GERANIUM PURPUREUM VILL. AND G. ROBERTIANUM L. : I 167 



It is not certain how many separate stations were represented here, but it is virtually- 

 certain that subsp. forsteri has been extinguished by man's activities in its Hampshire 

 stations with the exception of that at Hurst Castle. The Sussex populations are now 

 very small. Wilmott (1921) discusses the possibility that this subspecies occurred at 

 one time at Selsey (on the authority of Dillenius) and at Swanage, in Dorset (from a 

 reference by Sherard), but no vouchers have ever been located. , 



The general impression given by the distribution and state of the populations of 

 both subspecies is far from being one of expansion (as suggested by Reid, 1911). It is 

 rather one of gradual diminution and, in the case of outlying populations, of approaching 

 or actual extinction. Along the south coast a retraction westwards seems to be indicated 

 while the headquarters remains in the West Country. If this be the case, subsp. forsteri 

 has lingered longer than subsp. purpureum and their relative numbers at Clymping (before 

 seaweed-clearing by tractor almost wiped them out) seem to substantiate the belief that 

 subsp. forsteri finds the conditions less unfavourable than subsp. purpureum and is slower 

 to disappear. On the other hand, the extreme localisation of this subspecies, to a group 

 of stations in Sussex and Hampshire on the one hand, and Guernsey on the other, might 

 suggest a separate origin for the subspecies in each. In speculating upon this it may not 

 be without significance that subsp. purpureum and prostrate G. rohertianum are both 

 known to have occurred in relatively close proximity to these groups of the prostrate 

 subsp. forsteri. A combination of the features of subsp. purpureum and prostrate G. 

 rohertianum could produce the characters of subsp. forsteri, both morphological and 

 ecological (including an intermediate climatic tolerance). • 



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