No. XI.-JUDGE POWELL AND HIS WIFE MARGARET (1635).

An altar tomb much mutilated, with two recumbent figures of a gentleman and lady, in the costumes of James I. and Charles I. The figures represent Andrew Powell, a judge on the Welsh Circuit for the counties of Glamorgan, Brecon, and Radnor, 1615-1635, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Matthew Herbert, grandson of Sir Richard Herbert, Coldbrook.

The general decadence in art is too plainly apparent in this pair of effigies.

No. XII.-DR. DAVID LEWIS (1585).

An altar tomb of freestone, representing Dr. David Lewis, judge of the High Court of Admiralty in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A monument of high interest, and unique, and bearing decorations having reference both to the individual, and to the office he held. It is believed to have been made during his life-time under his own personal directions. The figure represents the judge in his robes of office. The head rests on a small clasped book, beneath which is a very large one, and under this a cushion. On his head is the flat round cap of a Doctor of Civil Law of Oxford. He is habited in a doublet, with a ruff round the neck and at the wrists. His hands are raised in prayer, and his feet rest on something too mutilated to be made out, possibly a sort of state slipper— perhaps trimmed with ermine. The lower part of the altar tomb presents a deeply moulded base and slab. It contains several curious emblems connected with the Admiralty. Dr. Lewis died unmarried, April 27th, 1584. This tomb has been well preserved, and the three front panels are boldly designed.

No. XIII.-FIGURE OF JESSE (CARVED IN Oak).

The remains of a grand example of a "Jesse Tree," perhaps the finest now to be found. It is not monumental, but is supposed to have formed part of the reredos of the High Altar, between the Choir and the Lady Chapel. The Tree of Jesse is an emblematical representation of the genealogy of our Saviour from David, formed by a tree growing out of the body of Jesse, the father of David, who lies asleep (Isaiah, chap. xi). It was often met with at the close of the 12th century. The " Iconographie Chretienne" thus describes a Jesse Tree, "Jesse asleep serves in some sort as the root of the mysterious stem, which issues sometimes from his breast, sometimes from his mouth, and sometimes from his brain. Branches diverge from the stem, and bear on their extremities one of the ancestors of our Saviour; at the summit one full blown flower serves as the throne of Mary, sometimes alone, at other times holding in her arms the divine Child."

This figure is the colossal statue of a man representing Jesse lying asleep, and reclining on his right side. The head, which has a long flowing beard, is covered with a cap, and reposes on a cushion, supported by an angel; the body and legs being clothed with folds of drapery. From the left side of the body issues the stem of the tree, a vine, grouped and supported by the left hand of the

figure. Above this it is cut short off, and no further portions remain. It is supposed to have been pulled down and destroyed at the Reformation, and the figure placed in its present position in 1820, during the alterations made in the Church at that time.

These Jesse Trees are by no means common. They were originally made to form a reredos of an altar, as was probably the case here, but are more usually represented in windows. Such an altar existed formerly at St. Cuthbert's Wells; another is now remaining at Christ Church, Hampshire. There is a fine Jesse Window in the chapel of Winchester College, of modern glass, copied from the old, and a very celebrated one in Dorchester Church, Oxfordshire; and also in St. George's, Hanover Square. There are several instances on the Continent.*

The monuments, now in this Church, when surrounded by all the knightly elements of grandeur, coats of arms, display of heraldry in coloured glass and on shields, the banners and other military accoutrements, must have produced a rich and solemn effect, that can only be supplied by the imagination, for they are gone altogether.

Many other memorials exist on the walls of the Priory Church to the Gunters, Milbournes, and others, which are worthy of being carefully preserved. The present floor of the Church is much above its original level, and it is probable that other slabs may exist beneath it.

Such memorials of the inevitable departure from this life, which awaits us all, give the old warning, so familiar as to become commonplace, ever seen, but seldom heeded. Churchyard thus quaintly begins the moral lesson he draws from their consideration

O Lord (quoth I) we all must dye,

No lawe, nor learning's lore,

No judgment deepe, nor knowledge hye,

No riches lesse, or more;

No office, place, nor calling great,

No wordly pomp at all,

Can keep us from the mortall threat

Of death, when God doth call.

And he goes on to draw the moral at considerable length, which each one of us may draw equally well, and perchance with greater profit, for himself.

*There is a fine Jesse Window in St. Mary's Church, Shrewsbury. (EDIT.)

