Owing to the want of stiff clay, no hornbeams grow in its woods, except, perhaps, a few in one or two cold “bottoms.” No Solomon’s seal or lilies of the valley whiten its dells. No meadow-geranium waves its blue flowers on the banks of the Avon.[278] On the other hand, the plants too truly tell the character of the soil. In the spring the little tormentil shows its bright blossoms, and the petty-whin grows side by side with the furze, and the sweet mock-myrtle throws its shadow over the streams. In the summer and autumn the blue sheep’s-bit scabious and the golden-rod bloom, with the three heathers. In the bogs the round-leaved sundew is pearled with wet, and not far from it the cotton-grass waves its white down, and the asphodel rears its golden spike. These are the commonest flowers of the Forest, and grow everywhere over its moors. In its dykes and marshes, the common frog-bit and the marsh-pimpernel spring up in every direction. The buckbean, too, brightens every pool on the south side, and is so common near the Avon that many of the fields are called “the buckbean mead,” whilst in the northern parts it is known as “the fringed water-lily.” Very rich is the Forest in all these bog-plants. In Hinchelsea and Wilverley Bottoms grow the water-pimpernel (_Samolus Valerandi_), the lesser bladder-wort, and the bur-reed (_Sparganium natans_) floating on the water. Here, too, perhaps, the easternmost station known for it, blossoms the butterwort (_Pinguicula Lusitanica_), with its pale delicate flowers. In the autumn, also, the open turf grounds round Wootton are blue with the Calathian violet (_Gentiana Pneumonanthe_); whilst its little bright congener (_Cicendia filiformis_) blossoms in all the damp places. Owing, also, to the presence of iron, the Forest possesses no less than seventeen or eighteen carices. The little thyme-leaved flax, too (_Radiola millegrana_), grows in all the moist, sandy dells. From this general view it will be seen that the true Forest plants are not so much “sylvestral” as “ericetal,” and “paludal,” and “uliginal.” Besides these groups, however, the Flora of the district further divides itself into the “littoral plants” along the sea-shores and estuaries, and the “pascual” flowers of the valley of the Avon. In the former division, owing to the want of rocks, no _Statice spathulata_ grows on its sea-board. No true samphire (_Crithmum maritimum_) blossoms. The beautiful maiden’s-hair fern, once so plentiful on the neighbouring coast of the Isle of Wight, is also from the same cause wanting. Still, great beauty blooms on the Forest streams and shores. In the latter part of the summer, the mudbanks of the Beaulieu river are perfectly purple with the sea-aster, whilst the sea-lavender waves its bright blue crest among the reed-beds washed over by every tide.