PEENS OP aHEAT BRITAIN. 39 



and in several other spots in Yorkshire. This fern was 

 probably more general and abundant in our island at 

 a period when lands were less drained and brought into 

 culture. It is known to have disappeared from AUesley 

 in Warwickshire. The Rev. W. T. Bree, in the true 

 spirit of a botanist, regrets its absence from spots in 

 which, in his earlier day, he had been accustomed to 

 gather it. Writing from AUesley he remarks: " A pit 

 in this parish formerly abounded with the Marsh Fern ; 

 the entire surface was so completely scummed over (if 

 I may use the expression) with a thick blanket of the 

 matted roots of the fern, interspersed with Bog-moss, 

 Marsh Cinquefoil, &c., that no water was visible ; and, 

 more properly speaking, the spot should not be called 

 a pit, but a shaking bog. Some years ago the field 

 was brought to the hammer, and purchased by an 

 industrious hard-working man, who, at no small expense 

 of labour, drained the bog and converted it into profit- 

 able ground. Of course there was an end of the Marsh 

 Fern in that situation ; nor do I know, at this moment, 

 any other habitat where it is to be found." This bota- 

 nist also expresses his regret when, on revisiting a 

 charming boggy meadow on the skirts of Chemsley 

 Wood, near Coleshill, abounding with the rare Butter^ 

 worts. Sundews, Grass of Parnassus, Cranberries, Cotton 

 Grass, and the orchideous plant termed HeHeborine — a 

 spot which, as he says, was " one of Nature's own botanical 

 gardens,"-^he found it converted into a potato ground. 

 This writer says that he had been delighted with the 

 spot in his youth, and had spent many an hour in 

 exploring its natural treasures. He adds, "It is not 