THE ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS OF HEREFORDSHIRE.

By C. G. MARTIN, ESQ., President.

REMARKABLE as our county is for many natural products, it cannot be said that the Orchidaceæ, particularly the rarer species, are so abundant as they are in some other counties in England. It is a defect which need not be regretted, except perhaps by an enthusiastic botanist. A very slight consideration will show that it may be regarded not only with equanimity, but with cheerful resignation. Orchids are seldom found upon the best soils. Where they abound, the land is almost certain to be of an inferior quality, or indifferently cultivated. On poor, hungry, water-logged pastures, in wet woods and bogs, or upon thin chalky downs, or bare limestone ranges, the Orchids will be generally found growing most plentifully and luxuriantly. The construction of a large proportion of them would lead us to expect this. Plants which have thick, fleshy, bulbous roots and succulent stems, require excessive moisture; a large proportion of the Orchidaceous group are of such a nature. Instances are known of pastures that once abounded with Orchids which have altogether disappeared, as the result of thorough drainage and better cultivation. We have no bogs in Herefordshire. We have not a wide extent of comparatively useless moorland. We have no chalk-downs. Our limestone ranges are too argillaceous, and too poor in carbonate of lime, to satisfy the fastidious requirements of the higher classes of Orchids. In the British Flora the Orchidaceæ comprise sixteen genera, and thirty-nine species. In our county we have nine genera, and twenty-one species, with possibly four varieties which are disputable. Some of these are very rare, but, so far as I know, many of the most refined, the most highly specialized of the Orchids, have never been found in Herefordshire. My own knowledge of the county is very much limited to the district immediately around our city, but I am greatly indebted to the Rev. Augustin Ley, for much generous and helpful information, as to the habitats of Orchids in other localities to which I have never had access. Of the twenty

one species recorded for the whole county I have found fifteen in our own neighbourhood.

I will not weary you with any scientific description or technical details of the Orchid family. You can find them in any "Handbook of the British Flora." I shall endeavour to give a general outline of each plant, and the locality where it has been found, together with anything of special interest in connection with it.

1. Epipactis latifolia, or Broad-leaved Helleborine, is common in woods and shady places, and blossoms between July and September. The flowers vary somewhat in colour from purplish-green to deep purple. I have found them in Aconbury Wood, Haugh Wood, and Rother was Woods. Mr. Ley reports them from every district into which our county has been divided. There is a very curious feature connected with this flower which deserves recognition. Sir John Lubbock says, "This flower has special attractions for wasps;" and he quotes

Darwin as saying that, "if wasps were to become extinct in any district so would E. latifolia.'

دو

[Var. E. media, or Intermediate Helleborine. Var. E. ovalis. Var. E. purpurata. Babington considers these varieties the same as E. latifolia, the differences being so trifling as not worthy of being classed as separate species.]

2. Epipactis palustris, or Marsh Helleborine. This is a beautiful flower. The florets are few, whitish, tinged with crimson, somewhat drooping, and they grow in a lax spike. It is rare; flowers in July and August; and grows in wet meadows and marshes. In our county it has been found at Ridgway Cross, Cradley, and I have found it in the Checkley Valley, Mordiford. Lees, in his "Botany of Malvern," says "it is plentiful at Tedstone, on the banks of the Sapey brook." It has also been gathered on the rough moors, Mansel Gamage, at Burghope, and on the Moseley Common, Pembridge.

3. Cephalanthera grandiflora, or Large White Helleborine, is a rare and handsome plant. The flowers grow in a distant spike, and appear during May and June. They are of large size, sometimes as pure as snow, sometimes greenishwhite, but more frequently delicately cream-coloured, with a small yellow lip marked with raised lines. The leaves are broad and bright-green. Until recently it was reported from only two localities in Herefordshire, Huntsham Wood, and Lord's Wood, on the Great Doward. But at our last field meeting, Dr. Wood, of Tarrington, brought some fine specimens which he found in the parish of Canon Frome.

