Aug. 31, 1S88.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



205 



THE BOTANY OF BRISTOL.— II. 



{Continued from p. 182.) 



'"THE "Flora of the Bristol Coal-fields," published by 

 the Bristol Naturalists' Society, with its supple- 

 ments, contains records of about 1,010 flowering plants 

 and vascular cryptogams, excluding varieties, aliens, and 

 casuals. T o that work can be referred all those inquirers 

 who desire to become more closely acquainted with our 

 plants in their respective habitats. Three species found 

 in the district do not grow elsewhere in Britain. They 

 are Dianthus coesius, Arabis stricta, and Allium spharo- 

 cephahtm ; the two last being peculiar to St. Vincent's 

 Rocks and Durdham Down. The pink is also a limestone 

 plant, but grows only at Cheddar, where it is still abun- 

 dant. Arabis stricta, the Bristol rock-cress, is to be found 

 in fair quantity about the rocks overlooking the Avon, 

 and, more sparingly, on the opposite bank of the river, 

 so that it can be claimed by Somerset as well as 

 by Gloucester ; but its whole area is extremely small, 

 and it behoves all true botanists to use extreme care in 

 dealing with it. The Downs, rocks, and quarries on the 

 banks of the Avon below Bristol yield most of the lime- 

 stone species, including many of our best plants. Besides 

 those already mentioned there are met with on St. 

 Vincent's Rocks Hutchinsia petroea, Arabis hirsuta, 

 Cheiranthus Cheiri, Hippocrepis comosa, Pyrus Aria, 

 Sedum Telephiutn, Rubia peregrina, Blackstonia perfoliata, 

 Rumcx pulcher, Allium vineale (compactum ct bulbiferum), 

 Geranium sanguineum, G. rotundifolium, and G. columbi- 

 num. On some of the ledges can be seen Sedum 

 ritpestre (minus), flowering but rarely, and it occurs also 

 on the other side of the river. The ivy clothing some 

 of the precipices is much infested with Orobanche 

 Hedcrce, while the handsome Veronica hybrida is 

 plentiful but mostly out of reach. The Alexanders, 

 Parsley, and Fennel may perhaps remain from ancient 

 cultivation, and be descended from pot-herbs used by 

 the hermit who, tradition says, at one time inhabited the 

 Giant's Cave. Early in the spring the flowers of Poten- 

 tilla verna are seen in profusion, and for a week or two 

 one can readily distinguish the spikes of Carex humilis. 

 After flowering, the sedge blends its foliage with the 

 turf, and entirely justifies its specific name. If the season 

 be damp and cool, Cerastium pumilum is fine and abun- 

 dant, but a hot dry spring, like that of 1887, gives a 

 tiny annual small scope for development. C. semi- 

 decandrum grows about the edges of the paths and under 

 the seats, while a dwarf form of C. tetrandrum is fre- 

 quent in the turf near the Observatory, together with 

 Trifolium subterraneum and T. scabrnm. These like- 

 wise grow together on Brandon Hill. Scilla autum- 

 nalis was lost sight of for many years after the construc- 

 tion of Clifton Suspension Bridge, but happily has now 

 been rediscovered within a short distance. The rocky 

 side of the river below St. Vincent's Rocks belongs to 

 Clifton and Durdham Downs. Here may be discovered 

 Aquilegia vulgaris, Spircca Filifendula, and Trinia vul- 

 garis. The best grasses are Gastridium lendigerum, Avena 

 pubescens, A. pratensis, Sicglingia decumbens, Koeleria 

 cristata, Festuca myurus, F. sciuroides, Bromus ereclus, and 

 B. madritensis. All these grow within a very small area. 

 The Fly and Bee Ophrys have become scarce, but Spi- 

 ranthes autumnalis is scattered freely on the Downs. In 

 furzy spots we find Ulex Gallii, Carex pulicaris, C. piluli- 

 jera, and C. panicea, which flourishes alike on limestone 

 or in marsh. Carex digitata is well concealed under 



bushes, and wants a good deal of looking for. In Leigh 

 Woods it is larger and more abundant. Further west- 

 ward beyond the limestone there occur on the river bank 

 many other interesting species, from which we may 

 selectfor mention Allium oleraccum, Trifolium maritimum, 

 Lathyrus Nissolia, Bupleurum tenuissimum, Aster Tri- 

 polium, and Alopecurus bulbosus ; while in the marsh dis- 

 tricts towards Avonmouth are plenty of Ranunculus 

 Baudotii, Ruppia, Zann/cliellia, and Potamogeton pecti- 

 natits. The botanist will be equally charmed among the 

 copses and coombes of Henbury and Westbury, or on 

 the wooded banks of Leigh. Leigh Wood is the great 

 hunting ground for mosses, yielding as many as 200 

 species. Several very rare musci also, including 

 Grimmia orbicularis and Tortula Hornschuchiana, are to 

 be found on the Gloucestershire side. Mr. Cedric 

 Bucknall has catalogued a very large number of Bristol 

 fungi, some new to Britain, and a few new to science. 

 The latter include Agaricus Bucknalli, and will be found 

 described and figured in the transactions of the Bristol 

 Naturalists' Society. 



To the deficiency of arable land may be attributed the 

 absence of some agrarian weeds common in other locali- 

 ties. And here comes in the consolatory thought that 

 the cultivation of the soil is not likely to be so much ex- 

 tended in the future as to alter the features of the flora 

 to such a great degree as has occurred in the more highly 

 cultivated and exclusively arable portion of the kingdom. 

 Very much of the land around Bristol is not suitable for 

 the plough. Speaking generally, the owners profit most 

 by allowing it to remain in its original state, either as 

 woodland or for grazing. But although during the last 

 half-century cultivation has not threatened to reduce the 

 number of our plants, yet the advance of bricks and 

 mortar in the rapid expansion of this great city wears 

 another aspect. However, we believe that up to the 

 present time hardly a single species correctly reported 

 as native in our area has become extinct, though with a 

 few existence is precarious. As an instance may be 

 mentioned Thalictrum minus on Durdham Down. Known 

 by Sole in the last century to occur in small quantity, 

 this rare plant is now represented at Bristol by two 

 specimens only, and these are very much at the mercy 

 of scrambling boys whose heedless feet will one day be 

 the cause of their decease. Another plant in danger of 

 destruction is Cyperus longus, at Walton-in-Gordano. 

 This rare and beautiful sedge has grown from time im- 

 memorial in a small plot of very wet marshy ground, 

 believed to have been anciently a fish-pond, and situated 

 behind some cottages in the upper part of the village. 

 Sole, in MS. dated 1782, says of it, "Abundantly in a 

 pond at Walton-in-Gordano, near Possit, Somerset, a 

 village belonging to Sir Abraham Elton " (Possit-Portis- 

 head). The plant continued to be plentiful until 1882, 

 when the occupier of the land ploughed it and planted 

 potatoes. At the end cf August, 1883, we found many 

 stems coming up by the sides of two ditches which in- 

 tersect the field, and also among the crop ; but in conse- 

 quence of the disturbance their development was much 

 retarded, and flowering delayed nearly two months. 

 Since that time, owing to the drainage and cultivation, 

 the sedge has become reduced in quantity, and the stems 

 produced in successive seasons have failed to come to 

 maturity, whence it is to be feared that Cyperus longus 

 will soon head our list of lost rarities. 



Those botanists (but they are surprisingly few) who 

 delight to study the critical groups of aquatic Ranunculi 



