142 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



BOTANY OF SOUTH-WEST LANCASHIRE. 

 By J. A, Wheldon. 



A S many visitors are now drawn to this part of 

 ^^ England by the attractions of New Brighton, 

 Southport and Blackpool, the following account of 

 the plants seen on a July day's ramble in South- 

 west Lancashire (vice county 59) may be of interest 

 to some of the readers of Sciexce-Gossip. The 

 route taken was arranged to cover varieties of 

 situation, from a botanical point of view. 



Starting from Walton, near Liverpool, the first 

 five miles lies through country lanes, over a broad 

 tract of cultivated fields, where the only plants 

 met with are ordinary agrestal weeds. In the 

 hedgerows we noticed a few Rubi, the most 

 abundant being Rubiis corylifolius var. sublustris, 

 *i?, grains Focke, R. linAleiamis Lees, R. leucos- 

 tachys and, in one place only, R. sprengelii. The 

 station for *R. mercicus var. bracteatus has been 

 destroyed by town " improvements." The hedge- 

 rows here are kept closely trimmed and carefully 

 weeded, but a few bushes of Rosa urhica and R. 

 dumalis are displaying their blooms and occasion- 

 ally the great bindweed [Convolvulus sepium) suc- 

 ceeds in throwing up its gay festoons. By the canal 

 across which we go occurs Clienopodium rubi'um, and 

 at the bottom of walls Sagina apetala is frequent. 



On approaching Ince Blundell the scenery be- 

 comes more sylvestral in character. Before the 

 road enters the wood, there is a wayside ditch 

 choked with the drop wort (Oenanthe crocata). In 

 the wood itself we find an entirely new florula. 

 We now observe for the first time on the journey 

 *Rubus pulcherrimus Neum and R. rosaceus var, 

 *sylvestris Murr. The giant bellflower [Campanula 

 latifolia) is not yet in bloom, but the foxglove 

 [Digitalis purpurea) is splendidly decked with its 

 purple bells, and Carex remota abounds. The 

 mosses here are not noteworthy. None of the 

 corticolous species are found, but the ground is 

 carpeted with Mnium horniim and Plagiotheciuvi 

 denticnlatum, and in one corner only there is a little 

 Eurhynchium piliferjim. These woods abound in 

 deep still ponds, their waters dyed of a stygian 

 hue by the decay of generations of rotting vegetable 

 matter. The plants of all these ponds are embraced 

 in the following description of one of them. In the 

 deep water of the centre floats Potamogeton natans, 

 around which is a zone of Alisma plantago with Iris 

 pseudacorns. The margins are thickly fringed by 

 dense patches of Sium angustifolium, Raminculus 

 sceleratus, Rumex conglomeratus, Carex pseudo-cyperus 

 and Phalaris arundinacea. Here and there may be 



* Plants thus marked are not noticed in the district 

 floras, and some of them now first recorded for the vice 

 county. 



seen an occasional floating patch of Lemna trisulca. 

 Resuming our walk on the high road through the 

 wood, the tall stems of Urtica dioica var. *angusti- 

 folia Blytt are conspicuous, but always just within 

 the shade of the trees. In the open, the plant 

 assumes its ordinary aspect, and many intermediate 

 forms occur between. 



Leaving the grateful umbrage of the wood, we 

 emerge into a broad expanse of flat country, 

 drained by the river Alt, a sluggish, ditch-like 

 stream. There are no hedges, the fields being 

 separated by deep dykes, such as are known as 

 " stells " in North Yorkshire. The florula of these 

 drains differs widely from that of the pools and 

 ditches in the wooded region we have just left 

 behind. Hippuris and Hottonia now appear in pro- 

 fusion; Alisma rammculoides replaces A. plantago, 

 and Carex echinatus and C. vulpina replace C. pseudo- 

 cyperus and C. remota. Other interesting plants 

 are Oenanthe fistulosa, Sparganium ramosum, Equi- 

 setum palustre and E. limosum. As we approach the 

 coast, Scivpus maritimus, Ramincuhis bandotii and 

 Oenanthe lachenalii are added to our list. Mosses 

 are few and difficult to find in the dense herbage, 

 but we note Hypjium adwicuni, Amblystegixim riparium 

 and its var. *longifolium, also Brachythecium 

 rutabulnm var. *longisetum, the latter hardly 

 recognizable at this season. Crossing some fields, 

 where grows a patch of the now rare and decreasing 

 Bartsia viscosa, we are reminded of the close 

 proximity of the sand-hill tract by the fluttering 

 past of a grayling butterfly [Satyrus semele). 



The railway must now be crossed, and thinly 

 scattered for miles along its banks are Sisymbrium 

 pannonicum and Sinapis muralis var. babingtonii. 

 The weedy ground in proximity to the " iron road " 

 also yields, amongst other things, Pastinaca sativa, 

 Oenothera biennis. Reseda lutea and Saponaria offici- 

 nalis, with its var. pnberula. A wealth of colour is 

 lent by the glorious blue of Echium vulgare and 

 Lycopsis arvensis, and the grassy hollows are 

 spangled with the stars of Erythraea littoral is and 

 E. centamium, Chlora perfoliata, P'arnassia palustris, 

 Rubus coesius var. aqiiaticus, and everywhere Carex 

 arenaria and Equisetum variegatum. Erythraea lati- 

 folia Sm., formerly abundant here, is now lost. 



The mosses here are somewhat less interesting 

 than they are further north towards Southport, 

 owing to lack of moisture, and we also miss Pyroia 

 rotundi/olia var. maritima and "Viola curtisii, which 

 occur there. Still, we cannot fail to observe 

 Brachythecium albicans, Hypnnm rutabulnm var. 

 *plumulosum, Brynm pendulum, B. lacustre, B. 

 pallens, B. nliginosum and Amblyodon dealhatus, the 



