A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



UfFculme, Kentisbeare and Broadhembury ; the Haldon Hills at the south-west border belong 

 to the Upper Greensand formation. 



Patches of Greenstone occur north of Great Haldon, also between it and Exeter. 



Limestone occurs near Hockworthy and Holcombe Rogus, and about Bampton. 



Trappean rocks occur between Loxbeare and Washfield ; there are also several patches 

 about Silverton, and one at Exeter. The Upper Devonian system extends into the parishes of 

 Morebath, Bampton and Clayhanger, about the most northerly part of the district. 



The climate of the district is illustrated by the following tables, which have been 

 obtained in the way explained under the Barnstaple district : — 



Table i. — Decade 1890-9 



Station 



Altitude, 

 feet 



Mean annual rainfall, 

 inchei 



Mean annual number of days on 

 which -oi inch or more of rain fell 



Huntsham 



Cullompton 



Exeter, Devon and Exeter Inst. . 

 Exeter, Mansion Terrace . . . 

 Christow, Kennick, Waterworks . 



640 

 202 



166 

 842 



45-28 



337* 

 29-81 

 29-14 

 40-74 



203 

 181 

 160 



173 

 199 



Table 2 



Station 



Altitude, 



feet 



above 



sea-level 



Mean 

 annual 

 rainfall, 

 inches 



Mean 

 annual 

 number 



of 



sunless 



days 



Mean 

 percentage 



of 

 humidity 

 at 9 a.m. 



Mean 

 annual 

 number 

 of hours 

 of sun- 

 shine 



Mean 

 percent- 

 age of 

 possible 

 sunshine 



Mean 

 percent- 

 age of 

 cloud 



at 

 9 a.m. 



Temperature in Fah. degrees, 

 average annual 



Mean at 

 9 a.m. 



Mini- 

 mum 



Maxi- 



mum 



Cullompton . . 

 Exeter . . . 



202 



34-26 

 30-23 



69 



77 



H7S 



34 

 35 



69 



49-1 

 50-7 



17-01 

 22 



83-46 

 83 



The wild rocket or stinkweed {Diplotaxis muralis) was recorded by Hudson in 177^ ^* 

 growing about Exeter. The procumbent pepperwort or wart-cress {Senebiera didyma) was also 

 recorded by Hudson at the same time on the authority of Mr. W. Newbery as growing in 

 waste places about Exeter ; a peculiarity in the inflorescence was noticed at Plymouth and was 

 the subject of a communication made to the Plymouth meeting of the British Association in 

 1878. The toadflax-leaved St. John's wort [Hypericum linarifolium) grows in great luxuri- 

 ance and abundance on a rocky cleave in the parish of Christow more than a mile from the 

 river Teign ; it flowers from the middle of June to the beginning of October and attains 

 1 8 inches or more in height ; the leaves are at first only very slightly or scarcely 

 revolute, their midribs being very prominent beneath ; their hue is somewhat glaucous, and 

 they are remarkably blunt, narrowing only a little from the base to the apex ; their stems 

 appear to be uniformly ascending, never erect or prostrate, and they are obscurely two- 

 edged ; there is a rigid look about the whole plant, and a regularity of outline in the 

 leaves and in the especially bright yellow petals distinguishes the species from all other 

 British ones ; the peculiar resinous smell so characteristic of the tutsan is very strong in 

 this species (Moyle Rogers). It was first recorded in Britain in 1 840 by the Rev. Thomas 

 Hincks as having occurred among granite rocks near the banks of the Teign in the 

 summer of 1838 [Journ, Bet. 1892, p. 275). 



The yellow wood-sorrel {Oxalis corniculata) was first recorded as a British plant in 

 1795 as occurring in several places in the neighbourhood of Exeter, having been found by 

 Mr. J. Turner i^ourn. Bot. 1892, p. 277) ; Mr. Moyle Rogers could not but regard it as 

 truly indigenous at Trusham (a parish in the Torquay district and bordering this district), 

 where it occurred not only in three lanes and in considerable quantities but also on an 

 open furzy down where it looked quite as much native as Rumex Acetosella, Sedum angli- 

 cum and Geranium pusillum, which grew beside it. 



The red valerian or drunken sailor {Centranthus ruber) was recorded by Hudson in 1778 

 as plentiful in Devon on old walls and in waste places, and it was reported by Jones and 

 Kingston as likewise occurring at Exeter; with white flowers it occurs on the cliffs at 

 Dawlish (Jordan) and on the old city walls at Exeter (Parfitt) ; it is quite naturalized in 

 several places. 



76 



