134 



The Flora of Herm. 



But what struck me as very remarkable was the fact that 

 Herm possesses a flora quite distinct in its character from 

 Guernsey ; the component parts are mostly the same, but they 

 are arranged in a different pattern. Plants which you may 

 search for in vain in Guernsey, or which are of extreme rarity, 

 are, on the contrary, in Herm common flowers which you meet 

 with at every turn ; whilst on the other hand, some of the most 

 abundant and generally distributed species appear to be, sin- 

 gularly enough, entirely absent from the smaller island. Now, 

 it must always be borne in mind that it is not^the rarities of a 

 district which are alone worthy of regard ; these are in many 

 cases of accidental introduction; but what, in my view, is a 

 point of more importance, although far less attended to, is the 

 careful recording of any generally common species which may 

 be wanting in a district, nowithstanding that all the apparently 

 necessary conditions of their existence are present. A careful 

 study of this will help to elucidate many knotty questions, and 

 throw much light on the great Darwinian law of Natural 

 Selection. 



The only authentic Flora of Herm of which I have any 

 knowledge, is that contained in Babington's " Primitise Florae 

 Sarnicee," published in 1839. No new list has been made out 

 during the half century which has elapsed. On my return 

 home I went through that little work and ascertained that 

 Babington has recorded one hundred and seventy-four flower- 

 ing plants as indigenous to Herm. Forty-nine of these I did 

 not find, but I discovered fifty- seven species which are not in 

 his list, and therefore are new records. Moreover four species 

 were brought to me during the excursion which I did not my- 

 self meet with growing, viz. : Hyoscyamus niger, by Mr. Kan- 

 dell, and Viola tricolor, Myosotis arvensis and Buphurum arista- 

 turn by Mr. Derrick. The two last named are not recorded by 

 Professor Babington. So that by combining these lists I have 

 the pleasure of now laying before the Society a much more 

 complete Flora of the island of Herm (so far as the flowering 



