396 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



are still most interesting botanical ground, and the peculiarities 

 of plant distribution are again and again brought to one's notice. 

 Why should there be no Medicago of any kind or Geranium 

 Bobertianum in Sark ? Why has Jersey no Caltha, Isoetes hystrix, 

 Ophioglossum lusitanicum, Briza media, Bubus idmcs, Primus 

 insititia, or Senecio aquaticus ? and why should Jersey have Nar- 

 clus, Corynephorus, Carex binervis, Papaver Argemone, Geranium 

 lucidum, and many other species which are absent from Guernsey? 

 More puzzling still is the flora of that small islet Burhou, near 

 Alderney, which from the distance looks covered with verdure, 

 and yet possesses not a species of grass, the green colouring being 

 due to Pteris and Spergularia rupestris. Nor is there a single 

 Composite, although there is a small patch of Scirpus maritimus, 

 which does not occur on the adjacent island of Alderney. The 

 absence of aboriginal woodland in the islands accounts for the 

 non-existence of such sylvan species as Oxalis Acetosella, &c. 



The glory of the Jersey flora is the masses of colour produced 

 by that eminently Mediterranean species Echium plant agineum, 

 by the beautifully contrasted foliage and blossom of Brassica 

 Cheiranthus, by the pale gold of Baphanus maritimus, or the 

 artistic tints of Mathiola sinuata. Then there are the lilac-pink 

 flowers of Statice plantaginea, the pale pink of Tunica prolifera, 

 the rich dark rose of the fragrant Dianthus g alliens, the patches 

 of straggling foliage and pale-red flowers of Gentaurea aspera, and 

 the down-like panicles of the introduced Lagurus ovatus. In 

 Guernsey, the shady lanes lined with ferns, the hedges and way- 

 sides here and there adorned with the beautiful Fumaria capreo- 

 lata or speciosa, and more abundantly by the luxuriant F. Borcei, 

 and the beautiful growth of Agropyron junceum and its hybrids on 

 the coast are characteristic features. In Alderney, the rich pro- 

 fusion of Brassica incana, which impressed Babington on his visit, 

 is still a great feature, nor less remarkable are the enormous 

 spikes of Orobanche amethystea growing on the glaucous Eryngiuvi; 

 the rank abundance of Salvia Verbenaca is also a characteristic 

 feature, while the occurrence of Orchis pyramidalis and Arabis 

 hirsuta on the sand-dunes testifies to the large percentage of 

 calcareous shell-debris which the soil contains. Nor must the 

 beautiful patch of the rare Limonium lychnidifolium remain un- 

 noticed, and the blue-flowered Orobanche purpurea, the rich bright 

 rosy flowers of Ononis reclinata, and the clean-cut foliage of 

 Bwpleurum aristatum delight the botanist's eye. 



To visit Sark after Alderney is like going from Kent to North 

 Wales ; the plants appear to flower about ten days later, while 

 the difference in the species is very marked. The high cliffs 

 surrounding Sark appear to have been an effectual barrier to the 

 introduction of many species, and the absence of mobile sands 

 necessarily limits the variety of the flora. While admitting there 

 is great similarity as a whole between the flora of these islands 

 with that of the adjoining French coast, it is the difference rather 

 than the likeness which strikes one. This perhaps not so much 

 in the relative occurrence of various species as in variations of 



