Report of Meetings for 1880, by James Hardy. 235 



taken down to one story. There were here some very showy 

 Calceolarias, particularly a double mauve-coloured variety ; some 

 large blossomed Fuchsias ; choice Pelargoniums ; a scarlet 

 full-blooming Azalea ; a few heaths ; a good well-grown Pteris ; 

 an Eucalyptus rather drawn up ; and a Sparmannia Africcma, from 

 the Cape, of a large size. There were also noted Sollya hetero- 

 phylla, Lapageria rosea, Clematises of sorts, and Passiflora ccerulea. 

 A portion of the wall of the house was covered by the pedate ivy 

 {Eedera pedata). On another portion a fasciculated stem was 

 observed on the Cotoneaster microphylla, which is said to be sub- 

 ject to these abnormal growths. 



I shall now, by Mr Thomson's aid, follow the more active ex- 

 plorers in their survey of Corsbie Bog. " Despite the drenching 

 rain, Corsbie Bog proved an interesting place for the botanists, 

 who were abundantly rewarded for all their labour and discom- 

 ■ fort by the variety of the plants found. The moss has been 

 drained, and when the water receded the soil was the scene of a 

 great network of deep cracks, which still remain. In the Eden, 

 which is here a very insignificant burn, we found a small log of 

 black oak protruding from the soil. On the hill sIojdo, and also 

 in the bog, the juniper {Juniperus communis) was growing among 

 the heath, while the cranberry ( Vaccinium oxycoccos) was plentiful. 

 Lancashire Bog Asphodel also grows in the bog. The butter- 

 wort {Pinguicula vulgaris) and the sundew {Drosera rotundifolia) 

 were common, and the whole bog bore a heavy crop of the hare's 

 tail cotton grass {Eriophorum vaginatum). Owing to the rain we 

 could not see this beautiful plant at its best, as the moisture 

 caused the * cotton ' to stick close together, instead of appearing 

 a wavy tuft of down. There was plenty of Devil's bit scabious 

 {Scahiosa succisa). The feature of the bog was the frequent 

 occurrence of magnificent beds of Polytrichum commune in grand 

 fruit, while Funaria Jiygrometrica, which invariably appears where 

 ground has been burned, was exceedingly rich. In the Eden 

 Potamogeton polygonifolius and pusillus, Myosotis repens, Sphagnum 

 cuspidatum, squarrosum, and acutifolium ; Galium saxatile, Ranun- 

 culus homcBophyllus, Carex ampullacea, C. curta and puUcaris, 

 Lastrea spinulosa, &c., were exceedingly abundant. Some very 

 pretty specimens of Orchis maculata were observed. The birds 

 noticeable were the whinchat and curlew, while here and during 

 the day larks innumerable were seen and heard. The subject of 



Id 