4. Cephalanthera ensifolia, or Narrow-leaved White Helleborine. This is a rare plant of mountainous woods on limestone. The Rev. Frank Merewether brought me three or four plants in 1865, to ask me its name. The next day, by arrangement with him, I went to Woolhope, and he took me to the spot in Haugh Wood where he found it. Every year since, about the end of May or the beginning of June, I have gone to the same place and found it growing pretty plentifully. The only other place in Herefordshire where it has been gathered is Huntsham Wood. (Miss Lewis, of Ludlow, informs me to-day she has found it at Bringe Wood, near Ludlow, within the county of Hereford). It is a very elegant plant, blossoms somewhat spiked, white, the lip with slightly elevated lines on the disk, and a yellow spot in front.

This, though inconspicuous, is (Specimens produced). It is

5. Listera ovata, or the Common Tway-Blade. one of the commonest of our Orchidaceous plants. readily distinguished by its two broad, glossy, ovate leaves, sometimes from three to four inches long, about half-way up the stem. It varies in height, according to the locality where it grows, from six to eighteen inches. The flowers are green, and they form a long loose spike, quite unattractive in appearance. But though it has so modest a bearing, there are few of our Orchids that are more interesting, and none of them show more contrivance and design in their structure. Hooker, Darwin, Sprengel, Sir John Lubbock, Dr. Müller, and others have spent hours at a time in watching its mechanism; and Darwin devotes no less than thirteen pages ("Fertilization of Orchids by Insects," p.p. 139–152) to his description and diagrams of it, and remarks upon it. It has great attractions for insects.

6. Neottia nidus-avis, or Bird's Nest Orchis. This most remarkable plant, in appearance more like one of the Orobanches, has its stem, leaves (or rather scales), and flowers all of a dingy-brown hue. It is rather rare, but is well represented in Herefordshire. It is said to have received its old name of "Bird's Nest" from its peculiar root, which consists of very numerous tufted, cylindrical, fleshy fibres, and are supposed to remind one of the sticks used by some birds in the construction of their nests. This Orchis has been found in every district in our county. The members of the Club gathered them abundantly at our last Field meeting, in Aconbury Woods, on the 18th of last month.

They have been

unusually abundant this year, in other counties as well as our own.

7. Epipogum aphyllum, the Yellow-flowered Leafless Orchis. This might almost be called the Herefordshire Orchis. It is fully described by Mr. Edwin Lees in his "Botany of Malvern." His description is from a specimen sent to him by the Rev. Gregory Smith, and was gathered in a copse called "The Paradise," close to Sapey Brook, at Tedstone Delamere, in 1854. It was discovered and gathered by Mrs. Anderton Smith. It was dug up and placed in the Rectory Garden. No other specimen has been since discovered, though carefully sought for. It has been found twice in a wood near Ludlow by Miss Lloyd in 1876, and by Miss Peel in 1878. It is, without doubt, an extremely rare plant. It is known on the Continent, but even there it is most rare. that she saw the plants found in 1876 and 1878. There were three or four distant florets on the stem, similar to the Bee Orchis, but they were filmy and semitransparent in appearance. As it has been twice found within the last decade on the borders, if not within our county, we may hope that it will be seen amongst us again; and if it should be, I venture to express the hope that it may be permitted to grow and seed, and have every chance of reproduction.

Miss Lewis, of Ludlow, says

8. Spiranthes autumnalis, or Lady's Tresses, is a somewhat rare plant, but may be found in certain districts of our county, about the end of August and during September. It is reported from Lyston, Orcop, and St. Weonard's, from Coughton Marsh and Coppet Wood Hill, also between Hoarwithy and Carey. Mr. Ley found it at Hole-in-the-Wall, Mrs. Armitage at Dadnor, and it has been gathered in Gorstley Quarries. In central Herefordshire it is known to grow on the south side of Bishopstone Hill, and the Rev. R. H. Williams says that it grows plentifully at Byford. Mr. Crouch reports it from his district in the northwest, Mr. Lingwood from Llanthony, and I found it at Cublington, in the parish of Madley. The flowers are white, with a sweet, though not powerful, scent of almonds. They are spirally arranged, the florets all pointing one way, sometimes from right to left, sometimes from left to right. It is an especial favourite with humble bees. They begin with the lowest floret on the stem, and climb to the top, extracting the nectar from each, "in the same manner as a woodpecker climbs up the bark of a tree in search of insects " (DARWIN).

9. Orchis mascula, or Early Purple Orchis, the "Cuckoo flowers" of our childhood and the "long purples" of Shakespeare, is probably the commonest of our native Orchises. It is a beautiful plant with spotted leaves, and richly dyed petals, and is well known as the earliest of the class. I have often found it in