44 MR- W. H. BURRELL ON GOODYERA REPENS. 
I have had it under observation for the past eleven years, 
Goodyera is in a flourishing condition, with vigorous vegetative 
shoots, maturing its capsules well. I have repeatedly seen 
it outside the wood by the roadside, which has necessitated 
the passage of a dry ditch and bank, evidence that it 
reproduces itself from seed. 
These outlying plants, with the more distant outliers at 
Westwick, Beeston Regis and Sheringham, involve an area 
of some thirty square miles, containing much heathland with 
and without trees. I see no vital objection to the suggestion 
that,- as at Sheringham and Beeston Regis, Goodyera has 
passed an unobtrusive existence within this area for a long 
period and that favourable conditions, such as tree planting, 
develop vigorous colonies from time to time, as at Westwick 
and Holt. 
The decision arrived at by Mr. Geldart, that it can hardly 
be regarded as truly wild, but has probably been brought to 
the district with the Scotch firs, amongst which it grows, was 
endorsed by Mr. Arthur Bennett (Journ. Bot., vol. xl. p. 393) 
and was a sound one judged by the information available at 
the time, but more recent developments may modify it. 
There is a difficulty in admitting that so conspicuous a plant 
should be overlooked by the notable botanists, who, in bygone 
days have worked in the county ; but one remembers that 
comparatively small areas have been worked systematically, 
and Goodyera has, within my knowledge, been so repeatedly 
mistaken for Spiranthes autumnalis, that the failure of 
a few local observers to detect it is excusable, especially in 
the days when the former was supposed to be restricted to 
the mountainous woods of the north of England and Scotland ; 
nor must it be forgotten that the original discovery of the 
plant in the county dates from a chance visit of members of 
this Society. I have taken some trouble to ascertain what 
degree of probability attaches to the theory that Goodyera 
was introduced with Scotch fir. Mr. Hussey, with his wide 
experience as a nurseryman, was most helpful ; he explained 
the system of cultivation from seeds ; the importation in the 
young state with clean roots ; and expressed the opinion that 
