210 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
need be said on the present occasion. Copies of Major Flower's brochure
"The River Lee up to Date," containing much information respecting the
river, were again kindly presented to the voyagers by our genial Commander,
and numerous books, plans, and maps were placed on the tables during the day
for general information.
At the present meeting it was desired that more particular attention should be
paid to the rich flora of the Lea Valley, and the many interesting invertebrata to
be found in the waters and on the banks of the streams.
Botanising began as soon as we were on the Salisbury, and Mr. Paulson
and Mr. Shenstone were soon busily employed in identifying plants. The bed
of the river just below Hertford is crowded with Potamogetons, so that a few
minutes with the drag brought Potamogeton perfoliatus, L., P. lucens, L., and
P. pectinatus, L., on deck for our examination. P. densus, L,, was not taken till
much later in the day. It is abundant in the shallow water about the Rye
House.
A short time after starting we came to an immense rubbish heap on the
left bank of the river, which was covered with vegetation. Not being able to
resist such a temptation, the captain was requested to call a halt, so that the
whole party might land. It proved a happy hunting-ground. Hyoscyamus
niger, L., was in full blossom and growing most luxuriantly, some of the plants
being from three to four feet in height. Among many plants taken at this
spot were Lepidium ruderale, L., Camelina sativa, L., and the grasses, Phalaris
canariensis, L. (an evident alien), and Apera Spica-venti, Beauv., with very many
common but interesting plants.
On the flowers and seed-pods of the Water Figwort (Scrophularia aquatica),
which was growing luxuriantly on the banks, were a number of the handsome
caterpillars of the "Shark" moth (Cucullia verbasci), feeding quite exposed on
the topmost stems, and which afforded occasion for a little talk on the utility of
"warning-colours" in protecting such larvae from attack. They are probably
unpleasant to the taste, and birds are "warned" by the bright colours and the
conspicuous, almost defiant, positions assumed by the caterpillars, not to meddle
with such unsavoury morsels.
Some of the plants were also covered with the curious "slimy" larvae of the
pretty Weevel Cionus Scrophulariae, Linn., a beetle, which is itself so admirably
protected by its likeness to a small lump of dry earth, when it folds its legs round
its body and drops off the plant at the least alarm.
Here the shell, Succinea elegans, was found, among others, on the rushes
bordering the stream, and the larvae of the butterflies, Vanessa urticae, V. io, and
V. atalanta were noticed on the nettles.
Re-embarking we were soon among the sedges, at a spot the poet might
have had in mind when he wrote of "The gulfy Lea with sedgy tresses." We
noted in a short time, Carex riparia, Curtis, C paludosa, Good, Carex paniculata,
L., and C. hirta, L. These formed a valuable addition to our list of the previous
Saturday afternoon in Epping Forest. On that occasion we went out purposely
for sedges, but those collected were chiefly woodland forms.
To quote from the excellent paper "On the River Lea below Hertford," by
our member, Lieutenant R. B. Croft, F.L.S., in the "Transactions of the Hertford-
shire Natural History Society" (vol. ii., pp. 244, 245), the Lea, after passing by
the Bury Field, supposed to have been the burial ground of the monks of Ware
Priory, "flows through the pleasant busy town of Ware. The staple trade here
is malt-making, and the many cowls form a curious and picturesque feature in