Page:A Short Account of the Botany of Poole.djvu/5

Rh casual glance of it, and that only, will be still more surprised. No strangers ever come within many miles of Poole, without being struck with the apparent sterility of the scene. To the north of Poole as far as Wimborne and extending east and west to Christchurch and Wareham, dry heath land is the prevailing feature of the country. This is the general character also of the plastic clay portion of Purbeck. But to proceed to particulars:—

Poole is situated on a peninsula on the north side of the extensive harbour, and is very little above its level. I leave, however, the remarks I intend to make on the maritime botany of Poole, to a future period.

On quitting Poole in every direction there is an elevation of surface, which, however, is not considerable. The lower situations are generally dry pasture, but the higher are the heath lands before named. Both are cultivated, but the soil is not very productive except as garden ground. There is no river or stream of any importance within about five miles of Poole. In many places, however, there are superficial springs; these are so highly ferruginous as to stain every thing they come in contact with, and deposit a considerable quantity of red peroxide of iron on the vegetables about them. Indeed the springs in general in the villages around Poole, are so strongly chalybeate as to be extremely unpalatable, The water from these springs, in many places, is interrupted in its course by the hills of gravel before alluded to, or by the beds of clay, giving rise, in some parts to pseudo-meadow land, as in different parts of Parkstone and Longfleet.

These situations yield many of the meadow plants, but for most of them it is necessary to resort to the genuine meadows a little farther distant. Some of the rarer plants, however, are found in land of this description, as for example, the Bartsia viscosa, Lin., which with us is quite a common plant. An abundance of oak trees, growing