CONCHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Additions to the Flora of Northumberland.— The flora of our 



two northern counties has been so admirably dealt with by Messrs. J. G. Baker 

 and G. Tate, and the Natural History Societies which have their respective head- 

 quarters on the Tyne and the Tw^eed have so diligently covered the ground between 

 them that the number of new plant-records can never be very large or important. 

 A month's holiday, however, this year at Bamborough enabled me to make some 

 additions which are of interest. The following plants are not recorded in Mr. 

 Baker's Flora, and as far as I know have not yet been reported for the county of 

 Northumberland. 



Arenaria serpyllifolia L,, a form of the Thyme-leaved Sand Wort, stouter and 

 more glandular than the type, and with more swollen capsules, seems to be identical 

 with the Isle of Wight A. Lloydii Jord. It occurred on the sand-hills south of 

 Bamborough Castle, but as I did not recognise these features particularly at the time, 

 I gathered only a single specimen ; I have little doubt, however, that it was plentiful. 



Besides the well known rarity Psamiiia baltica R. & S. ( which was flowering 

 very scantily this year), the Ross links produced abundantly in damp hollows 

 Centtuiaihis minimus L. , together with Radiola millc^rana Sm., the latter of which, 

 though also unreported by ]Mr. Baker, has I believe been observed elsewhere in the 

 county by local botanists. In the same locality, but on drier soil, I was surprised 

 to come across a few plants of Viola Curtisii Forst. ; hitherto, if I am not 

 mistaken, reported only from the Lancashire sand-hills, and other spots on the 

 West Coast. There was only a small quantity of it and that had suffered by the 

 ravages of the rabbits, whose unfortunate reproductiveness is fatal to the survival 

 of anything but the toughest of heather or the wiriest of sea grass. The 

 stoloniferous root-stock and somewhat scabrid peduncle seem to leave little doubt 

 as to its identity. 



The m.ost interesting discovery was that of Corallorhiza innata Brown, in a 

 boggy wood in Cheviotland which perhaps I had better not describe more 

 particularly. There were several hundred plants of this curious orchid growing with 

 a vigour and profusion which I have not seen equalled even in Switzerland ; where I 

 have gathered it in sub-alpine woods along with Epipogijim aphylliuji Sw., Listera 

 cordata Br., and Neottia nidus-avis L. I believe this is the first time that the Coral- 

 root has turned up on the English side of the border, though I hear from Dr. 

 -Slaclagan, of Berwick, that a single specimen has since been gathered on Alnwater. 



Fiunaria confusa Jord., which occurred in company with F. micraniha Lag. 

 on Holy Island, is perhaps included under Mr. Baker's F. capreolata L., though 

 not noted by him, as are the other sub-species F. borcei Jord, and F. pallidiflora 

 Jord,, for the former uf which Bamborough may be added as a station. 



Mentha gefitilis L, , only reported in the flora from Cleadon ( ? in Durham), 

 possibly, included in his M. saiiva L., grows by the mill pond at Easington, near 

 Belford. 



I will not trouble your readers with the other interesting and rare plants of the 

 neighbourhood, the localities of which are well known, and most of which I was 

 able to verify. I am afraid, however, Asperngo procumbens L. has disappeared 

 from Bamborough Castle, and Statice limoniuni L. only just exists, and no more, 

 on St. Cuthbert's Island, to be carefully watched and guarded, I hope, by the good 

 Vicar of Holy Island, whose house is hard by. The following plants, also un- 

 recorded in the Northumberland flora, are probably introduced, and very likely 

 have been noted by local botanists : — Melilotics arvensis Wallr. and Ricniex mari- 

 timns L,, growing with both of the well-marked forms of Chenopodiitm albiun L., 

 virens and viride, were gathered on rubbish heaps near Embleton ; Althcra 

 officinalis by the roadside near Fleetham, one very large and handsome plant, — 

 H. E. Fox, Durham, =^ 



CONCHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Shells at Riding Mill on Tyne.— A small gathering of shells from 

 this place, sent by the Rev. H. H. Slater, M.A.. which I have seen, included 

 a specimen of Pisidiuin amnicum, one of LitJincea peregra var. ovata, two of 

 Ancyhis jluviatilis, several of Vit7'ina pellucida, a few Zonites cellaj'iics, several 

 Helix rotitndata, one B^tlimits obscicrns, two Clausilia laminaia, a C. riigosa, 

 and several Cochlicopa licbrica var. liibricoides. These it may be well to record for 

 the benefit of future writers on Northumberland mollusca. — John W, Taylor, 

 Horsforth, July 4th, 1884, 

 Jan. 1885. 



