bank of a neighbouring 

 ditch the common arum [Arum maculatuyn) and the 

 peculiar wood-spurge {EupJiorlia amygaloides), grow- 

 ing like a shrub by the side of the water, are both 

 plentiful. A meadow a few steps further shows its 

 treasures in the form of the green-winged orchis 

 [Orchis morio) growing thickly with the cowslips, 

 making a grand contrast. On the next road 

 Equisettim arvense is so plentiful as to fill the wind 

 with its pollen. 



Soon I came in sight of one part of the village 

 with its whitewashed houses. As my object in 

 going to Hawstead was to get information about 

 the locality of the beautiful and local fritillary, 

 Fritillaria meleagris, I called at one of the cottages, 

 the garden of which was full of these curious 

 flowers, to ask for information about its where- 

 abouts. My informer was most agreeable. " They 

 be in the ' flowery meadow,' as the children call 

 it, but the tenant don't like people going in, as 

 last year they dug them up so much. It's called 

 ' wild tulip ' hereabouts because its flower is like 

 one, but it hangs down and has roots like snow- 

 drops. I can give you a root from my garden — 

 they have just been planted from the meadow." 

 Following her into a well-kept garden she said : 

 " Last year I got a white one, and I staked it so as 

 to know it next year," and a handsome white 

 variety it was. Thanking her very much, I 

 departed, and noticed that though the fritillary 

 would probably soon be banished from the mead, it 

 would have a good place among the cottage 

 gardens in Hawstead for many years. In a 

 meadow near the church, the grass was covered 

 with the meadow-saffron [Colehieum autumnale) with 

 strong clumps of leaves. It would be hardly 

 possible to eradicate this, and the person who 

 tried it would soon be tired, as there is such a 

 quantity. Passing Hawstead, I soon came to a 

 valley in which a little stream runs, called Haw- 

 stead Vale, or Hawstead Cranks, an ideal place for 

 picnics and hide-and-seek, being full of cranky 

 corners. The time of this visit being early in May, 

 there was nothing particular in this place, but on 

 past occasions I have found the following plants : 

 the hairy violet [Viola hirta), abundantly on a dry 

 bank ; one good-sized plcnt of the perfoliate 

 honeysuckle, with its fine yellow flowers and 

 perfoliate leaves ; oxlips [Primida elatior), with their 

 fragrance and habit between a primrose and cow- 

 slip ; g\ie\AeT-roses {Viburnum o/zfte), growing near 

 the water ; milkwort [Poly gala vulgaris), on a healthy 

 meadow near ; wood forget-me-not (Myosotis silvatica) , 

 on dry ground under shrubs ; and of less local 

 plants, I may mention chicory [Cichorium intybus), 

 dogwood [Cornus sanguinea) and the common iris 

 [Iris pseudaorus). David S. Fish. 



12, Fettes Row, Edinburgh ; 

 July, 1896. 



