# The Victoria History of the County of Buckinghamshire/Botany

BOTANY
IN preparing a short account of the botany of the county I may say that my acquaintance with it is of long standing, for I was born on its borders, and my early years were spent near Stoney Stratford, while in my holidays I yearly visited the beautiful district of Brickhill, which was especially attractive to me then, as I was a keen lepidopterist and that heathy country afforded a widely different series of insects and their plant food from that which our more prosaic country afforded. The flora of this county came also under my observation during the time I was preparing the Flora of Northamptonshire from 1874, the Flora of Oxfordshire from 1879 to 1885, and from then to 1897 when I was working at the Flora of Berkshire. Since that time I have been systematically exploring the county with the view of publishing a complete Flora, which with the two last mentioned works will form a Flora of the Upper Thames.
In the few pages at my disposal it is my wish to give a sketch of the salient features of the botany of the county, and to compare it with those of some of the bordering counties.
The acreage of the county, about 467,000, is rather smaller than Oxfordshire (470,000) and larger than Berkshire, which has only about 462,000 acres. Like those counties Buckinghamshire has in the long range of the Chilterns an interesting feature which not only is the domin- ating one from a scenic point of view, but one which materially affects plant distribution. The heathy portion about the Brickhills and the extensive commons of the uplands, as well as those on the lower country in the neighbourhood of Farnham and Burnham. are also most interesting from a botanical point of view.
The following tables corrected to the present date, show the number of species which have been reported on good authority to have been seen growing in a wild state in the bordering counties, as well as those which I have compiled for Buckinghamshire.
| | Bucks | Oxfordshire | Berkshire | Middlesex | Herts | Beds | Northants |
| Native plants | 845 | 844 | 903 | 770 | 795 | 762 | 765 |
| Denizens and Colonists | 97 | 96 | 107 | 97 | 95 | 85 | 85 |
| Total | 942 | 940 | 1,010 | 867 | 890 | 847 | 850 |
Besides these above named varieties, many hybrids and over 120 species not natives or of casual occurrence, or planted in the county, have been observed.
If the London Catalogue of British plants be adopted as the standard of specific limitations we may say that the total number of British species is now about 2,000, but of these nearly 250 are not native species, 144 are confined to the neighbourhood of the sea, while at least 200 are a species either of northern latitudes, or are not found so far south as Buckinghamshire, except in mountainous situations ; 17 are confined to Ireland, about 20 to the Channel Isles, and a few are extinct.
After making these deductions about 1,350 species remain which might occur in the county, but such is not found to be the case ; for although our knowledge of the county flora is incomplete, yet it is not to be expected that more than 50 species will be added to the list here given, however painstaking may be the work. As compared with the bordering counties, however, Buckinghamshire is richer in species than almost any except Berkshire.
The paucity of lacustrine species is one of the features which characterize the botany of the county, and this is accounted for by the large extent of country occupied by the Cretaceous beds and the absence of large sheets of water such as the Norfolk broads or Salopian meres and the marshy vegetation which surrounds them, but the chalk, limestone, and heath plants are fairly well represented. The three most inter- esting species are probably the pig-nut (Carum Bulbocastanum) , which is limited to Bucks, Herts, Beds and Cambridgeshire ; the military orchis (Orchis militaris), limited to Berks, Oxford, Herts and Middlesex, and the box (Buxus sempervirens) , which is so well established in two places on the Chilterns, and by some authors is even considered to be native. The other characteristic species are the coral-root (Cardamine bulbifera), so common in several woods on the chalk ; and the beech (Fagus sylvatica), which is the principal tree over a large area of the Cretaceous measures and is of considerable economic value.
A few other species are rather common in Buckinghamshire but are local or rare in many British counties. Amongst these are the calamint (Calamintha Nepeta or parviflora) , the large burnet-saxifrage (Pimpinella major), and the candytuft (Iberis amara). The woods of the north have the grass Calamagrostis epigeios, the commons have the dwarf gorse (Ulex minor), and in the south the silver cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea) is not uncommon.
A short sketch of the geology is first given with especial reference to the influence the various strata have upon the botanical features of the ​county, and although this necessitates some repetition of plant names, yet the plan has the compensating advantage of showing how certain groups of plants are to be found on the same soils.
The geology of Buckinghamshire resembles very closely that of Oxfordshire, except that the Liassic formations are exposed to a much smaller extent in the former county, whereas the Reading beds and the London Clay are but sparingly represented in Oxfordshire, but cover considerable tracts of southern Buckinghamshire. The Lias Clay is shown in the north of the county between Grafton Regis and Castle- thorpe, owing to the Tove cutting its way down to it, but no very special vegetation marks the occurrence, beyond the growth of the ordinary pelophilous or clay-loving species. The Ouse, near Weston Underwood and Stoke Goldington, has also cut down to the Lias in two or three places, but again without exhibiting any plant of special interest. The Northampton Sands, which cap so many of the eminences of north Oxfordshire and west Northamptonshire, where from their porous nature they give a warm soil and afford a home for many heath-loving species, are practically unrepresented in our area, but the Great Oolite comes to the surface in many places, and in fact extends in a more or less broken band from Brackley and Buckingham in the west, by Potterspury to Newport Pagnell and Cold Brayfield in the east, and then passes into Bedfordshire. The contrast of the vegetation of that portion of country where the Great Oolite comes to the surface with that district where an impervious material, such as the Oxford Clay, forms the subsoil, is most marked. Nor is it the vegetation alone which marks the difference. In one case we find that the oolite has been quarried for building stone, so that we see good stone houses and cottages, often with thatched roofs since straw is more plentiful, which give a solid yet more picturesque character to the scene than the brick and slated houses of the clay district, while the stone walls of the villages, often mud-capped, afford a home for mosses and other plants to a much greater extent than the better pointed brickwork. The land too will be occupied more frequently by corn on the limestone and by pasture on the clays, and thus the latter is usually a thinly populated area, and such villages as do occur are often built upon some spot where a drift deposit gives some amount of porosity to the soil. If we pass through the county in the summer evenings, we may observe the white mist clinging to the clay surfaces, while the pastures on the limestones will be free. In comparing the more common plants we shall see on the Lime- stone that the hedgerows often contain the buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), the spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus), the wayfaring tree (Viburnum Lantana), and are often adorned with the traveller's joy (Clematis Vitalba), the maple (Acer campestre) and occasionally the glabrous fruited form, the cornel (Cornus europeaus), and here and there the bramble Rubus Radula, but the ubiquitous species is R. ulmifolius. Where clay is present the spindle tree and cornel will be rare and the traveller's joy absent, and the common brambles will be R. corylifolius and R. caesius, and there will be the bittersweet (Solanum Dulcamara) and the blackthorn ​(Prunus spinosa) in the hedgerows. The flora of the road borders on the clay will be found to consist principally of the grasses Dactylis glomerata, Poa trivialis, P. pratensis, Lolium perenne and Festuca pratensis, and occasionally F. arundinacea, and the great plantain (Plantago major) and the strawberry-headed clover (Trifolium fragiferum) are common. In the ditches there will be the teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), the ragwort (Senecio erucifolius), the fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) and the mint (Mentba aquatica), and the thistles will be usually Cnicus lanceolatus and C. palustris, whereas on the oolite the grasses more commonly found will be Poa pratensis, often as the var. subcaerulea, Bromus erectus, Avena pubescens, Cynosurus cristatus, Festuca ovina and F. rubra, and the plantain will be more frequently Plantago media. The pastures will offer abundance of cow-slips (Primula veris), and when there is a rich subsoil there will often be immense quantities of the green-veined orchid (Orchis morio). If there be little subsoil we shall see abundance of the thyme (Thymus Chamcedrys), or the rock-rose (Heliantbemum Chamcecistus), The thistles will be Carduus nutans or even possibly Cnicus eriopborus and frequently C. acaulis. Even the cornfield weeds are different, for on the calcareous soil we shall find the shepherd's weather-glass (Specularia bybrida), Linaria Elatina and L. spuria, the corn gromwell (Litbospermum arvense) and occasionally the rarer form of the pale poppy (Papaver Lecoqii).
But as I have said, this band of oolite stretching across the northern part of the county is not a continuous zone. For considerable distances it is covered with drift deposits, and when these consist of gravels we shall have plants fond of warm and porous soils, while if the surface deposit consist of Boulder Clay we shall have the same pelophilous species which abound on the Oxford or Kimeridge Clays. An example may be worth quoting : When I began systematically to work the county about six years ago I found there was no certain record of the woolly-headed thistle (Cnicus eriophorus) for the county. Now I well remembered as a boy seeing it in a portion of Whittlebury Forest, the haunt of the chequered skipper, in Northamptonshire, and just at its south-western extremity, where there is a turnpike road leading from Whittlebury to Wicken. This road is within a few yards of the county border, so that one might almost have been justified in assuming that in this place the thistle would spread into Bucks. But in order to see if this were the case I went over and found this handsome thistle growing with the rock rose in the spot I remembered, and also extending along the eastern side of the road, but I also saw what the map did not tell me, that there was a sudden change in the soil on the south-western side of the road, for while on the Northamptonshire side the oolite was at the surface, on the Buckinghamshire side a drift deposit obscured the limestone, and not a single specimen of the thistle or rock rose could I see within the Buckinghamshire boundary, although I made a close search, nor did I see it in my walk of seven or eight miles towards Buckingham, but shortly before reaching Westbury I had the pleasure of gathering it in a spot where the oolite once again appeared. I have since found it in great ​quantity on Westbury Wild, where the soil is a stiff clay, but I suspect a strong Calcareous element is present. The scenery of the Great Oolite district is much more diversified than that of the clay ; it is often well wooded, and the ash is a conspicuous tree. One of the members of the oolitic rocks, the Forest Marble, gives in Oxfordshire a home for some of the chief rarities of the county, but this formation is only scantily repre- sented in Buckinghamshire and chiefly near Thornton, Lillingstone Lovell and Tingewick, and so far as I am aware without influencing the vegetation.
The Cornbrash is found in a more or less continuous band from Fringford near the Oxfordshire border across the county to Newton Blossomville on the eastern side ; it is nearly obscured by the Ouse gravels east of Newport Pagnell, but near Beachampton it is two miles across. This formation, which is well represented in Oxfordshire, consists of various rubbly limestones sometimes, as near Buckingham, of a hard blue character and associated with beds of blue and black clay, but the limestone weathers rather rapidly, and in some of the quarries, as at Thornborough, one can notice that the base consists of blue limestone alone, but as the surface is reached the top beds are yellow and rubbly, and this colour change is owing to the oxidation of the iron carbonate which is present in the older and lower rock, it being gradually altered by air and moisture into oxides of iron near the surface. There is a curious inlier of Cornbrash at Marsh Gibbon in which we have a blue limestone at the base, then a marly clay capped with loose rubbly stone. This slight eminence is one of a series of similar ones which cross a part of north Oxfordshire as an anticlinal line stretching from west to east, and although not much raised above the plain of Oxford Clay in which they occur, yet these dome shaped masses have been occupied by villages in each case. As a rule the arable land on the Cornbrash is of a deep reddish-brown colour and is well adapted for the growth of wheat, but it produces few characteristic plants and the outline of the surface is also somewhat featureless. On the village walls made of the local stone at Marsh Gibbon, the stone crop (Sedum dasyphylluni) grows in one of its very few homes in the county.
The Oxford Clay so frequently referred to is a light-blue clay weathering to yellow on the surface and of a great thickness, in many places being over 500 feet. It occupies a considerable area of the north of the county, forming a more or less undulating surface, uninteresting from a scenic point of view, and without an attractive flora. From the absence of springs, and from its impervious soil, there are fewer villages on it, and it therefore is a sparsely populated area, so that the plants which follow man and his operations are necessarily fewer ; but the new industry of brick-making will probably introduce some species. The contrast between its common constituents and those of the oolitic rocks has been already alluded to, but as the Ouse has excavated into it for a considerable portion of its course, the aquatic vegetation is the most marked in character. Near Stoney Stratford the sweet flag ( Acorus ​Calamus) is probably native, and the narrow-leaved reed-mace (Typha angustifolia) occurs. The sedges include Carex acuta and C. paniculata, and Sparganium mglectum as well as S. erectum occurs; and the beautiful meadow crane's-bill (Geranium pratense) is not uncommon, while the willows include Salix caprea, cinerea, triandra, alba, viridis, fragilis, aurita, Smitbiana and purpurea. Near Moulsoe the graceful Carex Pseudocyperus grows, and the water-stitchwort (Stellaria aquatica) is rather common. The horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris) is not unfrequent and the wet pastures are often full of Juncus glaucus. Characteristic plants in addition to those alluded to which grow upon this formation are the ox-tongue (Picris echioides), the marsh stitchwort (Stellaria palustris), the honewort (Sison Amomum), especially where a little gravel is also present, the yellow cress (Roripa palustris), the hemlock (Conium maculatum), and the black poplar (Populus nigra), which is extensively planted, probably in some cases from the fact that in the early days of our railway system buffers for goods-wagons made of this wood were found to bear the concussion better than almost any other timber.
