40 
TEENY COMBES. 
The Combes are very rich in ferns ; but the best 
places for bunting are the loose stone-banks of the 
country. Those who are accustomed only to the 
bare white walls of our oolitic districts mil be sur- 
prised to hear that they must look on walls for 
most of our most beautiful and curious ferns. But 
a North Devon “wall” is a thing by itself. The 
rotten shaley slates, placed edgeways, are but the 
outer covering of deep banks; and through this 
coating spring tasselled Athyriums, never-ending 
varieties of Scolopendrium, and numerous forms 
of Mlix-mas^ not forgetting the many states of 
Lastrea dilatata, ranging from four feet high to an 
inch and a half. 
Of the wild flowers of this district, those most 
striking belong to the coast. The vernal squill, 
the sweet-scented ladies’ -tresses, and the golden 
blossoms of the yellowwort, opening only in the 
sunlight, are to be found near Ilfracombe, as well 
as the samphire, the sea-lavender, and the beautiful 
wild balm, a rare plant. Braunton Burrows is rich 
in curiosities and rarities. Two or three kinds of 
spurge, the yellow horned poppy, several uncom- 
mon poisonous plants, and immense quantities of a 
very large yellow variety of Viola tricolor^ but not, 
as has been supposed, the true yeUow mountain 
violet, Viola lutea, are to be found there. 
