44 
THE GARDENS OF WARLEY PLACK. 
praecox and varieformis, which are rarely seen so happy away from 
their native vallies. Here they looked as much at home as our 
own daffodil, which was just coming into flower. Narcissus 
cyclamineus and N. minimus, with some early N. bulbocodium and 
monophyllum, were seen in full bloom in the rock gardens and 
borders. Erica carnea was in luxuriant blossom, and Erica 
mediterranea was just beginning to flower, as well as 
many hybrids between the last two Heaths. Erica lusitanica> 
E. arborea var. australis, form bushes six to eight feet high. I 
noticed self-sown seedlings coming up around E. codonodes. 
The berries upon some large sized Pernettya mucronata looked 
gay in the early spring sunshine. 
I found scattered in all directions species of Chionodoxa, Scilla , 
Anemone, Cyclamen, Eranthis, Pulmonaria, Helleborus, Saxifraga, 
and many rare Alpine and lowland plants. The lovely early 
Narcissi suggested to one the feast of colour which would shortly 
follow the coming awakening from winter sleep. Possibly the 
early English Crocus (Crocus vernus) purpling the lawns until 
they suddenly dip down into the sheltered Alpine garden, would 
appeal most to our native lovers of wild plants. It will interest 
Essex botanists to learn that this plant has grown in the park at 
Warley Place from time immemorial ; although it appears to 
have been overlooked by Gibson and his co-workers. Essex 
should surely be added to Nottinghamshire and Suffolk as one 
of the habitats of this rare plant. Miss Willmott has simply 
left them to grow in a situation in which they have flourished 
from the olden time. The assemblies of species of Crocus grown 
by Miss Willmott in specially made beds would rejoice the botanist 
illustrating as they do, by living specimens, so many of the 
forms described in Maw’s great Monograph upon the genus. 2 
Many of the species, such as Crocus ancyrensis, C. chrysanthus , 
C. dalmaticus, C. fleischeri, C. imperati, C. longiflorus, C. sieberi, 
C. speciosus, C. susianus, C. tomasinianus, C. vernus albi- 
florus, and C. zonatus, were to be seen naturalized in the grassy 
slopes round the Alpine gardens and amongst the smaller 
shrubs. 
Warley Place, like many an.Essex seat, commands an exten¬ 
sive view of hill and dale extending over five counties. It is a 
settlement of some antiquity (a.d. 1400), and portions of the 
2 The Genus Crocus, G. Maw, 1886. 
