362 THE FLORA OF ALDERNEY. 



It is curious to observe how the islands in the Channel 

 group differ from each other in regard to their indigenous 

 vegetation ; how a plant, for instance, will be abundant in one 

 island, rare in another, and absent altogether in a third ; while 

 certain plants are entirely confined to one island only, without 

 any apparent cause. Then again there are some remarkable 

 points of dissimilarity between the flora of the islands and 

 that of the neighbouring French mainland. One would 

 imagine that with less than ten miles of sea intervening, 

 Alderney would resemble botanically certain parts of 

 Normandy ; but it does not. This is one of the remarkable 

 features of the insular flora, and I shall have something to 

 say about it in my forthcoming book on the Flora of Guernsey 

 and the Lesser Channel Islands. 



Meantime it may be well to mention some of the best 

 plants to be found here ; species which are either unknown or 

 excessively rare in England, and consequently those which 

 a botanist visiting this little island will be most desirous to 

 see growing in their natural habitats. 



The first place must be allotted to the small Rock Rose 

 ( Helianthemum guttatum) which grows in profusion on the 

 southern cliffs not far from the Lover's Chair. This plant is 

 confined to the Channel Islands, and is only known to grow 

 in Alderney and Jersey. Two other non-British plants are 

 Centaurea aspera, a species hitherto supposed to be restricted 

 to Guernsey ; and Bromus maximus, a beautiful grass found 

 in profusion everywhere in Alderney. Another plant which 

 grows far more plentifully in this island than in Guernsey is 

 the Yellow Bird's Foot (Arthrolobium ebracteatumj a pretty 

 little vetch only known in the Scilly Isles. Three of the very 

 rarest of British plants occur here in sufficient abundance to 

 dispel any fear of possible eradication at the hands of greedy 

 collectors : Ononis reclinata, Bupleurum aristatum and 

 Romulea Colnmnce. Several other excellent species might 

 be mentioned, but they will be found in the annexed list ; 

 enough has been said to show that this small island is not 

 quite so uninteresting as most persons have supposed. Indeed 

 I am inclined to think that a stranger will, in a single day's 

 botanising, do better in Alderney than in any other of the 

 Channel Islands. 



The present list is restricted to species seen by me ; 

 but as my researches have only extended from May to 

 August (an exceptionally dry season, almost without rain 

 during the entire period), and moreover as ornithology and 

 entomology have occupied a large share of my attention, the 



