114 
FLOKA OF THE AVON-BED. 
extinct or nearly so. We have here as it were a throw-back to 
the ancient Flora of the district ; descendants from aborigines 
that have been elbowed out and exterminated by various influ- 
ences, but whose seeds survived their disappearance, and at 
length gave rise to progeny, born out of due time for our 
edification. The magnificent grass Polypogon monspeliensis has 
been hitherto connected with the Bristol Flora solely on faith in 
a communication (“ Near Bristol ”) made by Miss Alice Worsley 
(afterwards Mrs. Russell) to Mr. Hewett Watson, and published 
1835 in his “ New Botanists’ Guide.” Although regarded, and 
perhaps with justice, as merely a casual in those days, the 
circumstances under which it was gathered being unknown, its 
re-occurrence last year goes toward showing that it may formerly 
have been a native inhabitant of the Avon valley. 
The claim of Meclicago minima for recognition as a Bristol 
plant is also extremely slender. A specimen in my possession 
testifies that it did grow here a generation or more ago ; and it 
is a curious coincidence, if nothing more, that I should find it 
with the Polypogon in the Avon-side quarry. I have no evidence 
that this Medick was ever abundant about Bristol, or that it has 
been seen at all during the last twenty years. 
As regards the origin of the Erodium and Gastridium, how- 
ever, there is less room for speculation. Until quite recently 
they undoubtedly held their places amid the debris at the foot of 
the rocks near the river-side. Although I am inclined to think 
that the former plant has been extinct for some years, the latter 
still lingers on in a spot within half a mile of the quarry, but in 
quantity so small that close search only discloses a sparse annual 
crop of three or four plants; a flickering existence that must 
soon terminate unless it gathers new life and vigour from the 
revival under notice. 
There is no difficulty in accounting for the presence of the 
cereals. I take it for granted that in landing cargoes of foreign 
