THE VEGETATION OF SMALL ISLETS. 



45 



be seen the ruins of an ancient chapel, from which the place takes its 

 name. Towards the north a shallow gully separates the islet from a 

 much smaller one, a mere rocky mass only scantily clothed with vege- 

 tation, and bounded on the seaward side by a huge bulwark of rocks, 

 which break the force of the mighty Atlantic billows that dash upon 

 this exposed coast. Visits in early and late summer have yielded me 

 the following twenty plants. 



Cochlearia danica. Sonchus oleraceus. 



Silene maritima. Anagallis arvensis. 



Sagina maritima. Armeria maritima. 



Stellaria media. Plantago coronopus. 



Lepigonum rupestre. lanceolata. 



Geranium molle. Beta maritima. 



Lotus corniculatus. Sclerochloa loliacea. 



Crithmum maritimum. Dactylis glomerata. 



Daucus gummifer. Festuca rubra. 



Thrincia hirta. Serrafalcus mollis. 



Burhou ^ 11S * s ^ ne mos t desolate and lonely of all the islands in 

 our archipelago, situated as it is, almost in the middle of 

 the English Channel, about two miles west of Aiderney, between it and 

 the perilous reef known as the Casquet Rocks. Burhou is over half a 

 mile in length, with a width of between 200 and 300 yards ; but it lies 

 low, and the highest point hardly reaches forty feet above high water 

 level. Stupendous masses of rock are piled up in picturesque groups 

 all over the island, and everything about the place looks wild, rugged 

 and storm-beaten, like the relic of a prehistoric age. A small stone- 

 built house provides shelter for shipwrecked sailors, as well as for 

 fishermen who may be driven to land there by stress of weather, or 

 when suddenly overtaken by a dense fog, as happened to me on my first 

 visit ten years ago, when I was forced to pass the night on the island. 

 Until quite recently its only permanent inhabitants were seabirds and 

 rabbits. The extraordinary feature about Burhou is that almost the 

 whole of the vegetation which covers the island consists of only four 

 plants, namely, Lepigonum rupestre, Silene maritima, Endymion nutans 

 and Pteris aquilina. All the other species form quite an inconspicuous 

 portion of the general mass. The complete absence of grasses of every 

 kind, and also of the commonest of composites, is most remarkable. In 

 1900 the cottage was rented by some French people who went to live 

 there, and they took with them a few pigs, goats and fowls. They only 

 remained there a twelvemonth or so, but during that short time several 

 new plants were introduced, no doubt among the food used for their 

 animals. When I paid my last visit to Burhou in 1902, I immediately 

 noticed that four alien plants had already obtained a firm footing and 

 were growing luxuriantly in the neighbourhood of the cottage ; they 

 had thoroughly established themselves and were spreading rapidly. 

 These aliens were Urtica dioiea, Poa annua, Solanum nigrum and Rumex 

 acetosella. Among the eighteen plants which composed the entire flora 

 of the island before its occupation, there are two or three which are 

 certainly not indigenous ; and the probability is that they were intro- 

 duced during the time the cottage was built. A fuller account of 

 Burhou and its plants will be found in the Flora of Guernsey. 



Cochlearia danica. Crithmum maritimum. 



Silene maritima. Lycopsis arvensis. 



Sagina maritima. Myosotis arvensis. 



Cerastium tetandrum. G-laux maritima. 



Lepigonum rupestre. Anagallis arvensis. 



Erodium maritimum. Atriplex deltoidea. 



Cotyledon umbilicus. Rumex crispus. 