The Coralline Oolite forms in Oxfordshire and Berkshire a conspicuous ridge stretching from west to east, on which many rare and interesting species grow, but when it reaches Buckinghamshire it thins out and changes its character so greatly as to be scarcely recognizable, and is chiefly represented by a clayey band which may be followed by Worminghall, Oakley, round Muswell Hill, and through Dorton to the base of Quainton Hill, and it may exist in a transitional state at Studley. Instead of the sandy or calcareous soil of a very changeable nature which characterizes the surface soil on the formation in Oxfordshire, there is a more uniform and a much poorer soil on the fragmentary beds of the Coralline Oolite in Buckinghamshire, so that we miss such species as the round-leaved crane's-bill (Geranium rotundifolium), the hybrid poppy (Papaver hybridum), the climbing bindweed (Polygonum dumetorum) and many other species which are found in Berkshire or Oxfordshire.
The Kimeridge Clay.—— In Oxfordshire and Berkshire this formation is quite distinct from the Oxford Clay, since the Coralline Oolite just alluded to keeps them apart, so that we have in those counties plants which are fond of warmer and a more pervious soil abundantly growing on the old coral-reef which rises above the two clay deposits; but as we have seen in Buckinghamshire, the Coralline Oolite has either entirely thinned out or has been so modified in character as itself to form a clay band. There is nothing over the greater part of north Bucks to divide the great extensive clay deposits from each other, and in some parts, as near Stewkley, the separation of one from the other is described on the Geological Survey as wholly conjectural.
So far as the formation influences plant distribution we may say that what is true of the Oxford is also true of the Kimeridge Clay. The surface is likewise uninteresting and undiversified; few rare plants occur; the absence of springs means that there are no bogs, and such marshes as occur are too sour or rather have the waters too charged with ​sulphate and carbonate of lime to allow plants such as the sundew or the Lancashire asphodel to grow. There are interminable series of pastures wearisome in their monotony, but in some of the meadows near Ayles- bury the snake's-head (Fritillaria meleagris) is as common as it is in the better-known locality of Oxford, and here from its being in such a sequestered and unpopulated region, the indigenity of this interesting species in the Upper Thames province is further strengthened. The clay, which is often bituminous, with irregular bands of limestone nodules, is sometimes of a dull leaden colour, as near Hartwell and Aylesbury, where it is extensively worked for brick-making. Here and there are tracts of woodland in which the oak is the prevailing tree, although both species of elms attain large dimensions ; and the black poplar, always slightly leaning to one side, and not I think always against the wind, is a conspicuous feature in the low fields of the Vale, while the course of the small, sluggish and turbid streams is marked by the line of pollard willows, while the hop (Humulus Lupulus) and the large bindweed (Calystegia septum) and the water stitch wort (Stellaria aquatica) the willow herbs Epilobium hirsutum and E. parviflorum, and the loose- strife (Lythrum Salicaria) break by their display of colour the somewhat dead monotony of the scene.
The Portland Beds are more largely represented in Buckingham- shire than in Oxfordshire ; the main outcrop passes north-east from Thame, forming a tract of drier soil, by Cuddington and Dinton to Bierton and Aylesbury, where the rock is soft and sandy ; and there are outlying masses at Brill, Muswell Hill, Ashendon, Whitchurch, etc. Capping the Portland Beds are the Purbeck Beds at Brill, which exist as thin beds of drab-coloured close-grained limestones of fresh- water origin, but they have not the characteristic calcareous flora to the same degree as the Great Oolite or the Chalk.
The Lower Greensand, which is formed of the lowest beds of the Cretaceous formation, are of very irregular occurrence, but they may be traced at intervals across the counties of Berks, Oxford and Bucks, rising above the flatter and less elevated clay tracts by which they are surrounded. We find that in the two first-named counties the well- known hills of Faringdon, Boar's Hill and Shotover, consisting essen- tially of the Greensand, are not only very striking and pleasing factors in the effect they produce upon the outline of the country, but from their being of a warm porous rock, overlying an impervious stratum, the juncture of which is marked by a line of springs which offer a congenial home for many interesting marsh plants, and from the water often containing ferrugineous matter in solution, a true bog is formed ; so that on this formation we obtain a more diversified flora than on any of the previous formations yet considered. Nor does the character deteriorate in Buckinghamshire ; indeed the tract of country on which the Brickhills are situated, and whose rather striking escarpment faces nearly north, clothed as it is with planted pine and larch, offers a veritable oasis to the botanist, who may have been disheartened by ​Bucks. At Brickhill and Woburn the Greensand forms a dry hilly ground, attaining an altitude of 520 feet, where the surface is a light sandy material, strongly impregnated with iron, on which the pines and larch appear quite at home. The heath or ericetal vegetation is very varied, and several species are limited to this particular area in the county. Space will not allow the whole of the species to be enumerated, but among the most characteristic the following may be mentioned: the climbing fumitory (Capnoides claviculata), the swine's succory (Arnoseris pusilla), the small mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium semidecandrum), the cudweeds Filago apiculata and F. minima, the golden-rod (Solidago Virgaurea), the sheep's scabious (Jasione montana), the sandwort (Buda rubra), the hawkweeds Hieracium umbellatum and H. boreale, the cress (Teesdalia nudicaulis), locally abundant, the vetch (Vicia latbyroides), the bird's-foot (Ornithopus perpusillus), the clovers Trifolium arvense and T. striatum, the sedges Carex pilulifera and C. leporina, the ling (Calluna Erica), the buck's-horn plantain (Plantago Coronopus), the grasses Deschampsia flexuosa, Festuca sciuroides, Aira prtecox, A. caryopbyllea, Poa subccerulea, and Festuca ovina var. paludosa and vulgaris, and a rich bramble flora, which will be alluded to hereafter.
Where shelter is given by the pines or where a somewhat richer soil is found, then we see great tracts covered by the huckleberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus), which used to fruit so freely that the 'berries' were gathered in great quantities by the poor and hawked over considerable parts of the surrounding country; and I look back with pleasant recollection to the toothsome delicacy of huckleberry and apple tart. Where there is even a greater deposit of leaf-mould we may see tracts of that most charming flower the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) flowering freely. On the hill slopes, where some spring has been thrown out by the clay beneath, we shall notice the hard fern (Lomaria Spicant) growing by the trench sides, in which there will be a plentiful growth of Juncus bulbosus (supinus). J. squarrosus also occurs, and in the marshy spots the sedge Carex echinata is abundant. In one or two such places, but very sparingly, I have seen the Lancashire asphodel (Nartbecium ossifragum) in its only locality in north Bucks, and there are sphagnum beds of such a size as leads one to hope that the fen orchid (Malaxis paludosa) may yet be found in them. In one if not more of the valleys the royal fern formerly grew, but it has, I am afraid, fallen a victim to the rapacity of unscrupulous horticulturists, but the marsh fern (Lastrea or Dryopteris Thelypteris) is still uneradicated, and there are fine examples of its congeners L. dilatata, L. spinulosa and probably L. uliginosa.
In one place may be gathered the graceful Scirpis syhaticus; in others the great horsetail (Equisetum maximum) grows. Where the stiffer clay soil occurs at the base of the hills oak plantations take the place of the pine, and there we see a fresh series of plants such as the butterfly orchid (Habenaria chloroleuca), the pale sedge (Carex pallescens); in one place the throat- wort (Campanula latifolia), the lady's mantle (Alchemilla vul- ​garis as the variety filicaulis); in another, kept permanently wet by the copious springs, we have the golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium), and even this list does not exhaust the number.
The Greensand stretches out by Heath and Reach to Leighton Buzzard, and is overlapped by the Gault near Fenny Stratford. There are small outlying patches on Muswell Hill and at Brill, and it also caps Quainton Hill. Beds of rich phosphatic coprolites are also found in it occasionally.
The Gault, unlike the Lower Greensand, is a continuous formation which stretches from the Oxfordshire border across Buckinghamshire to the Bedfordshire border near Eaton Bray, and in its progress widens from three miles near Towersey to seven miles on the eastern side. Near the Dunstable downs at Edlesborough a bed of black coprolites is found about fifty feet below the surface of the Gault, which exists usually as a thick mass of pale blue clay, often with greyish-brown phosphatic nodules. The stiff, heavy soil formed by it is usually flat and featureless, resembling the two previous impervious formations in being deficient in interesting species. Those characteristic of the Oxford and Kimeridge Clays are also common to this.
The Upper Greensand overlies the Gault and stretches from Princes Risborough and Henton to about a mile north-east of Buckland, from which place it thins out so as to be not easily traced, but it is to be seen in a brickyard at Eaton Bray. Its junction with the Gault is marked by a series of springs which are thrown out by the impervious nature of the Gault, and near them are situated at short intervals numerous villages, while the copious streams of clear pure water are largely used for the cultivation of water cress, which is sent in great quantity to London and other large towns. One of these springs issues out of the romantic Bledlow Gorge, which furnishes a scene quite unique in the county. The golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium) grows there, and is a very rare plant in the county.
The Chalk formation is one of the principal strata which come to the surface in the county, not only from the extent of surface which it occupies, but from the conspicuous feature caused by the rather bold northern escarpment of the Lower Chalk with its indented bays, which from a distance give it the appearance of an old coastline, but closer examination reveals the fact that its configuration is not the result of marine but of subaerial denudation, and that in every age it has only been the waves of wind, rain and mist which have surged against it, and carved out indentations which mark its contour in its course from Bledlow to the downs near Eaton Bray. The upper part is formed of a thin but very hard and pinkish bed of Chalk rock resting on other beds of chalk of different degrees of porosity and density, but entirely free from flints. Near the base is a very hard deposit called Totternhoe Stone, and beneath this is a softish white chalk marl, which forms the rising ground between Bledlow, Princes Risborough, etc., and is often under agrarian culture. The abrupt ​slope of the escarpment is to a great extent covered with aboriginal turf, and it is in this portion that the rich growth of xerophilous calcareous plants is to be found. The comparatively short grass does not overshadow the flowering plants, so that in the early summer we have a very brilliant display of blossom, five distinct shades of yellow being the groundwork in the colour scheme, the deepest being struck by the dark orange-flowered horse-shoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) ; the next, but slightly more golden in tint, is caused by the lotus (L. corniculatus) ; then comes a somewhat greenish-yellow sheen where great patches of the golden stonecrop (Sedum acre) occur, and a very pale yellow is created where the lady's-fingers (Anthyllis Vulneraria) displays itself, but the paler tint is not altogether derived from the petals, but in part is caused by the conspicuous calyces, while the fifth species growing in countless thousands of pale-gold blossoms is the rock-rose (Helianthemum Chamcecistus) with its very fugacious petals ; and as if to vie with them the key-note is repeated in the cornfields, where closely contiguous masses of the white mustard (Brassica alba) glow with a vividness that is almost painful under the bright noonday sun. But there are other plants in the turf besides this chord of yellow-blossomed species ; there are the pinkish-white flowers of the squinancy-wort (Asperula cynanchica), the rosy-pink pyramidal spikes of the orchid (Orchis pyramidalis) , or where a rather more impervious bed of chalk occurs we have the duller purple spikes of the fragrant orchid (Habenaria conopsea), and more sparingly the bee orchid (Opbrys apifera). Here and there the milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), with the flowers varying through different shades of blue to pink or white, may be seen, and it is a little curious and inexplicable why on the Berkshire downs the ubiquitous milkwort is P. calcarea, which here is extremely local and so much less frequent than the common one. Occasionally, especially on the downs above Ivinghoe, may be seen the yellow blossoms of the field ragwort (Senecio campestris), and not uncommonly the purple blue-flowered Canterbury bell (Campanula glomerata). In very many places bushes of the juniper (Juniperus communis) give a dark green colouring, and this too is exceedingly scarce on the Berkshire downs, although here so plentiful, and not restricting itself to the downs, but stretching inland to such commons as Naphill or Burn- ham Beeches, or the slopes near Medmenham. Bushes of the sweet brier (Rosa Eglanteria) and R. micrantha are plentiful near Princes Ris- borough and Wendover. Where the turf has been removed the porce- lain-white blossoms of the candytuft (Iberis amara) will probably be seen, and few of the arable fields on the bare chalk are without it. Bordering the beech woods may be seen the white blossoms of the helleborine (Cephalanthera pallens), and in the woodland shade the bird's- nest orchid (Neottia Nidus-avis), and the wall lettuce (Lactuca muralis). But we have not even yet exhausted the constituents of the turf, for the rather pretty grass Kæleria cristata is plentiful, as well as the more striking oat-grasses (Avena pubescens and A. pratensis) , while the brome (Bromus erectus) is abundant. Later in the season the turf is studded ​with the crimson blossoms of the hard-head (Centaurea nigra) as the variety decipiens, and there is abundance of the purple flowered autumnal felwort (Gentiana Amarella), and in a few places the much larger blossomed Gentiana germanica. Three or four species of the eye-bright Eupbrasia occur, including nemorosa, curta, Kerneri and gracilis, but some of these grow where there is a thin coating of loamy soil or possibly brick-earth.
