FIELD MEETINGS, 1949 
well-known Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. Aittiough very small com- 
pared with the large area of Roydon Common they are very rich in 
s])eciea. By wading through deep peat and treading on quaking bog, 
members were able to see typical fen vegetation. The most interesting 
jdants included Bcmunculus Lingua, Marsh Orchids and their hybrids, 
Eleocharis species, Carex lasiocarpa, and Pihdaria in its fruiting stage. 
Derb.y Fen is the only known West Norfolk station for this last plant. 
The next stop was made at East Winch Common, which is on glacial 
gravel overlying thin peat with a little bog in the low-lying parts. 
Search was made for Littorella uniflora but without success, owing to 
the recent drought. Its original finder was Dr Fetch. This station 
is well-known for the abundance of Gentiana Pneumonanthe and the 
excellent display was admired. According to local tradition this plant 
was originally intPoduced. A recent arrival here is Parentucellia 
(Bartsia) viscosa. A small area was ploughed and prepared for a 
cricket pitch by sowing with a suitable mixture of grass seed; in an 
otherwise weed-free germination this south-western plant was an 
obvious impurity. It is not thought likely that it will persist. It is 
interesting to note that Mr Sandwith has observed a precisely similar 
occurrence in Gloucestershire. Other plants studied here were Juncus 
conglomeratus, the variable Juncus effusus, large bushes of an erect 
form of Salix repens agg., the dominant willow of this common, 
Euphrasia anglica, the Marsh orchids with hybrids, a strange form of 
Carex nigra with five female spikelets only, the hybrid Carex Hostianax 
furnidicarpa, and Sieglingia decu^mhens bearing axillary basal cleisto- ' 
genes. 
From East Winch the party travelled to Swaffham for tea at the 
George Hotel but made two short stops en route, first, to see the small 
clump of Anthemis tinctoria which has now persisted at West Bilney 
for some years ; the second to see Arnoseris minima which was flower- 
ing in quantity at Pentney round the headlands of a field of rye. Dur- 
ing the Avar years some very acid, heathy fields had been ploughed and 
soAvn Avith rye; in the first year this plant was very abundant and 
has persisted round the field-margins ; Centaurea Cyanus was also seen. 
After tea a visit Avas paid to Castleacre Priory Avhere Galium angli- 
cum Avas growing sparsely on the ruined Avails together with some 
Arenaria tenuifoUa. Whilst the history of the Priory and its many 
archaeological features were being explained by the guide some mem- 
bers explored the grounds, which contained an abundance of Galamintha 
Nepeta, and a plant or two only of the rare Poa palustris were seen. 
On the return journey to King’s Lynn a short halt Avas made by the 
sand-mill at BaAvsey in order to see Apera interrupta by the roadside. 
In a heathy field a large colony of the alien Potentilla recta Avas pointed 
out, together with Acinos arvensis, both normal and Avhite-flowered 
forms. Nearby a white-floAvered form of Ballota nigra Avas found; 
albinism appears to be frequent among plants of dry acid heaths and 
‘ Breckland ’ soils. 
