THE VEGETATION OF SMALL ISLETS. 



49 



distributed shore plants as Armeria, or Plantago, or Beta, or 

 Daucus, or Lotus, or a single composite plant of any kind. 

 But more astonishing still is the total absence of the ubiqui- 

 tous tribe of Grasses, for which I made a fruitless search 

 during my repeated visits. And yet there are over twenty 

 different species of this order which are quite plentiful on that 

 portion of the coast of Alderney which directly faces this 

 barren islet, so that seeds in abundance cannot fail to be 

 blown across during the prevalence of strong easterly and 

 south-easterly winds. Owing to its deficiencies Burhou is, in 

 my opinion, by far the most remarkable of all the Channel 

 Islands. 



Some years ago Mr. Lester-Garland, of Jersey, favoured 

 me with a list of the flowering plants he had observed on the 

 Ecrehos Rocks ; a reef situated midway between Jersey and 

 France. I cannot speak of these solitary islets from personal 

 knowledge as I never landed there, but I have passed close by 

 on the way from Carteret to Jersey. The group includes 

 three main islands, of which the largest is about two-thirds of 

 a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide ; the second is about 

 one-fourth less in size, and the third smaller but loftier. 

 Except for the occurrence of an Orchis, and also of Chaero- 

 phyllum sylvestris, a rare plant in all this region except 

 Alderney, there is nothing specially noteworthy about the 

 flora of this detached group of rocks. 



Ecrehos Rocks. Mr Lester- Garland describes these as forming 

 a long- reef lying midway between the north- 

 east corner of Jersey and the coast of France, about eight miles distant 

 from each. They run nearly N. and S. and the whole group is about 

 two miles in length. At high water there are three islets : the largest, 

 which is known as Maitre He, contains the remains of old monastic 

 buildings and disused fishermen's huts, and the other two which are 

 connected at low water by a beach of shingle, possess a cottage and 

 several huts which are inhabited by fishermen during the summer." 

 Mr. Lester-Garland goes on to say : " The traces of ancient cultivation 

 interested me greatly. My present list is certainly not exhaustive ; a 

 visit at a different time of the year (I went in June) would probably 

 produce many other species." 



Sinapis arvensis. Rubus sp. 



Cochlearia danica. Sedum anglicum. 



Capsella Bursa-pastoris. Cotyledon umbilicus. 



Silene maritima. Oithmum maritimum. 



iSagina apetala. Chserophyllum sylvestre. 



Cerastium tetrandrum. Carduus tenuiflorus. 

 Lepigonum rupestre. lanceolatus. 



Lavatera arborea. Taraxacum officinale. 



Trifolium arvense. Sonchus oleraceus. 



procumbens. asper. 

 Lotus hispidus. arvensis. 



Vicia angustifolia. Erythraea centaurium. 



D 



