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 BOTANY between Fineshade and Wakerley, and the Nottingham catchfly {Silene nutans) was recorded by Morton as growing in the corn, between Wakerley and Harringworth, but it is not unlikely that he mistook the night-flowering catchfly (5. noctiflora) for it, and he also records the fine-leaved sandwort i^Arenaria tenuifoUd) from between Fineshade and Duddington. On the old common of Rockingham the penny royal [Mentha Pulegium) formerly grew, and the broom-rape [Orobanche elatior), the O. major of Linnaus according to some authors, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley gathered at Easton-on-the-Hill. The district is one in which porous soil is widely represented, so that few marshes are contained in it, but at one time before the drainage of the fens, bogs and marsh occupied con- siderable areas of what are now dry and sunny cornfields. The arable fields have yielded the ground pine [Ajuga Chamospityi the night-flowering campion [Silene noctiflora), the upright ground ivy [Stachys arvensis), the thorow-wax (Bup/eurum rotundifoUum), the calf's snout [Antirrhinum Orontium), the fluellen [Linaria spuria), the small toad-flax [L. viscida), the blue pimpernel {Anagallis femina or coerulea), the field chickweed {Cerastium arveme), the lamb's lettuce {VaUrianella dentata), and the all-seed {Chenopodium polyspermum). Wothorp Grove has some interesting species, and its flora is very varied since it fwssesses several kinds of soil, as dry calcareous marl, sandy loam and clay ; the ash trees are par- ticularly fine, and some good beech are also present, while the box tree [Buxus iempervirens) is naturalized. The small-leaved lime {Tilia parvifolia) is rather frequent. The pyramidal orchis [Orchis pyramida/is), the viper's bugloss [Echium vulgare), the gromwell [Lithospermum officinale), the grasses Avena pratensis, Bromus erectus and Brachypodium pinnatum, are examples of lime-loving species. The wood poa [Poa nemoralis), the melic-grass [Melica uniflora), the hawkweed [Hieracium boreale), are instances of sand-loving species. Clay-loving plants are represented by the small teasel [Dipsacus pilosus), the dog couch grass [Agropyron caninum), the meadow cranesbill [Geranium pratense), and the butterfly orchis [Habenaria chloroleuca). Stamford racecourse is probably drained to a considerable extent by the Welland. It is remarkable for the luxuriant growth of the dyer's weed [Genista tinctoria), the horse-shoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa), and the grasses Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum and Avena pratensis, while the marjoram [Origanum vulgare), the common basil thyme [Calamintha arvensis), the rock-rose [Helianthemum Chamcecistus), and the pyramidal orchis are also common. The blue milk vetch [Astragalus danicus) is more luxuriant than I have seen it elsewhere. The Welland district is represented in the flora of Leicestershire by No. 1 1 the Market Harborough district and by No. 12 the Medbourne district. In addition to the plants already mentioned the Welland district has the following interesting species : — Geranium lucidum, L. Cerefolium Anthriscus, Beck. Adoxa Moschatellina, L. Caucalis nodosa. Scop. Centaurea Cyanus, L. Tanacetum vulgare, L. Erigeron acre, L. Heracium vulgatum, Fries, Erica cinerea, L. Solanum nigrum, L. Hyoscyamus niger, L. Digitalis purpurea, L. Verbascum nigrum, L. Mentha rotundifolia, Huds. Symphytum tuberosum, L., wild Hottonia palustris, L. very doubtfully Samolus Valerandi, L. Rumex maritimus, L. Polygonum Hydropiper, L. Daphne Laureola, L. Parietaria ramiflora, Moench. (P. officinalis, auct. var. not L.) Lemna polyrhiza, L. Ophrys apifera, Huds. O. muscifera, Huds. Orchis ustulata, L. Gyrostachis autumnalis, Dumort. (Spiranthes autumnalis.) Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, L. Allium oleraceum, L. Aira caryophyllea, L. Festuca rigida, Kunth. Tolypella prolifera, Leonh. The Nene Drainage For the sake of convenience, and in order to make the divisions of the county more uniform, I have divided the district which is drained by the Nene into three, as from the great length of the course of the main stream in the county it would otherwise have been very unwieldy. The first of the three divisions is therefore called — 67