In the deep combe above the Kembles and Ellesborough there are great bushes of the box (Buxus sempervirens), and it may be native in the county here and on the downs above Edlesborough. At Ellesborough it affords shelter for a great number of rabbits, and about their warrens the henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is abundant, and growing upon the earth thrown out by them one of the earliest plants to appear is the sandwort (Arenaria leptoclados). The tower cress (Arabis hirsuta) is found plentifully in a few situations, but is most abundant in shade, which is rather unusual for this species. Nor do the arable fields lack their complement of interesting plants, and the white mustard and candy-tuft have been already mentioned, but there are also the fumitories Fumaria densiflora, F. Vaillantii and F. parviflora, the toadflax (Linaria viscida), the sainfoin (Onobrycbis "viciteformis), but the special treasure is a very local species which has its extreme western range in the county, namely the great pig-nut (Carum Bulbocastanum), which also occurs in Cambridgeshire and Herts, but does not appear to extend west of Ivinghoe. The large tuberous root is greedily eaten by pigs. About Halton and Tring there is the poisonous deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), the spurge laurel (Daphne Laureoa), the very local bedstraws Galium sylestre and G. erectum, the meadow clary (Safoia pratensis), and the field mouse-ear (Cerastium arvense); Vicia slvatica, Polygonatum multiflorum and Pyrola minor.
The Chalk is occasionally covered with leaf-mould and with loam, or brick-earth, and when the calcareous character of the soil is more or less masked a corresponding change in the flora takes place; patches of the ling (Calluna Erica), of the louse-wort (Pedicularis sylvatica) and other ericetal plants occur, but as these are not normal constituents of a cretaceous flora they will be referred to subsequently. There are three large dips in the Chiltern escarpment: one near Princes Risborough, another near Wendover, and a third which lies between Tring and Aldbury. The neighbouring hills such as Beacon Hill near Wendover and those above Ivinghoe and Halton give very beautiful and extensive views over the vale to the distant hills of Northants and Wilts. The chalk rock of the Lower Chalk is also to be seen inland at Chesham, High Wycombe, as well as in several places overlooking the Thames between Henley and Marlow.
The Upper Chalk with Flints is about 300 feet thick, and forms the eastern slope of the Chiltern Hills. This chalk is largely burned for lime. Although there is a considerable portion of the chalk area where the Upper Chalk forms the subsoil and gives a home for calcareous loving ​species, yet there is an even larger portion coloured as chalk on the geological map, which is really covered with a reddish earth to which the name of ' brick-earth ' is given, and when this is present it so modifies the vegetation that a very dissimilar flora will be found from that where the chalk itself forms the surface soil. The chief tree in the woods is of course the beech, with hornbeam; and occasionally the cherry; and the ash is not unfrequent in open situations, while in some of the more clayey and sheltered places the oak is found. The plant of special interest is the local coral-root (Cardamine bulbifera), the Dentaria bulbifera of Linnæs, so named from the curious bulbils present in the axils of the leaves. These bulbils drop off and form another plant, thus enabling it to perpetuate itself without seeding, which as it grows in rather dense shade is not of frequent occurrence. The plant prefers to grow where there are plenty of loose flints and leaf-mould in hilly woods, and although extending into Herts and Berks has not yet been found in the woods of the Oxfordshire Chilterns. The helleborines Epipactis latifolia and E. violacea are found as well as occasionally the herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), the gromwell (Lithospermum officinale), the large woodrush (Luzula or Juncoides syhatica), the lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris), the beautiful wood vetch (Vicia sylvatica), the very rare and interesting shrub Daphne Mezereum, as well as the spurge laurel (D. Laureola), the mountain speedwell (Veronica montana), the sedges Carex pallescens and C. strigosa, the grasses Milium effusum and Meicea uniflora, the toothwort (Lathrea Squamaria), the willow herb (Epilobium angustifolium), besides Pimpinella major.
The Chalk in this southern area, although so frequently obscured by the deposits alluded to, is at intervals the surface rock, especially on the sides of the dry valleys or deep road-cutting. When this is the case the vegetation at once changes in character, and in the calcareous woods we have the yew (Taxus baccata), the juniper (Juniperus communis), the hornbeam (Carpinus Betulusll), all certainly native; the wood barley (Elytmus europceus), which can also grow where there is some covering to the chalk; the wood rush (Juncoides [Luzula] Forsferi), and much more locally the Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multtflorum), so much rarer here than in the woods on the Berkshire chalk hills, and this again prefers some coating either of leaf-mould or even brick-earth; the rare military orchid (Orchis militaris), one of the chief botanical treasures of the county, but now much less frequently occurring than was formerly the case, and chiefly on the borders of woods; the mountain St. John's wort (Hypericum montanum), the tutsan (H. Androscemuni), the two hellebores Helleborus viridis and H.fætidus, but both locally; and with a still more restricted distribu- tion the oak fern (Phegopteris Dryopteris) and the limestone polypody (P. calcarea); a hawkweed (Hieracium murorum var. pellucidum), and more commonly the ploughman's spikenard (Inula Conyza). The stinking gladdon (Iris foeti dissima), the butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), the wild licorice vetch (Astragalus glycyphyllos), the blue toadflax (Linaria repens) are chiefly found on the chalk hills overlooking the river. On the grass-covered downs the musk orchid (Herminium Monorchis) and the large ​having its headquarters in the county is the calamint (Calamintha parvifolia or Nepeta), which is locally very abundant on the dry banks in the neighbourhood of West Wycombe, Chalfont St. Peter's, Seer Green, etc. The maple and holly are plentiful in the hedgerows, and the buckthorn (Rhamnus catbarticus), the wayfaring tree (Viburnum Lanfana), the true cherry (Prunus Cerasus), as well as P. avium, occur.
The Reading Beds are the lowest members of the Tertiary strata found in Buckinghamshire: they consist very largely of stiff clay mottled with a great variety of colours, but they also include beds of sharp sand, also variously coloured, and loams. They rest unconformably on the Chalk, and once formed an unbroken sheet over its whole area, but they have been largely removed by denudation; the various outhers such as those at Penn however testify to the much wider range they formerly had. The Reading Beds now occupy a considerable surface of southern Bucks about Wooburn, Burnham, Beaconsfield, Hedgerley, Chalfont St. Peter's and Denham.
The varied soils formed by these beds necessarily give rise to a diversified flora, and it is rendered even more interesting from the extensive deposits of drift gravels by which in many places they are covered. Therefore in quick succession we find purely ericetal species such as the trailing St. John's wort (Hypericum humifusum) and bird's-foot (Ornithopus perpusillus), and clay-loving species such as Mentha rubra and M. piperita.
Where the drift gravels are common we then find a most interesting series, such as the silvery cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), the subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum), the soft clover (T. striatum) and the hare's-foot (T. arvense), the buck's-horn plantain (Plantago Coronopus), the tower-cress (Arabis perfoliata), the climbing bindweed (Polygonum dumetorurn) the cress (Lepidium heterophyllum var. canescens), the hawkweeds H. boreale, H. sciaphilum and H. umbellatum, the saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria), the Deptford pink (Diantbus Armeria), the broomrape (Orobancbe Rapum-genlstae), the pearl-wort (Sagina ciliata) and very locally S. subulata. The less pervious clays have afforded the sedges Carex strigosa, C. elata, and chamomile (Anthemisnobilis) .
The London Clay is another Eocene formation, and it is found resting on the Reading Beds as a stiff brownish clay, often containing large nodules of calcareous matter called septaria, but is usually very uniform in its character throughout its whole thickness, which is not less than 300 feet in some places. It occupies a large tract of country between Slough, Langley and Drayton, where it is extensively excavated for brickmaking, and Stoke Common, Fulmer, Red Hill are also situated on it, while there are extensive outhers capping the Chalk, as at Lane End, which is 593 feet in altitude, and the neighbouring eminence of Priests is 606 feet above sea level.
Like the Reading Beds, this formation is often covered with drift gravels, and then we see in close proximity the ericetal and glareal ​vegetation belonging to the latter deposit and the pelophilous or clay-loving species characteristic of the former.
On Stoke Common we therefore find such plants as the all-seed (Millegrana Radiola), the dwarf willow (Salix repens), the alder buck- thorn (Rhamnus Frangula), the meadow thistle (Cnicus pratensis), the heaths Erica Tetralix and E. cinerea, the ling (Calluna Erica), the petty whin (Genista angtica), the dwarf gorse (U/ex minor), the upright pearl wort (Cerastium quaternellum-Mcenchia), the sedges Carex binervis, C. echinata, the grasses Nardus stricta, Aira prcecox, A. caryopbyllea, Deschampsia flexuosa, and Festuca ovina var. paludosa.
On the elevated outlier at Lane End there is some marshy ground where the marsh helleborine (Epipactis palustris), the bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), the marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris), the sedges Carex pulicaris, C. Jiava, C. ecbinata, C. Goodenowii, and C. panicea, grow in very near neighbourhood to the petty whin, the dwarf gorse, the ling and the heath form of Orchis maculata, i.e. var. ericetorum, and where the small winter-green (Pyrola minor) grows in short turf bordering a wood in which the golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium) occurs.
The Drift.—— A casual glance at the geologic map, as coloured to show the limitations of the various strata which come to the surface in the county, does not reveal, as has already been stated, the true surface soil over a great part of the area. In the north we find that both the Oolite and the Oxford and other clays are sometimes covered with or obscured by masses of clay full of pebbles, or by more or less extensive patches of sands or gravels, and this is specially the case in the portion drained by the Ouse ; indeed that river gives the name of the ' Ouse gravels' to them. The influence of this covering upon the vegetation has already been referred to. The brick-earth and clay with flints, differing as it does materially from the bed rock in chemical composition as well as in physical characteristics, also has great influence in changing the character of the flora as we have previously seen.
High-level and Low-level Alluvium—— When rivers flow with a gentle fall across flat country they are usually margined by tracts of flat meadow-land, which are composed of materials carried down by the stream and dropped whenever a slackening of the current prevents the matter being carried further. Such deposits are known as Alluvium. They may be gravelly, loamy or clayey. Their component parts are purely local, being derived from the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, so that in the meadows of Marlow or Windsor the alluvial gravels contain a large percentage of the cretaceous rocks through which the river has cut its way, and the only foreign elements are such as are derived from the Drift or High Level Gravels which may have been cut through and reassorted and mixed with those of purely local origin. Hence we notice a remarkable difference between the vegetation of the alluvial meadows of the Thames and of the Ouse ; the latter being chiefly occupied by mesophytic plants, that is, such as are almost ubiquitous or common to various situations, or by ​pelophilous or clay-loving species; whereas in the meadows of the Lower Thames, where chalk fragments are such common constituents, the ordinary vegetation of the low-lying and rich grass pastures will also contain such plants as the lady's-fingers (Anthyllis Vulneraria), the purple blue Canterbury bell (Campanula glomeratd), the scabious (Scabiosa Columbaria), the hawk's-beard (Pieris bieracioides), and the grasses Bromus erectus, Avena pubescens and Kaeleria cristata, which are distinctly gypsophiles or calcareous species.
The flora of the gravels has been already sufficiently touched upon, but we may add that the lettuce (Lactuca virosa), the small buttercup (Ranunculus paruiflorus), the vetch Vicia Latbyroides, the shepherd's scabious (Jasione montana), the cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), the calamint (Calamintba officinalis}, the rose (Rosa systyla), the clovers Trifolium arvense, T. striatum and T. subterraneum, the clary (Sahia Verbenaca), the hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), the vervain (Verbena officinalis), the mullein (Verbascum nigrum), the garlic (Allium vineali), the meadow saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata), the bur parsley (Caucalis nodosa), and the hedge honewort (Carum segetum) have been found on them.
The meadow flora consists of many species, varying to some extent with the rocks of which the alluvium is composed, but there are many plants which flourish well either on clay, gravel on loam, and these we need not attempt to particularize here. We must, however, enumerate among the more local species, the small Polygonum (P. minus), which occurs with the knotted spurrey (Sagina nodosa) by the stream near Chesham, and the American balsam (Impatients biflora or flora}, now completely and abundantly naturalized for many miles along the course of the Colne, especially about Wraysbury; another American species, the monkey flower (Mimulus Langsdorffit), is so plentiful as to form a belt of colour for some distance between Latimers and Chenies; and the grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) finds a home in the meadows near. Near Hambledon the spurge (Euphorbia Esula) has been known to grow for many years, and it is possibly native, while in the Eton meadows the star of Bethlehem (Ornitbogalum umbellatum) and the medick (Medicago arabica) are locally common, and the snowflake (Leucojum cestivum} still occurs in a few parts of the Thames between Henley and Windsor.
