Description of the Landes of Acquitania. 2 
in furnishing a vegetable soil, more especially Lichen ericetorum, 
L. fungiformis, Web., L. cocciferus, L. uncialis, &c. The Lyco- 
get verrucosum, L. pyriforme; the genera Peziza, Phallus, 
oletus, and Agaricus, among the mushroom tribe ; the Junger- 
mannia, Marchantia, Anthoceros, and Riccia, among the Alge. 
The genera Hypnum, Bryum, Lycopodium, Mnium, Polytrichum, 
Phascum, Fontinalis, Sphagnum, furnish many species. Among 
the ferns the genus Polypodium, the Asplenium scolopendrium, 
Pteris aquilina, Adianthum nigrum, Equisetum sylvaticum, stand 
predominant. Among the Cyperacee and the grasses, Carex bri- 
zoides, C. digitata, C. hirta, C. montana, &c. ‘The genera Alope- 
curus, Poa, Melica, Briza, Dactylis, Cynosurus, Festuca, Phleum, 
Milium, Panicum, Bromus, Avena, Lolium, Arundo, &c. have 
each their representatives. The Festuca ovina may be considered 
as the most general grass, and thus affording what slight nutri- 
ment sheep can cull from tracts so infertile. To these classes of 
plants succeed the heaths, which, by their universal distribution, 
afford the characteristic vegetation of the Landes; yet while the 
Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea, E. ciliaris, E. scoparia, E. tetra- 
lix, and E. mediterranea, are dispersed all over the Landes, the 
EK. multiflora is only found near St. Sever, or in the company of 
the Cistus salvifolius, on the rocks of Biarritz. The Erica ar- 
borea is only met with in the forest of Arcachon, and the Erica 
purpurascens in the environs of the Teste. The latter species 
may, however, be mere varieties ; the former of the E. scoparia, 
and the latter of the E. multiflora. Amidst these shrubs, others 
are occasionally met with, some of which are pretty generally 
dispersed. They are the Spartium complicatum, S. scoparium, 
Genista anglica, G. humifusa, and G. tinctoria. The Ulex ver- 
nalis, and U. autumnalis, which are generally of very moderate 
height in the Landes, attain, under the shade and shelter of the 
Pignadas, a height of from 16 to 22 feet. Among other plants 
constant in the Landes, are the Scilla umbellata, (Ramond Bull. 
de Soc. Philom. No. 41,) Daphne cneorum, Silene bicolor ; (Thore 
designates under this name a species common on all the sands 
and dry heaths, branched at the base, rarely in the stem, and 
ordinarily several times dichotomous ; it is cultivated in the Gar- 
den of Plants, under the name of Silene picta ;) Anemone pra- 
tensis, Fumaria officinalis, Allium ericetorum, (Thore, p. 123;) 
Linum radiola, Anthericum bicolor, Ononis arvensis, Serratula 
tinctoria, Viola lancifolia, (Thore ; never rising above six inches 
from the ground: it has solitary peduncles; all its leaves lanceo- 
late, and its flowers of a very pale blue, and inodorous. It is pro- 
bably a variety of V. lactea of Smith.) Among the Leguminose are 
several species of Vicia, Orobus, Lathyrus, Ervum, and Ornithopus. 
The uniformity of the vegetation of the Landes is broken by the 
pine forests, termed Pignadas in the language of the country ; by 
cultivated fields ; by the Lagune or ponds ; or finally by the Downs. 
The Pignadas stand in the midst of the plains, like islands on a 
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