FL0RAJ3F HERM. 365 



and consequently they are new to our area, viz., Dicranella 

 varia, Funaria fascictdaris, and Bryum intermedium. A 

 curious instance of restricted distribution which came under 

 my observation is sufficiently interesting- to be worth putting 

 on record. There is a very common moss (Funaria hygro- 

 metricd) which is quite as abundant on the cliffs and moor- 

 lands of Guernsey and Alderney as it is in England, and I 

 fully expected to find it equally plentiful in Herm. But in 

 spite of a most diligent search, not a scrap of this moss 

 could I detect anywhere, except in one spot, and that Avas on 

 the small islet of Plat Houmet, where it was fruiting in 

 profusion. 



The discovery of an exceedingly rare lichen — one of the 

 greatest rarities of the British flora — was quite an unexpected 

 pleasure. In sauntering through a field at the top of the 

 island, I noticed that the branches of some ash trees were 

 sprinkled with brownish-black dots ; and on closer inspection 

 these proved to be Myriangium Duricei, an old acquaintance 

 of mine, which I used to find occasionally in Cornwall twenty 

 years ago. This small, inconspicuous lichen was first added 

 to the British list nearly sixty years ago, from specimens 

 gathered in Sark by the Rev. Thomas Salwey, an eminent 

 lichenologist. Knowing that, I have always kept a sharp 

 look-out on ash trees both in Guernsey and Alderney, but I 

 never met with Myriangium anywhere in these islands until I 

 saw it in Herm. 



Our next visit to the little island was on the 25th of 

 May, and we stayed there until the 4th of June. Insect- 

 hunting and shell-collecting occupied nearly all our time ; but 

 we managed to add to the previous list twenty-two new 

 flowering plants and one fern. 



The vegetation of small outlying islets and rocks has 

 always possessed a peculiar interest for me, and I seldom miss 

 an opportunity of examining and cataloguing the plants which 

 compose it. An exceptionally low tide at the end of May 

 gave me a chance to walk across to the green islet which is 

 known to the Herm people by the name of Plowmey, evidently 

 a corruption of its proper name, Plat Houmet, as given on 

 the map. It lies about a quarter of a mile from the shore, 

 off the north-western point of Herm ; and from a rough 

 measurement I made, its extent would be approximately 70 

 to 80 yards long, and 15 to 20 yards wide. The top is level, 

 and abundantly covered with vegetation. The following is a 

 list of all the flowering plants I could find growing on this 

 islet : — 