In the Bray meadow the bedstraw Galium erectum grows freely, and the great dodder (Cuscuta europa) occurs near Windsor; the ditches also afford the sedges Carex Pseudo-cyperus, C. acuta, C. vesticaria, C. disticha; the water starwort (Callitriche obtusangula), the bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris), the water violet (Hottonia palustris), the frog-bit (Hydrocbaris Morsus-ranae, the water buttercup (Ranunculus trichopbyllus), the bur marigold (Bidens cernua) and the water dropwort (Œanthe Phellandrium).
THE RIVER DRAINAGE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
For many years past it has been the practice in the best and most complete county floras to subdivide the county they describe into ​ districts, and in almost every case the delimitation of the districts is made by adopting the different drainage areas of the smaller streams, or by dividing the larger into two or more parts. By this means, it is con- tended, more valuable scientific results are obtained than if an artificial system were chosen, or one based upon the geological divisions, or even one in which the divisions were made to represent the various soils. The objection to the plan based upon the geological strata is that so much of the area is obscured by surface deposits, which, as we have seen, mask the character of the strata underneath ; and although in my opinion apian in which the surface soil itself were used to determine the standard would be more valuable, it is quite true that our knowledge of the subject is not yet sufficiently perfected to make it available. The plan adopted here is therefore one based upon the river drainage, notwithstanding the difficulty that sometimes is felt in the separation of portions of the country where the water-parting is obscure, and the more serious objection which is experienced when, as in the case of the Ouzel or Thame, which run transversely to the geological strata, each subdivision will contain several different strata. Moreover, instead of a more or less uniform scenic effect and a fairly uniform vegetation, which would be the case were a stratum such as the Oxford Clay selected, it is obvious we shall in such an instance as that of the Thame have all the varying effects, which different altitudes and soils give to the districts traversed by that stream in its course from its origin in the Chalk hills of Wendover or the Green- sand of Brill through the clays to the river Thames. On the contrary in choosing this plan we keep in harmony with the arrangement adopted in works on the botany of the bordering counties, and the student of plant distribution will be enabled to investigate more easily the flora of the smaller river basins of the midlands.
Unlike Berkshire, which is wholly contained in the Thames basin, Buckinghamshire has two important river systems, those of the Ouse and the Thames. These therefore form our two great divisions, but the area drained by the Ouse is capable of being further sub-divided into two portions, namely that drained by the Ouse itself and that drained by its tributary the Ouzel. In eliminating the country drained by the latter stream we shall include in the Ouse district proper the country on the Liassic and Oolitic strata. These strata are found also in those portions of the bordering counties which are also in the Ouse drainage. The country drained by the Ouzel is much more varied in its geological character.
1. The Ouse District
The district No. 1 drained by the Ouse has its counterpart in district No. 3 of my Northamptonshire Flora and in district No. 2 of my Oxfordshire Flora. Roughly speaking its configuration is as follows : The Ouse rises at Ousewell near Brackley, and leaves our county near Olney. About a mile from the pleasant town of Brackley the Ouse forms the county boundary of Oxfordshire as far as to Water Stratford, where the line of delimitation from the Cherwell or rather the Ray drainage of Oxfordshire is a line drawn along the Roman road to Newton Purcell, then across country to Goddington, crossing the London and North-Western Railway near Marsh Gibbon station, passing by Calvert station on the Great Central Railway ​to Botolph Claydon, then by Hogshaw and the eastern side of Quainton Hill by Oving and Whitchurch. Here it turns in a north-easterly direction to Dunton, Stewkley Dean and Mursley. Then it again crosses the London and North-Western line about a mile east of Swanbourn station and passes between Whaddon and Bletchley to Denbighshire Hall and Simpson, where the Grand Junction Canal forms the line of demarcation, thence to Great Linford station, where it reaches the main stream of the Ouse, which is the limit of the district, to Newport Pagnell, where it receives the Ouzel stream. From Newport Pagnell the road from that place to the county boundary of Bedfordshire near Broad Green is followed; and the eastern limit of the district is the county of Bedford, the county boundary of which passes by Astwood and Olney, and then the county boundary of Northamptonshire replaces it by Salcey Forest and Hartwell. Near the latter place the river Tove, which rises from the high ground near Preston Capes, in Northamptonshire, is itself a tributary of the Ouse. From Hartwell the Tove itself becomes the county boundary and flows past Grafton Regis, Castlethorpe and Cosgrove, in its course having cut its way down to the Upper Lias Clay, and enters the Ouse which then in turn separates the two counties westwards to Thornton. Here the county boundary, which is the border of the Ouse district, is an arbitrary line which passes to the east of Leckhampstead and Lillingstone, and includes a small portion of the once extensive forest of Whittlewood or Whittlebury, where there are extensive deposits of Blue Clay drift, and traverses a secluded and well wooded part of the county by Chapel Green and Biddlesden; a small stream here forms the county boundary to a spot adjacent to Brackley, where our boundary line rejoins the starting point opposite to Evenley.
The Ouse district as comprised within the bounds just described consists of a flat or a gently undulating country, the highest point near Oving above sea level attaining only to 520 feet in altitude; the highest part of the Whittlebury neighbourhood is about 510 feet, while Whaddon Chase is about 450 feet. But by far the larger part of the district is between 200 and 300 feet, and some portion bordering the Ouse near Olney is not more than 1 70 feet above sea level. The area is almost entirely under cultivation and there are extensive tracts of pasture land, and still more monotonous agrarian fields, but there are vestiges of woodland in the north-west, although the greater part of the sylvan portions have long ago been disafforested, but we are able to read its former history by the occurrence of wood anemones and bluebells in the hedgerows. Near Westbury there is a wild bushy common where a very rare and local species of bramble (Rubus pubescens) grows, and it is especially interesting as it more closely approaches the original German type of R. pubescens than any other plant hitherto observed in Britain. Although clayey there is a plentiful growth of the woolly-headed thistle (Cnicus eriophorus). The marsh scorpion-grass (Myosotis cespitosa) and the bur-reed (Sparganium neglectum) grow in a pond in the vicinity. The umbelliferous plant Pimpinella major is plentiful in the woods and bushy hedgerows hereabouts, and in damp roadsides the grass Festuca arundinacea occurs. The hedges occasionally, as at Westbury and Lillingstone, have the barberry (Berberis vulgaris) as well as the spindle-tree (Euonymus europaeus); in a wet ditch at Westbury and also near Adstock the peppermint (Mentha piperita) occurs; the coppices often abound with the grass Calamagrostis epigeios, and sometimes, especially on stiff clay soils, have the beautiful sedge (Carex pendula) and the great horsetail (Equisetum maximum), while very locally near Lillingstone the great throat-wort (Campanula latifolia) is found. By the Black Pit Pond in Stowe Park, where the moon-wort (Botrychium Lunaria) was once found, there is a plentiful growth of the bur marigold (Bidens cernua), a very rare plant in the district in which B. tripartita is the prevailing form. At Westbury the spleenworts Asplenium Trichomanes and A. Ruta-muraria are found, but ferns are very scarce in the district; even the bracken (Pteris aquilina), is almost absent from the area. Nearer the Ouse, as at Buffer's Holt where the oolite was formerly quarried, there are some more interesting species, and the local Gentiana germanica and the thorow-wax (Bupleurum rotundifolium) have been reported. The relics of Whittlebury Forest contain the mint (Mentha longifolia) in an assuredly native situation.
At Westbury Common when the gravel drift is sufficiently porous to allow of the occurrence, the ling (Calluna Erica), a very rare plant of the district, and also the hawkweed (Hieracium umbellatum), the St. John's wort (Hypericum pulchrum), the heath stitchwort (Stellaria graminea), the heath bedstraw (Galium hercynicum) and the grasses Aira pracox, Deschampsia flexuosa and Agrostis canina are found. At Old Stratford the riverside affords the sweet flag (Acorus Calamus), the reed-mace (Typha angustifolia),the flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus),and nearer Castlethorpe the bittercress (Cardamine amara), the grass Catabrosa aquatica, the meadow rue (Thalictrum favum), and abundance of the water dropworts (ŒEnanthe fistulosa and (Œ.fluviatis, the latter of ​which entirely replaces (Œ. Phellandrium in the district. The water buttercups include Ranunculus heterophyllus, R. divaricatus, R. peltatus, R. fluitans, and the pondweeds are Potamogeton natans, P. Friesii, P. interruptus,P. pectinatus, P. zostertefolius, P. pusillus, P. crispus and P. densus, but P. polygonifolius and P. alpinus appear to be absent. The canal gives the sedges Carex paniculata, C. acuta, Eleocharis acicularis; and the meadow crane's-bill (Geranium pratense) is a not uncommon plant near the Ouse. There are few marshes or bogs from a botanical point of view, since the undrained portion although wet is singularly poor in uliginal vegetation, and is represented by such mesophytes as Carex vulpina and C. flacca, Galium palustre, Glyceria plicata and G. fluitans, Apium nodiflorum, Juncus lampocarpus and J. glaucus.
There is a very small marsh near Winslow of a very different character, since it resembles the rich marshes which occur at Headington in Oxfordshire and at Cothill and Hinksey in Berkshire. As drainage has been already begun, it is probably doomed to disappear in the not distant future. In it I was enabled to notice for the first time as plants of Buckinghamshire the black bog-rush (Schaenus nigricans) and the rush (Juncus obtusiflorus), and also the following interesting species, the butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), the marsh helleborine (Epipactis palustris), the marsh thistle (Cnicus pratensis), the sedges Carex pulicaris, C. flava, C. Goodenowii, C. panicea, C. Hornschuchiana, the bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), the fragrant orchid (Habenaria conopsea), and the bee orchid (Ophrys apifera), the latter in an unusual station; the milk-wort (Polygala vulgaris), the bedstraw Galium uliginosum, while in close contiguity in a gravelly field grew the upright form of the soft clover (Trifolium itriatum var. erectum) and the chickweed (Cerastium arvense). The railway banks near Swanbourn have the zig-zag clover (Trifolium medium), and in the brickyard near there are some very fine examples of Lotus tenuis.
On the railway banks near Hanslope there is a very abundant growth of a hawkweed, a native of eastern and central Europe, namely Hieracium preealtum, and near it is another plant which is either a hybrid of that species with H. Pilosella, or possibly H, pratense. Some short distance away the yellow chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) is also abundantly naturalized for a considerable distance, and nearer the border of Northamptonshire the gold of pleasure (Camelina saliva) is plentiful, and other aliens such as Caucalis latifolia, Salvia verticillata, Bromus arvensis and B. squarrosus, Chenopodium ficfolium and others have been found.
At Castlethorpe the calamint (C. parvifolia) occurs, but it may be possibly a relic of cultivation as it grows near Castle Close. Here too the fiddle dock (Rumex pulcher) and the grass Poa compressa occur, and near Hanslope I added Carex pendula to the county many years ago. Near Olney, where the limestone comes to the surface, the gypsophilous grass Brachypodium pinnatum so abundant on the oolite in Oxfordshire, but so rare in this county, is found. From Lavendon the wild everlasting pea (Lathyrus sylvestris) has been recorded, and the grass-leaved pea (L. Nissolia) is found near Wavendon.
2.The Ouzel District
which is also in the main drainage of the Ouse, is so named from a small stream whose sources are chiefly in the Dunstable Downs, one issuing from the chalk near the Beacon Hill between Ivinghoe and Edlesborough, another near Pitstone Green, and there are several other feeders from the Cretaceous rocks. Another tributary comes from the high ground of Cublington and Stewkley (496 feet) and joins the chalk streams to the south of Leighton Buzzard, between which place and Fenny Stratford it is reinforced by several streams coming from the western side of the hills of Stewkley North End, Drayton Parslow and Mursley, while on the east side the rich district of Brickhill and Woburn Sands also drain into it. A small brook which rises in Bedfordshire near Ridgmount, and passes through Salford, Milton Keynes and Broughton, joins the Ouzel near Willen, and the Ouzel itself shortly after enters the Ouse near Newport Pagnell.
The district is contained within the following limits: Starting from the place near Great Linford station, where the Grand Junction Canal is near the Ouse, the separating line from the Ouse district, which has been already described, passes from Newport Pagnell to the Bedford county boundary at Broad Green, which is near North Crawley, following the county boundary in a southernly direction to Wavendon, Linslade, and then by Edlesborough to Little Gaddesden, where Hertfordshire takes the place of Beds, and the limit is the boundary of that shire in its eccentric and arbitrary separating line, as it is traced across the Chilterns. The boundary of the Ouzel district passes by Aldbury to the main line of the London and North​Western railway, and although not scientifically correct we adopt the railway as the separating line from the Thame district hereafter to be described as far as to Cheddington station; thence our dividing line is traced by Wingrave, Aston Abbots, and passing to the east of the Cottesloes to Stewkley and Mursley, where the Ouse district limits it on the western side till it touches the starting-point near Great Linford; for the last few miles, that is from Simpson to Linford, the Grand Junction Canal is adopted as the dividing line, but strictly speaking it is not quite accurate, as a small portion to the west of the canal near Willen actually drains into the Ouzel but it is thought better to choose a definite rather than an obscure line in this instance.
