THE PRESENT FLORA OF WEST HAM WASTES. 177
Perhaps a solution of the problem may be found in informa-
tion kindly given me by Mr. William Hales, Director of the
Chelsea Physic Garden ; in reply to my inquiry he writes:—
"To my knowledge Archangelica officinalis has been grown
"in the Physic Garden for thirty-seven years, and every year
"some plants fruit, and possibly seeds may be blown into the
"Thames, as one clump of plants is quite near to the Embank-
"ment. We find it comes up as stray seedlings in various parts
"of the garden, sometimes from blown seeds."
I learn also from Mr. A. Bruce Jackson that the plant now
grows in some quantity along the Thames near Mortlake.
It seems most probable that it is from such sources as these
that the seeds of Archangelica have found their way in com-
paratively recent times, drifting along the Thames, to the tidal
waters of the Lea.
Angelica sylvestris L. Wild Angelica. A, B. Frequent.
Heracleum Sphondylium L. Cow Parsnip. A, B. Frequent.
F.
Sambucus nigra L. Elder. B. One bush 6 feet high.
Dipsacus sylvestris Huds. Teasel. B. Abundant along
Pudding Mill river with fruiting plants and winter rosettes.
Bellis perennis L. Daisy. A. A few plants.
Aster Novce-Belgii L. Michaelmas Daisy. A. Several
plants found. F.
Erigeron canadensis L. Canadian Flea-bane. A, B. A score
or so of plants. F.
Bidens tripartita L. Trifid Bur-Marigold. A. Abundant
near the New Flood Channel, evidently introduced in mud from
cleaning channels : the barbed corky fruits are readily dispersed
as drifters.
Galinsoga parviflora Cav. A. A single plant. F. In Sower-
by's English Botany (ed. iii, 1866, p. 96) we learn that this modest
Peruvian plant, with its small yellow heads adorned with five
minute white ray-florets, has been cultivated in this country since
1796 as an ornamental annual. For a long time it has been
naturalized in the asparagus grounds near Kew, Richmond and
Shene: it is believed to have been distributed by seeds in rubbish
from Kew Gardens which had been cast on the neighbouring
fields. It is now widely distributed as a casual in this country