51 



for this, whereas I can produce six. In connection with the 

 Golden Samphire crithmoides , L.), I may say that to one who 

 is not afraid to rush in "where angels fear to tread," it may be 

 found all along our dangerous coast from Tilly Whim to Chap- 

 man's Pool. The lovely Yellow Ox-eye or Corn Marigold 

 (Chrysanthemum segetum, L.), though not so common as in the 

 Wareham district, may be found with us in some quantity. In 

 1912 we had a field of it in full bloom in December! The little 

 rayless Matricaria suaveolens, Buch. (discoidea, D.C.), a native of 

 North America, once so rare, has now become in many places a 

 veritable weed. Artemisia maritima, L., the Sea Wormwood, with 

 its silvery, much-divided foliage and refreshing scent, still 

 flourishes on that sandy spit of land near Arne. Petasites ovatus, 

 Hill, the Common Butter-bur, is not common with us; while its 

 sweet-scented sister, P. fragans, Presl., usually regarded as rare, 

 is with us in quantity. Thus " common " and " rare " are simply 

 relative terms. Senecio Jacobaea, L. , the Ragwort, was a glorious 

 sight last year (1913) on Ballard Down; so much so, in fact, that 

 persons who usually take no notice of such phenomena could not 

 help remarking it. With Thistles we are well equipped, but 

 what is known as the Slender-Headed Thistle (Carduus 

 pycnocephalus, L.) appears with us to be the variety tenuiflorus 

 Curt. only. I think I have the species from Beer Head, in Devon- 

 shire. In the Musk Thistle (C. nutans, L.) we have perfume as 

 well as beauty ; its white form has come to me on two occasions ; 

 and so has C. crispus, L., and, I think, C.c-X nutans. The great 

 Woolly-Headed or>e (Cnicus eriophorus, Roth.) seems to be rare in 

 other districts, whereas in rough places on our oolitic formation 

 it is usually in fine trim. C. palustris, Willd., and C. pratensis, 

 Willd., are both common, but C. Forsteri, Sm. , a cross between 

 them, I have only seen once, in a Creech Grange meadow. To 

 get a white form of the black Knapweed (Centaur ea nigra, L.), is 

 not outrageous, any more than a red one of the blue Corn-flower 

 (C. cyanus, L.), for what appears to be an apparent contradiction 

 in terms is entirely due to what is called popular phraseology. 

 The Hieraciums , another difficult genus, are not for me, so I 

 will eschew further reference to the Compositae. On the Heath- 

 lands what is more beautiful than Erica ciliaris, L., the far-famed 

 Dorset Heath? I have even found an albino form of this, as I 

 have of Tetralix, cinerea, and Calluna vulgaris ; but the rarest of 

 these is E. Watsoni, Benth., a cross between ciliaris and Tetralix, 

 which last year preceded the parents in point of flowering. It may 

 be discovered between Stoborough and Arne, also on Wytch 

 Heath. While on the subject of E. ciliaris I think it is worth 

 recording that locallv it has the very appropriate name of 

 " Foxglove Heath." 



There are some other genera which will conjure up pleasing 

 recollections, but they can only be mentioned — Primroses, Pim- 

 pernels, Periwinkles. Of Gentians the finest of all our blues is 

 G. Pneumonanthe, L., and this year it seemed to be unusually fine, 