The country comprised within these limits is remarkable from the fact that the streams cut through or across the lines of strata, so that in it are represented the Lower Chalk, the Upper Greensand, the Gault, the Lower Greensand, the Kimeridge and Oxford Clays, as well as the Ouse Drift Gravels. Not only are the geologic strata thus richly represented, but the scenic character offers a very pleasing contrast to the dull monotony of so much of the Ouse district, and the vegetation is also of a most interesting nature. Some parts of the Dunstable Downs are among the highest points of the county, being over 800 feet, while at the juncture of the Ouse and Ouzel the surface of the water is only about 180 feet above sea level. The Chalk downs are in places covered with aboriginal turf, in which grow such plants as the ragwort (Senecio campestris), the orchids Orchis pyramidalis and Ophrys apifera, the squinancy-wort (Asperula cynanchha), the horse-shoe vetch (Hippocrepls comosa), the lady sfingers (Anthyllis Pulneraria), the grasses Bromus erectus, Avena pubescent and A. pratensis, and in one place above 700 feet in altitude the adder's tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum), and the box (Buxus sempervirens) has been claimed to be a native plant. In some places the downs have been brought into some kind of agrarian cultivation, and in these arable fields we have glaring masses of colouring produced by the white mustard (Brassica alba) and the sainfoin (Onobrychts viciafolius), and as more interesting constituents to the botanist, Fumaria densiflora, F. Vaillantii and F. parviflora, the pignut (Carum Bulbocastanum), which is found in no other district of the county, the candytuft (Iberis amara); while the grasses Festuca rigdia and Phleum nodasum are frequent plants.
On the Upper Greensand two umbelliferous plants, Carum segetum and Caucalis nodosa, are found, especially on dry sunny banks near villages. When we come to the Lower Greensand, which is so well represented between Leighton Buzzard, Heath and Great Brickhill, and still more interestingly between Great Brickhill, Little Brickhill and Bow Brickhill and Woburn Sands, we see the richest botanizing ground in north Bucks. This portion of the county is very picturesque, and in places clothed with pine woods, which reach an elevation of about 520 feet. The flora of the Brickhill woods on the Greensand has already been rather fully described, but we may refer to the flora of some other parts which has not already been mentioned. Between Great Brickhill and Heath there are some very interesting cornfields and heathy ground. In the former the rather rare cudweed (Filago apiculata) is plentiful, and the cress Teesdalia nudicaulis also occurs in abundance; the tower cress (Arabis perfoliata) is very local, as is its wont, and the swine's succory (Arnoseris pusilla) is limited to a very small area; one or two forms of the wild pansy were found here for the first time in Britain, and the chickweed (Cerastium semidecandrum) occurs as the variety viscosum, and also in another variety which is apparently undescribed. In the heathy ground the buck's-horn plantain (Plantago Coronopus), the sheep's scabious (Jasione montana), the golden rod (Solidago Virgaurea), and the pearlwort (Sagina ciliata) are found.
In a marshy wood and in moist, open ground in this neighbourhood, the marsh fern (Lastrea Thelypteris), the golden saxifrage (Chrymplenium oppasitifolium), the sedges Carex paniculata, C. disticha and C. rostrata grow. A pond near Little Brickhill, and almost at the highest level (namely 513 feet), is remarkable for its containing the pondweed (Potamogeton alpinus), the sedge Carex Pseudo-cyperus, the water buttercup (Ranunculus heterophyllus), and the charads Chara hisplda and Tolypella glomerata.
The adjoining pasture fields have the lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgarii) and quantities of the orchid Orchis morio, which is locally abundant in the district. Duncombe Wood affords the herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia}, the gromwell (Lithospermum officinale), the butterfly orchid (Habenaria chloroleuca). The hedgerows and waysides in the district of the Brickhills have several interesting species including the mint (Mentha longifolia), the calamint (Calamintha officinalis or montana), the hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), the bur parsley (Anthnscus vulgaris or Cerefolium Anthriscus), and the downy rose (Rosa tomentosa or mollissima, not mollis).
​Near Water Stratford the pondweed Potamogeton alpinus grows in the river, and the marshy ground near yields Polygonum mite. In the low fenny ground near Simpson the celery (Apium graveolens) is probably native. The reed-mace (Typha angustifolia) and a somewhat intermediate form grows near Bletchley, and in arable fields a form of the bur parsley (Caucalis nodosa var. pedunculata) grows with the umbels distinctly stalked. By a brook near Salford the willow herb (Epilobium roseum) grows with some hybrids with E. parviflorum and E. obscurum, and a willow which is a triandra hybrid. In the Moulsoe woods the violet {Viola sylveitris) is frequent.
The sawwort (Serratula tinctoria) grows in some wet meadows near Brickhill, and the local Scirpus sylvaticus is also found.
Near Soulbury in some marshy ground, partly woodland, there is a luxuriant growth of the great horsetail (Equisetum maximum) the marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris), the sedges Carex distans, C. fava, C. echinata, the cotton grass (Eriophorum angustifolium), and the small club rush (Scirpus setaceus).
Near Linslade there is an abundant growth of a rush which by many botanists is considered to be a hybrid of Juncus glaucus with J. efusus, i.e. the J. diffusus, and with it grows in an unusual station the heath stitchwort (Stellaria graminea) as a very broad-leaved form.
There are not many introduced species in this district; such as occur are chiefly near flour mills, where the siftings of foreign wheat containing seeds of such plants as Brassica elongata, Setaria viridis, Sisymbrium altissimum occasionally germinate in the vicinity.
The railway lines have been the means of bringing in the rocket (Diplotaxis muralis) and the eastern vetch (Vicia villosa), which grows near Leighton Buzzard.
The winter heliotrope (Nardosmia or Petasites fragrans) is naturalized near Wavendon, and in waste places about Woburn Sands Atriplex hortensis var. rubra, Oxalis corniculata, Hesperis matronalis, grow.
3. The Thame District
This district takes its name from a stream whose waters in part rise from the Oolitic rocks of Quainton, partly from Stewkley Hill and in part from the Cretaceous hills near Tring, and in its feeders in their early course cut across several different strata, uniting near Aylesbury. The main stream passes through Lower Winchenden to Notley Abbey, where a small brook which has come from Brill and Waddesdon joins it, and just before reaching Thame it is reinforced by the Ford brook which has drained the Gault meadows from Bishopstone to Tythrop. There are also several brooks which issue from the base of the Portland stone on the western side of Brill and Chilton and flow into Oxfordshire, joining the Thame in the neighbourhood of Shabbington and Worminghall.
The Thame district of Buckinghamshire has its counterpart in my Flora of Oxfordshire, but in the plan adopted here for Bucks there is included a small piece of country which, belonging as it does to the Ray drainage, had a separate district No. 4 in my Flora of Oxfordshire, and belongs to the Cherwell basin. It would have been more accurate to make the portion of Bucks drained by the Ray a district or a sub-district, but the limitations of it shall be described, and as it is of small extent and since it closely resembles in soil the adjacent country drained by the tributaries of the Thame, and because the Cherwell itself belongs to the main drainage of the Thames, there appear no sufficiently cogent reasons for keeping it distinct.
The Thame district is thus defined: On the north it is bounded by the Ouse district already described, that is from Poundon to Stewkley. On the west it is limited by the county of Oxford, from near Poundon to Piddington and Brill; then the boundary passes to the west of Boarstall, so that the interesting decoy and the remains of the fortified house are included in Bucks; it then traverses a very secluded sylvan district by Studley and Shabbington Wood to Worminghall and Thame, the stream itself for the last four miles having been the boundary. From Tythrop the boundary is an artificial one. The separating line from Oxfordshire is traced to the Common Leys near Towersey, and then by Shittle Green to Bledlow Cross, where its western boundary to Radnage is my division No. 7, the Lower Thames of my Oxfordshire Flora. It then takes the summit-level of the Chilterns in an easterly direction towards Lacey Green, the southern boundary being now the water parting of the Thame on the one side, and the tributaries of the Wycomb stream on the other as far as Hampden, when the water parting of the tributaries of the Amersham water and the Chess replace that of the Wycomb stream as far as the border of Hertfordshire near Tring ​Park. In its way it crosses Combe Hill at 840 feet elevation, the highest point in the county.
From Combe Hill it goes toward the North East past Miswell to Tring; thence in a northerly direction to near Bulborne on Upper Icknield Way; thence nearly along the London and North- Western Railway to Seabrook, with the Ouzel district on the east; thence by Cheddington across the hill at Mentmore to Aston Abbots, and thence northwards to Stewkley North End; it then touches the Ouse district, and forms its northern boundary by Whitchurch, Oving, Quainton, Botolph Claydon, to Poundon.
The portion drained by the Ray is included in a line drawn from Poundon to Botolph Claydon, Quainton, Waddesdon station, and along the Wootton tramway to Muswell Hill, and thence by the Oxfordshire county boundary to Poundon.
The country contained within the Thame drainage is well diversified, the highest point in the county being within its area, while the Thame near Tythrop is only 230 feet above the sea. The prospect from Beacon Hill near Tring, and from Combe Hill near Wendover is of a very noble and beautiful kind, the reservoirs of Wilstone and Tring giving additional beauty, as water is usually lacking in midland scenery, while the views obtained from the top of Brill or Muswell Hills have a pleasing feature in allowing the observer to see all parts of a distant horizon and not merely a segment of a circle. The vegetation of the area is also a varied and interesting one. In addition to the plants mentioned as growing on the Chilterns in the Ouzel district——and the chief absentee is Carum Bulbocastanum we have recorded for the beautiful slopes of the chalk escarpment the musk orchis (Herminium Monorchis), the military orchid (Orchis militaris), a great rarity now limited to three or four of the chalk counties of the Upper Thames, the fly orchis (Ophrys muscifera), the winter green (Pyrola minor), the henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), the frog orchis (Habenaria viridis), the tower cress (Arabis hirsuta), the grass Bromus interruptus, the vetch Vida sylvatica, with its elegantly pencilled petals, the meadow sage (Salvia pratensis), the bedstraws Galium sylvestre (limited to this district) and G. erectum, the gentian (G. germanica), the chalk milkwort (Polygala calcarea), the eyebright (Euphrasia curta), the umbellifer Pimpinella major. The small flowered buttercup (Ranunculus parviflorui), occurs on gravelly ground near Bledlow, and in clayey soil the local sedge Carex axillaris occurs in one locality, the mint Mentha longifolia grows near Ellesborough and near Kimble the alkanet (Anchusa sempervirens) is naturalized. In the Dinton meadows the snake's-head (Fritillara meleagris) is plentiful, and white-flowered forms are not unfrequent. On the churchyard wall of Dinton Erinus alpinus is naturalized. At Stewkley South End there is a small marsh near a stream in which the bedstraw Galium uliginosum, and the dwarf valerian (Valeriana dioica) grow, and a field not far distant is the only known locality for the water avens (Geum rivale) in the north of the county, and only one is known for the south, namely that of the Chalvey meadows near Eton, and it is unknown for Northamptonshire although so frequent in many parts of Britain. In the Thame meadows near the town of that name the rush Juncm compressus grows sparingly. At Brill, 566 feet in altitude, the henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is rather common, and the water buttercup (Ranunculus Drouetif) grows.
On the walls at Marsh Gibbon the stonecrop (Sedum dasyphyllum) is found; it is very frequent on the Coralline Oolite in Berkshire, where it may be native, but it is one of the rarest of the plants of Bucks. Sison segetum and Caucalis nodosa are found by the roadside near Ludgershall. At Boarstall, by the old moat, there is a considerable growth of the dock (Rumex maritimus), while near the decoy the cut-leaved form of the elder (Sambucus nigra var. laciniata), the jonquil (Narcissus biftorus) and the large daffodil (Narcissus major) are doubtless relics of cultivation.
The cultivated fields in the vicinity have the hawksbeard (Crepis biennis), as well as C. taraxacifolia, and the bushy hedgerows of the district contain fine examples of the roses Rosa glauca and R. systyla, as well as the hawthorn (Cratagus oxyacanthoides) and a probable hybrid of it with C. Oxyacantha.
There are not many introduced species in this district, but one of the ' duck farms ' near Brill has a plentiful growth of the cress Lepidium Draba, which when once introduced is difficult to eradicate, and on the London and North- Western Railway the white mignonette (Reseda alba) grew near Marsh Gibbon station.
