40 
FERNY COMBES. 
The Combes are very rich in ferns; hut the best 
places for hunting are the loose stone-hanks of the 
country. Those who are accustomed only to the 
bare white walls of our oolitic districts will he 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 hut the 
outer covering of deep hanks; and through this 
coating spring tasselled Athyriums , never-ending 
varieties of Scolopendrium , and numerous forms 
of Filicc-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 yellow mountain 
violet, Viola lutea, are to be found there. 
