357 



NOTES ON THE FLORA OF OVER WYRESDALE. 



J. A. WHELDON, F.L.S., 



Liverpool, 

 AND 



ALBERT WILSON, F.L.S. 



Ilkley. 



The wild moorland district of Over Wyresdale, situated in West 

 Lancashire, V.C. 60, about 13 miles S.E. of Lancaster, appears 

 to have been almost entirely unexplored botanically. 



The following notes made during two brief visits to the 

 district in the summer of 1900 may be of interest to readers of 

 'The Naturalist,' and will indicate some of the more character- 

 istic botanical features. 



The geological strata of Wyresdale belong almost entirely 

 to the Millstone Grit series, limestone being absent. Otherwise 

 the surface is very similar to that of the adjoining district of 

 Yorkshire, immediately to the eastward, known as Rowland*. 

 For an account of the rarer plants of the latter see Mr. Pickard's 

 interesting paper in 'The Naturalist ' for February 1901. 



Restricting Over Wyresdale to that part of the dale above 

 the Abbeystead reservoir, where the two streams, Tarnbrook 

 Wyre and Marsh aw Wyre, unite (the valley below Abbeystead 

 being known as Nether Wyresdale), three-quarters of the total 

 area of about 20 square miles consists of unenclosed fell. This 

 rises to an elevation of a little over 1,800 feet on Wardstone, 

 and consists of wet peat-bog and heather-clad moor indented 

 by deep gullies or 'doughs' which are wooded in places with 

 Mountain Ash, Oak, and Birch. The remainder of the district 

 consists of upland, pasture and woodland. Rugged edges of 

 gritstone scar occur on Tarnbrook Fell above the hamlet ot 

 Tarnbrook, known as Long dag and Hell Crag, the latter 

 being especially wild and rough. 



During a short portion of our stay in the district we had the 

 agreeable and valued company of Messrs. A. B. Jackson, oi 

 Leicester, and S. Wilson, of Garstang. 



Our thanks are due to the Rev. \V. M. Rogers for kindly 

 examining our Roses and Brambles, and to Messrs. H. N. 

 Dixon, E. C. Horrell, and S. M. Mac vicar for help in deter- 

 mining some of the more critical mosses and hepatica?. 

 Ranunculus Lenormandi V. Schultz. Near Lower Emrnetts, 



Tarnbrook Wyre, 

 Viola palustris Linn. Blaze Moss and near Abbeystead. 

 1901 December 3. 