4. The Thames District
This has its counterpart to some extent in the district ' No. 7. The Thames or Lower Thames' of my Flora of Oxfordshire, but it more closely resembles district 'No. 5. The ​Loddon or Lower Thames' of my Flora of Berkshire, except that as the Bagshot Sands are not represented in our county the botany is of a much less interesting character.
The ' Thames ' district is circumscribed by the following boundaries : On the north-west the boundary line is the water-parting of the Wycombe streams from those which drain into the Thame, but as this is a chalk area with the drainage chiefly underground it is difficult to make a definite line of demarcation. We trace it as best we may from Hampden by Loosely Row to the Oxfordshire county boundary near Radnage, and then that arbitrary division is followed in its eccentric course to the south of Stokenchurch by Cadmore End, Ibstone, Hollandridge, Stonor Park, to Middle Assendon and Henley Park, where it touches the river Thames. From this place to Old Windsor the river divides the district from Berkshire, and all that portion of Berkshire on the opposite side is included in the district No. 5 of my Flora of that county. Opposite Runnymede, from the point where Surrey replaces Berkshire, the boundary of our district is again rather artificially drawn along the Wyrardisbury, or to use the modern spelling, Wraysbury road, to Langley station on the Great Western Railway, and thence by the side of Langley Park to the north-west of Alderbourne Bottom and passing to the north of Fulmer, but again turning in a south-eastern direction it skirts Gerrard's Cross Common (which is included in this district), and then passes along the high ground above Chalfont St. Peter's ; taking in Later's Green Common and Seer Green, it proceeds by Ongar Hill and Penn House through Penn Woods to Great Kingshill, then to Prestwood, and eventually joins the Thame district at Hampden.
The name is given to the district because the river Thames flows for so long a distance along the western and south-western side, and hence necessarily drains a considerable portion of its area, but there is also a subsidiary stream, which might be utilized to form another district were it considered advisable, but as both streams drain very similar country and the geological strata in both are similar, and as the area is not unwieldy, the portion drained by the Wye or Wycombe Brook is incorporated with the Thames. The Wye issues from the southern slopes of the chalk, and the valley it occupies from West Wycombe to Bourne End where it flows into the Thames is utilized for the Wycombe branch of the Great Western Railway. The Wye is a pretty chalk stream with, where unpolluted by man, clear sparkling water, and in its course flows so swiftly that in more places than one it is markedly different from our normally sluggish streams, for it can murmur as it flows by Loudwater, a significant name. Watercresses are extensively grown in the stream, and several large manufactories of paper have been established on its banks on account of the clearness of its waters.
The country comprised in this district is very pleasant and fairly diversified, but the strata represented in it are wholly Cretaceous or belong to the Eocene formations of the Reading Beds and the London Clay, with extensive beds of High and Low Level Alluvium.
There are great tracts of woodlands on the Chalk, the chief constituents of which have been enumerated under that heading, and there are also extensive, and we are glad to say at present unenclosed, commons with an attractive flora, as well as the dry fields, and occasional grassy banks of the Upper and Lower Chalk areas. The London Clay is sufficiently impervious to make marshy ground even at considerable elevations, as at the top of Lane End Common, nearly 600 feet in altitude. In that place and on Moor Common we have many interesting species, several of which have not been found in the county north of the Chilterns ; they include the petty whin (Genista anglica), which is very abundant, the dwarf willow (Salix repeni), the upright pearlwort (Cerastium quaternellum, better known under its old name of Mœnchia), the pearlwort Sagina ciliata, the water milfoil (Myriophyllum alternifolium), the water purslane (Peplis Portula), the water honewort (Apium inundatum), the lousewort (Pedicularus sylvatica), the clovers Trifolium filiforme and T. striatum, the lady's traces (Spiranthes autumnalis or Gyrostachis), the spotted orchid (Orchis ericetorum), the small crowfoot (Ranunculus parviflorus) ; and Burnham Beeches is one of the few localities for the deer's grass (Scirpus cæspitosus), the club rush (Eleocharis multicaulis), the white beak rush (Rynchospora alba]), for the cross-leaved heath (Erica Tetralix), the Lancashire asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), the marsh St. John's wort (Hypericum eludes), for the charad (Nitella translucent), the bladder wort (Utricularia major or neglecta). It is also the home of the sedges Carex pulicaris, C. echinata, C. flava, C. panicea, C. paniculata, C. rostrata, C. binervis, C. pilulifera, C. leporina ; the pondweeds Potamogeton polygonifolius and P. pusillus, the bog-bean (Menyanthes trifoliata), the cotton grass (Eriophorum angustifolium), the grasses Molinia varia, Festuca ovina var. paludosa, the hawkweeds Hieracium boreale, H. sciapbilum and H. umbellatum, the marsh violet (Viola palustris), the butterwort (Pinguicula vuigaris), the sundews Drosera rotundifolia and D. intermedia or longifolia but not D. anglica, the ​marsh thistle (Cnicus pratensis), the sawwort (Serratula tinctoria), the dwarf willow (Salix ripens), the orchids Orchis ericetorum and Habenaria bifolia, the ferns Lomaria Spicant, Lastrea or Dryopteris spinulosa, dilatata, and at one time the royal fern (Osmunda regalis), the club moss (Lycopodium inundatum) and L. Selago, and the horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum. The bramble flora is also rich, and other glareal and ericetal plants, such as the cudweeds Gnaphalium sylvaticum and Filago minima, the red sandwort (Buda rubra), the cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), the clovers Trifolium striatum and T. filiforme, the dog violet (Viola canina), the St. John's worts Hypericum humifusum and H. pulchrum, and the heath rush (juncus squarrosus), occur.
Gerrard's Cross Common has besides many of the heath plants already alluded to the camomile (Anthemis nobilis), the pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium), and the chaffweed (Centunculus minimus).
The extensive common of Stoke Poges has a considerable number of very interesting species, among which may be mentioned the alder buckthorn (Rhamnus Frangula), the club moss (Lycopodium inundatum), the small scull-cap (Scutellaria minor), the all-seed (Millegrana Radiola), the pearlwort (Cerastium quaterncllum), masses of the dwarf furze (Ulex minor or nanus), the dwarf willow (Salix repens and its hybrid S. ambigua), the cudweed (Gnaphalium sylvaticum), etc.
The neighbourhood of Wycombe offers a very rich series of chalk plants which have already been referred to in the remarks on p. 38, but there are in addition plants such as the toothwort (Lathrea Squamaria), which grows at Hughenden, the vetch (Vicia gracilis), which formerly grew near Winter Hill, the white mullein (Verbascum Lychnitis) and the bloody crane'sbill (Geranium sanguineum), which grew on the banks of the railway with the woad (Isatis tinctoria) and are probably not native to Buckinghamshire. There also occur the periwinkle (Vinca minor), the rose Rosa systyla, the mint Mentha cardiaca, the sedge Carex paniculata, which is abundant in the marsh, the grass Bromus secalinus, extremely abundant in cornfields, the pretty Stachys annua of very local occurrence in arable soil, while the eyebright (Euphrasia Kerneri), the crane's-bill (Geranium rotundifolium) near West Wycombe, and the black mullein (Verbascum nigrum), are of local distribution.
Naphill Common has a special feature of interest in its being the home of the thrumwort (Damasonium Alisma), which is a diminishing species in Britain, and it also has some very fine juniper bushes (Juniperus communis); and a most luxuriant growth of the orpine (Sedum roseum) is in the neighbourhood.
I have already mentioned the characteristic species of the main valley of the Thames, but we may allude to some of the aquatics which it yields. They are not so numerous as formerly, as the more frequent traffic of steam launches of course exerts an inimical influence. There are however still recesses of the river where the fringed water-lily (Limnanthemum peltatum) abounds; the pondweeds Potamogeton prælongus, P. zosterfolius and P. interruptus, the water buttercup (Ranunculus fluitans), the water honewort (Ceratophyllum), the charad (Chara fragilis var. Hedwigii), the snowflake (Leucojum æstivum), the reed mace (Typha angustifolia),the American balsam (Impatiens fulva) now naturalized near Henley and bound to extend its area, the willows Salix purpurea, S. rubra and others, the water dropwort (Œnanthe fluviatilis) and in a backwater (Œ. Phellandrium, and the poisonous dropwort (Œ. crocata), the sweet flag (Acorus Calamus) are among the more interesting species. Near Henley there are the clary (Salvia Verbenaca) and the hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), the mistletoe (Viscum album) on limes, black poplar and even on thorns, the rampions (Campanula Rapunculus), growing in a very wild situation near Hambledon, the meadow sage (Salvia pratensis), the spurge (Euphorbia Esula) on the river bank in a wild condition, the rose Rosa systyla, the wild licorice (Astragalus glycyphyllus), the garlic (Allium vineale), and the bedstraw (Galium erectum). On a common near Marlow occur the clovers Trifolium subterraneum, T . striatum, and the vetch Vicia lathyroides; and in fields the grass Poa pratensis var. angustifolia, the honewort (Carum segetum), and the tansy (Tanacetum vulgare).
The wooded slopes of Clivedon are said to have yielded the golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium), but its occurrence has not been verified; the small teasel (Dipsacus pilosus) grows there, and the gravelly soil about Taplow has plenty of the lettuce Lactuca virosa, while the pretty grass Apera Spica-venti is common in the fields.
The meadows between Bray and Windsor have many interesting plants, but the special rarity has disappeared, namely Tordylium maximum, which at one time grew near Eton Wick. The water avens grows near Chalvey in the second locality known for it in Bucks, and also the rush Juncus obtusiftorus, the sedges Carex vesicaria, C. rostrata, C. Pseudo-cyperus, C. disticha and C. paniculata still grow there. The marsh stitchwort (Stellaria palustris), the water violet ​(Hottonia palustris), the water starworts (Callitriche obtusangula and hamulata), the frog-bit (Hydrocharis Morsus-ranæ), the bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris), the medic (Medicago arabica), the star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), the dodder (Cuscuta europæa), and the barberry (Berberis vulgaris).
Dropmore Park has enclosed within its domain some very interesting botanizing ground, where the marsh St. John's wort (Hypericum elodes), the violet Viola lactea, the shoreweed (Littorella juncea), the marsh honewort (Apium inundatum), the sundews Drosera rotundifolia and D. longifolia, the horse-tail Equisetum sylvaticum, and other local species flourish.
Bulstrode Park, once the home of the botanist and patron of botanists, the Dowager Duchess of Portland, and where Doctor Lightfoot, the author of the Flora Scotica, was her librarian, has altered very much since that time. The old mansion, in the courtyard of which John Hill, the author of Flora Britannica, about 1760 noticed the small dodder (Cuscuta Epithymum) growing upon ' mother of thyme,' was burned down many years ago, but the ornamental waters have growing by them the yellow loosestrife (Lysimacbia thyrsiflora), the water soldier (Stratiotes Aloides), and the milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre), which are doubtless relics of the botanical collection made by her Grace. The old chalk pit near Gerrard's Cross, so well known to the seventeenth and eighteenth century botanists, is probably now enclosed in the park, but is very much altered for the worse, as a growth of grass has apparently destroyed the orchid Herminium Monorchis, which has disappeared, but the park still affords the hawkweed (Hieracium murorum), the bramble Rubus rudis, the calamint (Calamintha Nepeta), and the neighbourhood affords the broom-rape (Oronanche Rapum-genistie), the climbing bindweed (Polygonum dumetorum), the pink (Dianthus Armeria), the catchfly (Silene anglica), and the crane's-bill (Geranium pyrenaicum).
About Beaconsfield, Wilton Park and Seer Green occur the Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum), the wood-rush (Juncoides or Luzula Forsteri), the sandwort (Arenaria tenuifolia), the rose Rosa systyla, the eyebright (Euphrasia stricta), the hawkweed (Hieracium sciaphilum), the black spleenwort (Asplenium Trichomanes), and the charad (Nitella flexilis). Lepidium ruderale occurs by the roadsides, Chenopodium hybridum in garden ground, and Barbarea intermedia in arable ground.
At the historic Salt Hill where Sir Joseph Banks used to botanize and where he gathered specimens of the clover Trifolium subterraneum, which still grows there, with T. striatum and T. arvense, the buck's-horn plantain (Plantago Coronopus), the bird's-foot (Ornithopus perpusillus), the bur parsley (Anthriscus vulgaris), and till lately the brown-rape Orobanche Rapum-genistts.
The arable fields here are noticeable from the abundance they contain of the nettle Lamium hybridum, which is so rare in the greater part of the county. They also contain the parsley (Carum Petroselinum), the larkspur (Delphinium Ajacis), the goosefoot (Chenopodium polyspermum and C. murale), the grasses Panicum Crusgalli and Setaria viridis, the caraway (Carum Carvi), and the calf's-snout (Antirrhinum Orontium).
