BRISTOL BOTANY, I9IO. 
29 
E. pulchella occurs also on some upper slopes of the adjacent 
West Hill, again associated with Gentian and Yellow- wort as well 
as with some peculiar aliens, which probably have been introduced 
with foreign corn in poultry food. The Pheasant’s Eye (Adonis) 
has appeared in this w^ay ; and two other interesting introductions 
are Sideritis montana^ a pretty Labiate with small yellow corollas 
shorter than the calyces ; and Plantago arenaria^ whose branching 
habit and verticillate stem-leaves separate it widely from British 
plantains. At one time this was abundant on coast sands near 
Burnham, but has not been seen there lately. Firmly rooted in 
chinks of the solid rock, both here and lower down towards the 
Battleaxes Inn, are gnarled old bushes of the small-leaved Coto- 
neaster (C, microphylla) ^ possibly sown by birds at some remote 
period. We find this shrub in a number of places here and there on 
the local limestone, from Brean Down to the Gully near Sea Walls. 
From the base of these Wraxall hills issue some fine springs 
that irrigate the rich meadow land of the moors, and are accom- 
panied by several of the rarest plants in the district. Around one 
clear pool are tussocks of Carex elata ( C. stricta Good.) — the sole 
locality within many miles of Bristol — mingled with fronds of the 
creeping Marsh Fern (Lastrea Thelypteris). Here too is Buckbean 
in small quantity ; and at the proper season the marsh is gay with 
purple spikes of the Broad-leaved Orchis ( O. latifoUa ). 
The mention of an Orchid brings to mind a secluded dell far down 
at the back of the Mendips near an old-world village, where stands 
an ancient Inn full of quaint old-world chattels — the neatest and 
most spotless house of call within my restricted knowledge. On 
one bank of this sequestered hollow we have rejoiced to find about 
a dozen stems of the rare Epipactis media; and on the other, as if to 
make easy a comparison of characters, alike number of E. latifolia^ 
a far more robust and more frequent plant. 
The banks of our streams and ditches, here as elsewhere, are 
commonly adorned with luxuriant masses of Willow Herb ( Epi- 
lohium hirsutum ). This plant is noteworthy for having a pilosity of 
two distinct kinds ; long patent hairs more or less sparsely set at 
rather regular intervals amid an extremely short and dense glandular 
pubescence. Between these there are no intermediates. The 
general aspect of hairiness is due to the long patent hairs, and 
on their amount depends a very considerable variation in appear- 
ance. The whole plant may be quite shaggy or hoary from their 
abundance (var. villosissimum Koch) ; or comparatively glabrous 
with dark, bright green foliage, “ plante d’un beau vert,” Rouy. 
The latter state is var. suhglahrum Koch ( mrescens Haussk.) An 
extreme form of the latter, in which the pods were destitute of long 
hairs, was pointed out to me at Failand by Mr. D. Williams, and 
subsequent observation shows it to be present in other localities. 
In this country but little notice has been taken of such variations. 
