Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/87

 BOTANY Compared with its adjoining counties Suffolk would seem to exceed them all in number of recorded species, with the exception of Norfolk ; 1,1 80 appears to be a fair estimate for species in Suffolk, whilst in addition about 90 varieties are known for the county. Norfolk is credited with 1,197 species and with probably as many varieties or forms as Suffolk ; Essex comes next below Suffolk with 1,083 species and 44 recorded varieties, and Cambridgeshire (with practically no maritime plants) last with 1,007 species and about 50 varieties. Suffolk contains a great many interesting species, but as Norfolk or Cambridgeshire can also claim nearly all, Pulmonaria officinalis is left to stand alone as the county's unique production. It is considered by its discoverer, Mr. C. J. Ashfield, the Rev. E. S. Marshall and others to be a true native of Suffolk. The following species may be noted as being remarkable absentees from Suffolk : — Lathyrus montanus,Nc occurs in North and South Essex and West Norfolk; CEnanthe croc^/^, growing in South Essex and East and West Norfolk ; Vaccinium jnyrtillus, found in South Essex and East Norfolk ; Narthecium ossifragum, plentiful in East and West Norfolk and Cambridgeshire; and Luzula maxima, seen in all portions of the adjoining counties. The seeds of the following species, no longer natives of Suffolk, have been found in the county in a fossilized condition : — Trapa natans, Betu/a nana, Sa/ix myrsinites, S. herbacea, S. polaris, Najas marina, and N. minor, Betu/a nana, Sa/ix myrsinites and herbacea are northern British species, and N. marina occurs in Norfolk ; the others are now ultra-British plants. An article on Suffolk Botany would not be complete without a few words upon those observers who have resided in the county or contributed to our knowledge of its plants, both in the past and at the present time. Of botanists resident in the county undoubtedly the first to be mentioned is Sir John Cullum, F.R.S.,of Hawstead,who was born in 1733 and died in 1785. His MS. Naturalists' Journal (i 772-85) contains much that is interesting, and fully describes the plants of the Bury district, where he first discovered Genista pi/osa, Veronica verna, and Muscari racemosum in England. His published History of Haiustead (1774) contains a list of the species to be found in that parish. A very large number of Suffolk species were first reported by this careful observer, including Anemone Pulsatilla, Sisymbrium Irio, Holosteum umbellatum, Dianthus deltoides, Linum perenne, Akhemilla vulgaris^ Potentilla verna, Antennaria dioica, Galium anglicum, Gentiana Pneumonanthe, Verhascum Lychnitis, Melampyrum cristatum, Calamintha Nepeta, Hippophae rhamnoides. Orchis ustulata, Ophrys aranifera, &cc. In 1804-5 Sir T. G. Cullum, F.R.S., brother to the above, enriched the county's flora in a noteworthy manner, adding many new species in Gillingwater's History of Bury, and the Botanists' Guide : these included Medicago sylvestris, Trifolium suffocatum, Lythrum hyssopifolia, Hypochaeris maculata, Herniaria glabra, Rumex maritimus and limosus, Herminium Monorchis, Liparis Loeselii and others. This botanist was born in 1 741, practised as a surgeon at Bury, and died at Hawstead in 1831. In 1774 there appeared a small unfinished work upon British plants from his pen, Florae Anglicae Specimen, which it is said he gave up in favour of his friend Mr. Hudson's well-known book. Next, in chronological order, appeared George Crabbe,^ the poet, born at Aldeburgh in 1754. During the earlier part of his life he resided in Suffolk, and compiled lists of plants ' J. Groves in Proc. Suff. Inst. Arch, and Nat. Hist. 1905, vol. xii, part 2, 'Crabbe as a Botanist.' I 49 7