The meadows between Eton and Wyrardisbury have a considerable growth of the bellflower (Campanula glomerata), the great burnet (Poterium officinale, the dropwort (Spiræa Filpendula) and the grass Kæleria cristata.
The extensive brickyards at slough have much changed the surface of the sopil, and large quantities of street sweepings and rubbish are brought in from London and deposited here, with the result that a large number of adventitious species appear from time to time, and a few species become permanently established. The foremost of these is the cress Lepidium ruderale, which has spread for considerable distance, and less frequently the flix-weed (Sisymbrium Sophia), and the goose-foots Chenopodium opulifolium, C. ficifolium,C. Vulvaria and C. murale. Among the casuals noticed have been Coronilla varia, Setaria viridis, S. Glauca, Sisymbrium altissimum,S. orientale,Camelina sativa, Medicago Falcata,Melilotus arvensis and M. alba, Slavia verticillata, Euphorbia Esula var., Bunias orientalis, Lepidium Draba, Phalaris canariense, Linum usitatissmum,Cannabis sativa,Amsinckisa lycopsioides,Œnothera odorata,Datura Stramonium and D. Tatula, Pancium Crus-gali, and P. miliaceum.
The ranl luxuriance of Chenopodium rubrum,Polygonum maculatum and the Atriplices is a strikign feature of these malodorus heaps of rubbish. The railway has been the means of conveying the Oxford Ragwort (Senecio squalidus) into our area, and in fact it has now spread to Southall in Middlesex. A sedum (S. Cepæa) is said to grow near Bulstroed Park, where it is doubtless an escape from cultivation, and an Indian spiræa has naturalized itself near Stoke Common. By the railway near Messrs. Veitch's nursery the Californian Escholtzia has also established itself.
On rubbish heaps near Eton Mr Everiit has found Plantago arenaria, Asperula arvensis, ​etc., and I have seen there also Antbriscus Cerefolium = (Cerefolium sativum), the henbane (Hyos-cyamus niger) and Bunias.
5. THE COLNE AND CHESS DISTRICT
This is the counterpart to a great extent of the Colne district, ' No. 4. The Colne,' of Pryor's Flora of Hertfordshire and of the districts ' No. I. The Upper Colne ' and ' No. 2. The Lower Colne ' of Trimen and Dyer's Flora of Middlesex. The Buckinghamshire district of the Colne admits of being further subdivided into the portion drained by the Chess, and then of separating more or less artificially the Upper Colne, as is done in the Flora of Middlesex, from the Lower Colne by a line drawn across it from Uxbridge to Langley, but as the Chess and Colne are combined in the Hertfordshire Flora, and as the portion correspond- ing to the Lower Colne of the Middlesex Flora is only of very small extent, it has not been adopted here, although there is a marked difference in the physical features of the country below and above Denham.
The boundary of the district is as follows : Starting from Hampden in the middle of the county it is limited by the southern border of the Thame district, already described, by the water parting of that stream and those of the feeders of the Misbourne and Chess as far as the Hertfordshire border near Tring Park. From that place the county boundary is followed in its artificial and sinuous course by Cholebury, Kingshill, and leaving Bovingdon to the north-west, it proceeds to the picturesquely situated Latimers, and follows the charming Chess stream to Chenies and Sarrat Bottom, when it turns to Chorley Wood station, and in its southern course touches Newlands and Horn Hill, and reaches the Colne opposite to Harefield, where the Middlesex county boundary replaces that of Hertfordshire. From this place one of the anastomosing streams of the Colne is followed to Denham, Uxbridge, Cowley and Colnbrook, so named after the stream ; then leaving Horton with its Miltonian memories to the right, it joins the Thames near Staines. For about three miles the opposite side of the Thames is the border of the county of Surrey ; but at Runnymede, Berkshire replaces Surrey, and the boundary of the Colne district is circumscribed by the district of the Thames, the border line which is traced by Langley Park to the west of Fulmer, and in its northward course passes above the Chalfonts to Penn Wood, Prestwood and Hampden.
As we have seen, this district has three main drainage areas, that of the Misbourne, which flows through the Missenden valley, forming the ornamental waters of Great Missen- den Park and Shardeloes, and passing Amersham and the Chalfonts joins the Colne at Denham. The second is the portion drained by the Chess, which originates in the Cretaceous rocks of Tring, passes through the busy little town of Chesham, and adorns the beautiful valley between Latimers and Chenies with its clear sparkling water, and leaves our county near Sarrat Bottom. At Rickmansworth in Herts the Chess enters the Colne, a stream which forms the third main drainage area of the district. This is a Hertfordshire stream rising near North Mimms, but is a navigable river when it reaches our county near Tilehouse, opposite Harefield. From this place it runs through several channels to the Thames, but despite the rather squalid and dirty country which it at times passes through in its lower reaches it retains something of its pristine clearness nearly to the last, and in places affords good trout fishing. The country comprised in the boundary line described is a varied one. In the north there are the well wooded chalk hills, where the beech woods supply one of the local industries, and where bare fields of chalk with their scanty corn crops or large turnip-fields make one regret the aboriginal turf which would to the botanist be a more agreeable and natural covering. Then there is the sudden descent to the pleasant sheltered valleys of Missenden and Chenies bordered with pleasant meadows, and on the sides orna- mented with hanging woods. Where brick-earth deposits mask the chalk, the woods are not wholly of beech, but the oak can also be found ; and when, as also happens, there are outliers of the Eocene measures there are extensive gorse commons, such as those of Amersham. Further to the south there are gravelly and sandy heaths and country where the holly is a frequent tree, such as is seen at Gold Hill or Iver. Then there is that flat tract of low lying land on the London Clay through which the streams slowly wind, where great extents of brickfields mar the scene and pollute the air, and as at Drayton, vast deposits of malodorous refuse from the London dustbins give a squalid and unpleasant appearance to the scene. There are also tracts of ground given over to the market gardener, and the whole scene contrasts very strongly and unpleasantly with that of the northern part.
There are however a large number of species found in the district, and it is the only one for which the following species have been recorded. One of these is an extremely local sedge, ​Carex paradoxa, whose headquarters are near Harefield, occurring in some quantity in both Herts and Middlesex, but it is rather as a straggler from the head centre that it extends into our area. Another local and much misunderstood species, Carex elata, or stricta as it is more fre- quently called, grows near Rusholt and will probably be found near Burnham. Carex montana has been reported from Chalfont, but I have not seen it there, and another plant of the sedge tribe grows near Chalfont Park and is Scirpus caricis (the Blysmus compressus of many authors). The small polygonum (P. minus) is common by the Chess, growing with Sagina nodosa in the peaty borders of the stream, and these chalk streams with their nearly equal temperature throughout the year seem especially to favour the growth of peat. Near Iver Heath, Smith's cress (Lepidium heterophyllum var. canescens) grows, and a fumitory, F. Boraei, grows near Uxbridge. Other local plants of the district are the red mint (Mentha rubra) growing at Iver Heath, the climbing bindweed (Polygonum dumetorum), the mild persicaria (Polygonum mite), plentiful at Iver, the tower cress (Arabis perfoliata) near Denham, and the shining crane's- bill (Geranium lucidum), which is especially frequent about Denham ; the black alder (Rhamnus Frangula) near Tilehouse, the spearwort (Ranunculus Lingua) near Chalfont, the bear's-foot (Helleborus viridis), near Chalfont etc. ; the columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) near Fulmer, the mousetail (Myosurus) near Denham, the pansies Viola saxatilis and V. Paillouxi near Three Households, and the dog violet (Viola canina) and hybrids of that species with V. Riviniana grow on the heaths in the north. The barberry (Berberis vulgaris) near Colnbrook, as pointed out by Gerarde in 1597 ; the hybrid poppy (Papaver hybridum) near Chalfont, the cress Barbarea intermedia near Three Households, the coral-root (Cardamine bulbifera) near Amer- sham, etc. ; the pinks Dianthus Armeria and D. prolifer, both reported from near Chalfont, but as yet I have not been able to verify them ; the sandwort (Arenaria tenuifolia), Chalfont ; the pearlworts Sagina ciliata and S. subulata, Iver Heath ; the tutsan (Hypericum Androsismum), Chalfont, etc. ; the marsh St. John's wort (H. elodes), Iver Heath, perhaps now eradicated ; the all-seed (Millegrana Radiola), Iver ; the petty whin (Genista anglica), common on the heaths about Amersham and Penn; the dyer's weed (G. tinctoria), Fulmer; the dwarf gorse (Ulex minor), abundant on the Tertiary commons ; the zig-zag clover (Trifolium medium) at the Chalfont kilns ; T. striatum, Iver ; the yellow vetchling (Lathyrus Aphaca) near Denham ; the crimson vetchling (L. Nissolia), Denham, first reported by John Hill in 1746 ; the cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), Fulmer, etc. ; the sweet agrimony (Agrimonia odorata) near Homer End ; the rose Rosa systyla, very frequent in the Misbourne valley ; the service tree (Pyrus Torminalis), at Fulmer and Wraysbury ; the grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) near Chenies ; the orpine (Sedum Telephium), Chenies, etc. ; the stonecrop (S. dasyphyllum), Amersham, etc. Both sundews, Drosera rotundifolia and D. intermedia or longfolia, have been recorded for Iver Heath ; the milfoil (Myriophyllum alterniflorum) is common in the Colne ; the willow herb (Epilobium roseum), at Chalfont, etc. ; E. tetragonum near Wraysbury ; the Alexanders (Smyrnium Olusatrum) formerly grew about Uxbridge and Denham, the great burnet saxifrage (Pimpinella major) near Chesham, the lambs' lettuce (Valerianella rimosa) near Iver and Denham ; the cudweed (Filago galllca) was seen by Dr. Lightfoot at Iver but has not been recently found, the camomile (Anthemis nobilis) near Iver Heath, the feverfew (Chrysanthemum Parthenium) near Langley, and I think native ; the swine's succory (Arnoseris pusilla), recorded on old authority from Langley ; the hawkweed (Hieracium murorum var. pellucidum), Amersham ; H. rigidum near Iver ; the smooth cat's-ear (Hypochcæris glabra), Denham ; the sheep's scabious (Jasione montana), Iver ; the huckleberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus), Iver Heath, perhaps now confined to the Black Park ; the heaths Erica Tetralix, E. cinerea and Calluna Erica ; the winter green (Pyrola minor), Great Missenden ; the yellow bird's-nest (Monotropa) ; the scorpion grass (Myosotis repens), Chalfont; the dodder (Cuscuta Epithymum), Iver, etc. ; the deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladona), Chalfont, etc. ; the calf's snout (Antirrhinum Orontium), Thorney, etc. ; the broom-rape (Orobanche Rapum-genistæ), Fulmer ; the toothwort (Lathrea Squamaria), Chalfont, etc. ; the peppermint (Mentha piperita), Iver Heath ; the calamint (Calamintha parviflora or Nepeta), abundant on the chalk above the Chalfonts ; the small skullcap (Scutellaria minor) near Denham ; the upright ground ivy (Stachys arvensis), Thorney, etc. ; the dead-nettle (Lamium hybridum), Thorney, etc. ; the buck's-horn plantain (Plantago Coronopus) ; the goosefoots Chenopodium polyspermum, Chalfont, etc. ; C. ficifolium, common in the lower part of the district ; C. opulifolium, common about Drayton ; C. murale, Iver, etc. ; the persicaria (Polygonum maculatum), common in the lower part near Staines ; the great bistort (Polygonum Bistorta), near Uxbridge ; the golden dock (Rumex maritimus), Chalfont ; the birthwort (Aristolochia Clematitis), recorded from Denham by John Hill ; the spurge laurel (Daphne Laureola), Chalfont, etc. ; the mistletoe (Viscum album), Denham, Wraysbury, etc. ; the hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus), abundant about Chesham and Amersham, ​etc.; the lady's traces (Spiranthes autumnalis), Denham, etc.; Epipactis violacea, Amersham, etc.; Orchis militaris in chalk woods; O. incarnata, Chalfont; O. latifolia, Uxbridge, etc.; the daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus), Chesham, etc.; the snowflake (Leucojum æstivum), by the Colne; the Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum), Chalfont, etc.; lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), Alderbourne; the garlic (Allium ursinum); the snake's head (Fritillaria meleagris), near Iver; the herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), Chesham, Denham, etc.; the rushes Juncus squarrosus, Fulmer; Juncoides Forsteri, Chesham; the reed mace (Typha angustifolia), Fulmer; the sweet flag (Acorus), Langley, Wraysbury, etc.; the lesser water plantain (Echinodorus ranunculoides), Iver Heath, Hyde Heath; the wood club rush (Scirpus sylvaticus), Alderbourne; the white beak-rush (Rynchospora alba); the sedges Carex axillaris, C. pallescens, C. pendula, C. binervis, C. Pseudo-cyperus, C. vesicaria; the grass Apera Spica-venti, plentiful about Colnbrook and Drayton; the foxtail (Alopecurus fulvus), Chalfont; the purple melic (Molinla varia), Iver Heath; the grasses Catabrosa aquatica, Denham, etc.; Bromus interrupts, Denham; Nardus stricta, Fulmer; Elymus europteus, Chenies, etc.; the black spleenwort (Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum), Chalfont; A . Trichomanes, Denham; the sweet mountain fern (Dryopteris montana = Lastrea Oreopteris), near Chalfont; the adder's tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum), Colnbrook, etc.; and the club-moss (Lycopodium inundatum), formerly on Iver Heath, but now probably extinct.
