292 BOTANICAL EXCURSION IN 
head of the western branch of the little 
valley which penetrates the hills just be- 
hind Helmesly. Helleborus viridis is 
found abundantly about this’spot, and we 
observed Ophrys muscifera and Epipactis 
latifolia, but no trace of the Cypripedium, 
except the hole from which the last speci- 
men was dug on the Ld5th of May, 1834, at 
which time the flowers were not expanded. 
The said gardener had first seen it on the 
19th of May, 1828, when it was in full 
bloom, and had taken up five roots. We 
threatened him with an act of parliament, 
made expressly to hang him, but he did 
not appear so much alarmed as we could 
have wished. This little glen unites with 
another, watered by a little stream called 
the Dark Gill, which is said to abound in 
Ferns, and this is certainly the fact, but they 
are only the common sorts, and no trace of 
Onoclea sensibilis, of which one tuft is 
said to have been found somewhere on the 
moors near Helmesly. We observed Po- 
lypodium Dryopteris, and a large variety 
of Aspidium Felix femina, and I think 
nothing else worth notice; lower down, 
after the union of the streams, we noticed 
Primula farinosa, Eriophorum pubescens, 
. and Epipactis palustris. There are nu- 
merous glens about Helmesly, some enter- 
ing the hills on the North of the broad 
. and beautiful valley in which the town is 
situated. Others on the South, in what 
our informant assured us was a soil of quite 
a different nature: all rough and woody, 
and in appearance tempting to the Botanist, 
but we were not able to examine them. fi 
Ophrys muscifera grows in several places; 
O. apifera on the magnificent terrace above 
Rivaulx Abbey, where the plants are care- 
fully preserved; Serapias ensifolia in the 
woods in the same neighbourhood, and also 
Ribes alpinum, and Blysmus compressus 
in a springy piece of ground near Rivaulx 
Abbey, and in other places. Passing from 
-Helmesly to Thirsk, we took Gormire Pool 
xm in the way, which, like Leckby Carr, occu- 
pies a hollow without an outlet. Here we 
-were much gratified in meeting with Lysti- 
machia thyrsiflora in considerable abund- 
ance, and with a Potamogeton, which I 
THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 
believe to be P. lanceolatum, but without 
any floating leaves. According to the o 
servations of Mr. Wilson, as recorded in 
the British Flora, this ought not to take | 
place in stagnant water, but I believe that 
in an early stage both this and P. hetero- — | 
phyllum are frequently without floating — 
leaves, in whatever situation they are found. E 
Potamogeton is one of those genera where — — 
the desire of Botanists to clear up the ob- 
scurities of plants, which had previously 
claimed little attention, has induced th 
to multiply the species beyond what nature 
sanctions, rid 
My companion left me at Thirsk, and I 
again (29th June) hunted in Leckby Car | 
for the Scheuchzeria, without any better — 
success than on the former occasion. i 
Arundo Calamagrostis had made some — 
progress, but was not yet in flower. Dro- 
sera Anglica remained nearly in the same —— 
state. Vaccinium Ozxycoccos no longer 
presented such a multitude of blossoms. 1 
extended my walk to Thornton Bridge, E 
where I found Rumex aquaticus of British | 
Flora. The plants here had a broad bushy j 
panicle, something like that of R. alpinus, d 
which attracted my attention; but after- 
wards, at Barnard Castle and other parts of 
Teesdale, I gathered what is seemingly the 
same plant, with the panicle much more 
like its common appearance in Rumer 
crispus, and differing from this in little 
but the want of any bead upon the valves. 
R. crispus itself seems to vary much m 
this respect. On the sea-shore I usually 
nd it with distinct and nearly equal beads 
on each valve on a large portion of the 
flowers (not on all), while in its more com- 
mon appearance, as observed in the Bri 
Flora, it is usual to find a fully-formed - 
ing the hospitality 
of my excellent friend Mr. Dalton, I pue 
ceeded to Barnard Castle, and on the 
of July walked down the valley of the T! i 
to considerably below Egglestone Abbey: 
The river runs nearly in a straight chan 
between limestone rocks, on which | 
does also Saliz tenuifolia, or perh 
