192 
Colonisation of a Dried River-Bed. 
that retain any hold on the ground, of which the only ones that 
continue to dominate are Glycerin aquntica, Phrcigmites communis 
and Scrophularia aquntica. 
Of the land plants we get thirty-two frequent, of which only 
three are Composites and none Leguminosae, and eight locally 
dominate, namely Agrostis vulgaris, Chenopodium album, Holcus 
lanatus, Epilobium parvijlorum, Galium aparine, Holcus lanatus, 
Humulus lupulus, and Tussilago Farfara. 
The land plants are now getting decidedly the best of it, except 
in a few places where Scrophularia, Glycerin, and Phragmites hold 
their own. 
There are very mixed communities in which the land plants are 
usually uppermost, c.g. Phragmites and Carex are overgrown and 
nearly swamped by thick tangles of Galium aparine; the large 
hummocks of Carex paludosa that marked the edge of the stream 
form the foundation for knolls of Humulus lupulus and Solatium 
dulcamara. 
Side by side Phragmites and Urtica are struggling for place, the 
Urtica frequently winning. The short turf that covers some areas 
is composed of a mixture of meadow grasses, Helosciadium nodijlorum, 
and Veronica Bcccabunga. Scrophularia is fighting the grasses and 
winning, but the large areas that last year were blue with Myosotis 
are now inhabited by Tussilago Farfara , thistles and grass. Almost 
everywhere the doom of the water plants is apparent. 
There are still many of the deep cracks, which collect rain 
water, and so long as they remain, so long will the water plants have 
some little chance. The farmers, however, have realised that there 
will never again be a river down that bed, and so they are adding 
it to their pasture land ; and what with their attempts to form 
hedges, and the treading down of the vegetation by cows, horses 
and geese, it is no longer uninfluenced by man and his associates, 
and so has almost lost its original interest. 
In this work certain points of interest come out about indi¬ 
vidual plants, but I much regret that I am scarcely able to give any 
broad and generalising results. This is largely because there is not 
a sufficient supply of streams despoiled of their water so conve¬ 
niently for the botanist. If one could have a dozen to experiment 
on one could no doubt arrive at some generalisations. As it is I can 
only register the facts of this case, in the hope that others will 
arise with which they may be combined to form an addition to our 
knowledge of the adaptability of plants. 
R, Madley, Printer 151, Whitfield Street, W, 
