THE FLORA OF JETHOU. 83 



with the region extending from beyond Dieppe on the north- 

 east down to the angle near St. Malo on the south, and 

 stretching inland from fifty to a hundred miles ; the other, 

 Lloyd's '-'Flore de l'Ouest de la France," now in its third 

 edition, takes in the country from the point where the other 

 terminates near St. Malo, and includes the whole north- 

 western corner of France down to the middle of the Bay of 

 Biscay. These two Floras are held in the highest estimation 

 by continental botanists for completeness and accuracy, so 

 that we have every requisite information upon the plants 

 of France within a hundred miles and more of the Channel 

 Islands. The exhaustive English Floras of the various 

 southern counties furnish similar evidence as regards our 

 national mainland, and the only wonder is that our own little 

 archipelago should have been left down to the present day 

 almost entirely unnoticed, for since Professor Babington 

 published his excellent Flora more than half a century ago, 

 no one, so far as I can learn, has undertaken any systematic 

 work on the subject. 



I could have wished to say something upon the curious 

 problems which confront one in a critical study of our 

 Guernsey plants, and the singular anomalies which present 

 themselves, but it would lead me beyond the limits of this 

 paper; and therefore I will reserve my remarks for some 

 future occasion. 



My belief is that it is impossible to over-estimate the 

 value of carefully and accurately recording the Fauna and 

 Flora of these islands. Viewed merely as so many square 

 miles of land they are perhaps insignificant ; but regarded as 

 the silent historians of the past, their importance is beyond 

 measure. To quote the words of an eminent living English 

 botanist: "What we have to do is to work patiently in 

 recording all we can in sincerity and truth, so that when the 

 pages shall be full, others may read them, and read them in 

 fuller light." 



Ranunculus repens. 



,, bulbosus. 



„ acris.* 



Papaver somniferum. 

 Fumaria officinalis. * 

 Cakile maritima. 

 Sinapis arvensis. 

 Sisymbrium officinale. 

 Cardamine hirsuta. 

 Arabis thaliana. 



Cochlearea danica. 

 Capsella bursa pastoris. 

 Lepidium Smithii.* 

 Reseda luteola. 

 Polygala oxyptera.* 

 Viola sylvatica. 

 Silene maritima. 

 Lychnis dioica.* 

 Cerastium glomeratum. 

 „ triviale. 



