34
A REPORT ON THE FLOWERING PLANTS
having been, until quite recently, highly valued for supposed
medicinal virtues; indeed, it has still a reputation among country
folk. I doubt if it has any properties beyond those of other mints,
and it is seldom, if ever now, used in regular medical practice.
Galeopsis ochroleuca, Lam. Found a year or two since at
Stanway by Miss Folkard.
Suaeda fruticosa, Forsk. Occurs at St. Osyth.
Quercus. Four fine old oak-trees, some still sending forth
leaves in spring, grow round Thorington Hall, their trunks varying
from twenty-seven to over thirty feet in circumference. Although
nothing is known of their history, they must certainly be many
hundred years old. I have photographs which afford a good idea
of their picturesqueness, and the trees are well worthy of record in a
local flora.
Populus. At St. Osyth Priory some Lombardy poplars still
exist which are said to have been the first specimens introduced into
this country. In volume v. of the Trans. Essex Archaeological Society,
is the following reference to these :—"Lord Rochford is said to have
brought, in 1768, some Lombardy poplars from Lombardy, some of
which trees are still standing in the park. They are supposed to
have been the first planted in England, and according to Young,
most of the Lombardy poplars of this county are their progeny."
Fagus and Carpinus. It is somewhat noticeable that the Beech
and Hornbeam, so common in some parts of the county, occur very
rarely, if at all, in this district, except under cultivation.
I now come to the last and least satisfactory portion of my report,
namely, the consideration of the plants recorded by Gibson, but
which have not been seen recently. Of these, a large part are
grasses and other inconspicuous species, or plants difficult to identify,
and which are consequently apt to be passed over by any but the
critical botanist. It is, of course, almost impossible for one with many
ties to explore personally every portion of so large a district as that
to which my notes apply. Every year the list of the missing is more or
less reduced, and I therefore see no reason for fearing that we have
lost many plants since Gibson's book was published. A few, such as
Drosera rotundifolia, are, I am afraid, gone; their heathy and boggy
habitats having been so long under cultivation. I frequently find
that a plant which I have lost sight of in one locality, turns up