1865.] Botany and Vegetable Physiology. 449 



terized forms. Moreover the traffic in wool has introduced into the 

 place called Pont de Juvenal foreign plants, which have frequently- 

 attracted the notice of botanists. M. Planchon has made use of 

 numerous documents already published, as well as of his own observa- 

 tions, to bring out the effects produced on the vegetation of Mont- 

 pellier, by the various causes which have had a tendency to alter it 

 since the 16th century. Around Port Juvenal 458 species have been 

 successively introduced. The botanic garden of Montpellier has con- 

 tained, from the time of Richer de Bellerat to the present day from 

 1,200 to 5,500 species, the seeds of which might accidentally be 

 scattered beyond its boundaries. The ballast of ships has been 

 deposited in many littoral situations, and that ballast in many cases 

 contained seeds. The wind, birds, and currents, have transported 

 seeds from various places, far and near. Many botanists have 

 scattered seeds in different places. At the same time, culture, drain- 

 age, the destruction of forests, and the avidity of collectors, have 

 caused the disappearance of many species. Notwithstanding all these 

 causes of change in the Flora, the following are the definite results : 

 Five species at most have disappeared from the neighbourhood of 

 Montpellier, and not one of them has been destroyed by botanical 

 collectors. This shows how needless were the fears of those who 

 lately protested against the prizes for collections offered by the 

 Horticultural Society of London. The attempts at introduction by 

 man have had effect only in establishing three aquatics, of which 

 Jussiaia grandiflora is the most extended. Culture has brought into 

 the country eight species, but all of these have been limited to the 

 place where they were introduced. The import of wool has only 

 given rise to the appearance of one species (Onopordum virens). 

 Ballast has brought 3 species, which are still very limited. There 

 are only 15 species which an observer, ignorant of their origin, might 

 look upon as indigenous. Of these 15 species, 11 come from America, 

 1 from the Cape of Good Hope, 2 from the East, and 1 from Europe. 

 The American species most diffused are (Enothera biennis, Erigeron 

 ranadense, Amaranthus albus, A. retroflexus, Xanihium spinosum, 

 X. macrocarpum. and Bidens bipinnata. Man has almost always been 

 the direct or indirect agent in the introduction of the species. 



M. Planchon has also studied the fossil Flora of Montpellier. He 

 finds that changes have taken place in the Flora at a former epoch. 

 He has found in the quaternary formation of Montpellier 30 species, 

 all of which exist at the present day, the greater part in the same 

 locality. The laurel was the predominating shrub. It no longer 

 exists in a wild state round Montpellier; but it was found two 

 centuries ago in the locality of Castelnau, and it exists still at the 

 present day on the northern face of the Pic de St. Loup and on the 

 rock of Arcs. Three species out of 30 are no longer found in the 

 country ; these are, — Fraxinus Ornus, Pinus Laricio, and Acer JVea- 

 politanum. the nearest localities for which are Corsica or Italy. On 

 the contrary, several species, abundant at present in the dry gravelly 

 soils of Montpellier, have not been found in the quaternary forma- 

 tions ; for instance, Quercus cocci/era, species of Cistus, Rosemary, 



VOL. II. 2 I 