The district of the Colne includes a larger number of introduced species than any other of the districts, as its contiguity to the metropolis would lead us to expect. Among the plants which although not strictly native are now well established are Bromus arvensis near Amersham; B. secalinus, common in corn crops; Erysimum cheiranthoides, plentiful in arable fields in the lower parts.
But the most prominent alien is the North American balsam (Impatiens biflora or fulva), which now borders the Colne and its ramifying branches from Denham downwards, and not content with the main streams has followed the watery ditches and even occupied the damp ground near, but giving withal a touch even if of bizarre beauty in the rich colour of its blossoms. Another North American species is the monkey-flower (Mimulus Langsdorffii), which is most abundant by the Chess between Latimers and Chenies, and also by the Misbourne from Great Missenden downwards. The cress Lepidium ruderale is also established about Iver, where the rubbish heaps are covered with a rank growth of the chenopodiums already mentioned, as well as with Datura Tatula and D. Stramonium, Melilotus arvensis and M . alba; and the two latter also occur near Amersham. The tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) is a common plant, as the seeds can germinate after passing through the alimentary canal, but the plants do not survive the late autumn frosts. The sweepings of seed shops are responsible for the canary grass (Phalaris canariense), the millet (Panicum miliaceum), and P. Crus-galli (with and without awns), Setaria viridis and S. glauca, the flax (Linum usitatissimum), the hemp (Cannabis sativa), and the buckwheat (Fagopyron esculentum), but there are others the origin of which it is more difficult to account for; one especially interesting is Atriplex littoralis, a marine plant which is very abundant. There also have been found Lepidium Draba, Lactuca Scariola, Sisymbrium Sophia, Solanum nigrum in varying forms, as well as Lepturus incurvatus, Medicago denticulata, Briza maxima, Vicia lutea, V. Villosa, Melilotus indica, Phalaris aquatica, and Setaria italica. From other parts of the district Verbascum Blattaria, Sedum Cepæa, S. reflexum, S. album, Delphinium Ajacis have been recorded. The spleenwort (Asplenium fontanum), which Hudson recorded from Amersham church, is no longer found, and of course it was never native there.
The very picturesque pine woods and heathy ground of Black Park contain boggy ground as well as heathy soil, and it is the only home of one or two species such as Carex Itevigata, C. canescens, but the latter is very rare, if not extinct. Here too occur the small skullcap (Scutellaria minor), the creeping scorpion-grass (Myosotis repens), the shore-weed (Littorella), the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), seeding freely, the hawkweeds, Hieracium boreale, H. sciaphilum and H. umbellatum, the marsh violet (Viola palustris), and the bog-bean (Menyanthes).
Part of this estate was probably included in the Iver Heath as mentioned by the eighteenth century botanists.
A COMPARISON OF THE BOTANY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE WITH THAT OF THE BORDERING COUNTIES
For Buckinghamshire and the six bordering counties of Berks, Oxon, Middlesex, Herts, Beds and Northants about 1,100 well established species have been recorded; of these there have been recorded for Buckinghamshire 934 species. Space will not allow of giving each of the 167 missing species in detail, but the more important absentees may be noticed. These are ​Thalictrum colllnum, a very local species reported from Herts and Beds. The pasque-flower (Anemone Pulsatilla), found in all the bordering counties except Middlesex, may yet be found on the Chilterns, since it occurs on them close to the Herts border. Ranunculus Lenormandi, found only in Berks ; R. hirsutus or sardous, found in Middlesex, Herts, Beds and Berks, is not unlikely to be found in wet places in the Colne district. Cardamine impatiens, which occurs near Harrow, may also be found by some of the small ditches in the Colne drainage. The wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), which grows on old walls, such as Windsor Castle, Reading Abbey, St. Alban's Abbey, formerly on Northampton Castle and about London, is not very likely to be found ; Thlaspi perfoliatum, a native in Oxfordshire, only occurs as a casual by the railway in Bucks, Berks, and Middlesex. Viola stagnina formerly grew in the marshy district of Otmoor in Oxford, and Elatine Hydropiper and hexandra are limited to Berk- shire, where they grow on the sandy margins of pools, but very rarely. The small- leaved lime (Tilia parvifolia) is native in Bedford Purlieus, Northants, but only occurs as a planted tree in Bucks ; and the same is true of the large-leaved species T. platyphylla, which is recorded close to the Bucks border from Stokenchurch woods in Oxfordshire. The perennial flax (Linum perenne) is an eastern species found on limestone soils in Northants, if indeed it be not extinct. The furze (Ulex Gallii), which is found on one or two commons in Oxford and Berks, may be found, but it is essentially a western form. The bird's-foot trefoil (Trigonella purpurascens), which grows in Berks, Herts and Middlesex, may yet reward the searcher on some of the gravelly commons which are suitable places for it ; and the same may be said of the clovers T. scabrum, known for all the border counties except Herts, and T. glomeratum, which grows in Middlesex and Herts. Another clover, T. ochroleucon, which occurs in Beds and Northants, is less likely to be found as it is an eastern species ; the most likely place for it would be near Olney. The blue milk vetch (Astragalus danicus), found in all the border counties except Middlesex, is very likely to be found on the Chalk escarpment, as it is common on the downs near Barton-in-the-Clay in Beds, and is locally plentiful in the limestone of east Northants.
Twenty-four brambles are found in one or other of the bordering counties which at present are unrecorded for Bucks, but several of these will certainly be found. The marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre or Potentilla palustris) is recorded for all the bordering counties except Middlesex ; it is a marshy species which drainage is eradicating from the midlands, but it may possibly linger in the districts of Burnham or Langley, although hitherto unfound. The burnet rose (Rosa spinosissima) and its hybrid R. involuta, which occur in Middlesex, Beds and Northants, may possibly be found on some of the heathy commons, but Brickhill, which is such a suitable place, does not appear to yield it. R. sepium or agrestis, which is found in Oxon, Berks and Middlesex, is almost certain to occur, as it grows at Watlington near Prince's Risborough as well as at Beckley in Oxfordshire, in both places not far from the county border. The navelwort (Cotyledon Umbilicus), found in Berks, Oxon and Northants, may possibly be found on some stone walls in or about villages. The large sundew (Drosera anglica) formerly, it is said, grew in Beds, but is now extinct. The starwort (Callitricbe vernalis, Kuetz, C. palustris, L.) occurs in the fen ditches of Northants, and probably may be found in our area, as it is easily overlooked for the commoner forms. The willow herb (Epilobium Lamyi), which has been found in Middlesex, is almost certain to be found ; E. lanceolatum, which is found in Berks, is less likely to be a Bucks plant. Erynglum campestre formerly grew by the Watling Street in Northants, but is not likely to be found ; but another umbellifer, Seseli Libanatis, may possibly be found on the Chilterns, since it occurs in Herts. Another plant of that county, Cicuta virosa, which was formerly reported to grow in Beds and Middlesex, is scarcely likely to be found, and I think the older botanists mistook some other species for it. The two water hemlocks Œnanthe Lachenalii and Œ. silaifolia, which occur in several of the border counties, should be found, the former in calcareous bogs, the latter in marshy meadows ; indeed, the latter grows in the Thames meadows at Runnymede in Surrey, although I have as yet failed to find it on the Bucks side of the stream. A bedstraw, Galium anglicum, found in Herts, is unlikely to be found in our county ; but the cat's-foot (Antennana dioica), which occurs on the chalk hills of Beds and Oxon and on the limestone quarries of Barnack in Northants, will possibly be found ; another composite, Inula vulgaris, a decreasing species in the midlands, reported for many of the surrounding counties, may be detected in the lower parts of the Colne district, since it occurs in Middlesex and Berks. The thistle Carduus tenuiflorus, recorded for all the border counties, is more likely to be found near the Middlesex border. The spotted cat's-ear (Hypochaeris maculata), which grows on the limestone quarries of Barnack in Northants, is absent from our area, but the marsh sowthistle (Sonchus palustris), one of the ​rarest of British plants, grows very close to our boundary in Oxfordshire, and may perchance there spread into Bucks. The ivy-leaved bell-flower (Cervicina hederacea) is found in Bagley Wood, Berks, and is an unlikely plant to occur in Bucks. Samolus Valerandi is almost certain to be found, as it grows in all the bordering counties, and in Beds not far from our boundary ; eminently suitable places for it are at the base of Brill Hill and by the Ouse near Olney. Erytbrtæa pulchella will probably be found, as it is reported for all the bordering counties. Gentiana Pneumonanthe, found in Berkshire, is not a plant that will be found in Bucks ; but G. campestris, which is recorded for all the bordering counties except Middlesex, may be found, but some of the old records were perhaps incorrect, as forms of G. Amarella were sometimes mistaken for it. The hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum montanum) may be expected ; it is found in Oxfordshire near to the border, and is also found in Herts and Northants. The comfrey (Symphytum tuberosum), recorded for Herts, Beds and Northants, is probably introduced in all these cases. The wood scorpion-grass (Myosotis sylvatica), which is found in the woods of Berks and Herts, although very locally, may probably be found in some of the woods on the Bucks border. The figwort, Scrophularia umbrosa or Ehrbarti, was once found in Middlesex ; and the cow-wheat (Melampyrum cristatum), which is abundant in some of the woods on the eastern side of Beds, and is recorded for Northants and Herts, has indeed been reported to grow at Wendover, but so far it has not been refound ; and another species, M. arvense, has been once found as a casual in Herts. The broom rape (Orobanche elatior) is likely to be added to our list, as it grows in Oxon, Berks, Herts and Northants ; while O. purpurea, a very local species, is recorded for Herts only.
The small bladder-wort (Utricularia minor) has been recorded for several bordering counties, but unless the plant is found in the flowering state U. major or U. vulgaris in a young condition may be mistaken for it. The wound-wort (Stachys gtrmanica), a very local species, which grows in the limestone district of Oxfordshire and is reported from Beds and Northants, is probably absent from our area ; nor is the water germander (Teucrium Scordium) very likely to be found, although it still exists in Berks, but is extinct in Oxford and Northants. The ground pine (Ajuga Chamæpitys) may occur, as it grows in Herts and Beds and is reported from Northants. The goosefoot (Chenopodium glaucum), which grows near Staines in Middle- sex, is very likely to be found about the brickyards of Slough or Langley. The caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) is a native of the woods of Northants and possibly Berks, but is apparently only an alien in Bucks. The sweet gale (Myrica Gale) occurs on the Bagshot Sands in Berks, as does another very local species, Illecebrum verticillatum ; but the latter is not likely to extend into Bucks. Salix pentandra, a northern species, is apparently native in Northants, but is only planted in the other bordering counties ; and S. acuminata, supposed to be a hybrid, is also only recorded from the fens of Northants. A form of the water hone-wort, Ceratophyllum submersum, should occur, but it is easily passed over for the more widely distributed species ; it occurs in Berks and Middlesex. The water soldier (Stratiotes Aloides) occurs only as a planted species in the county, but has more claims to be considered indigenous in Berks, and it was formerly certainly native in Northants. The small fen orchid (Malaxis paludosa) is now extinct in Beds and Herts, but the sword-leaved helleborine (Cephalanthera ensifolia), which grows in Oxon near to our boundary and in Herts, may possibly be found. The monkey orchid (Orchis Simla) is now limited to a few square yards in Oxfordshire, where its days are, it is to be feared, numbered. The spider orchid (Ophrys aranifera), reported for Oxford, Beds and Northants, is almost or quite extinct in each county, and is not very likely to be found with us. The garlic (Allium oleraceum) may however be found, as it is recorded for Berks, Middlesex, Herts, Beds and Northants. The starch hyacinth (Muscari) is reported for Berks and Middlesex, and the squill (Scilla autumnalis) from the latter county, where it is nearly if not quite extinct. The spiked star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum), plentiful in some woods in Berkshire and which is reported very locally from Beds, is unlikely to occur. The martagon lily (Lilium Martagon), thoroughly naturalized in Berks, is too conspicuous to be overlooked. The yellow star of Bethlehem (Gagea fascicularis) may be found in some of the woods in the north of the county.
The maritime plants Buda media, Juncus Gerardi, Eleocharis uniglumis, Scirpus maritimus, Zannichellia pedunculata, found in Berks, and Scirpus maritimus, S. glaucus, S. triqueter and S. carinatus are not probable constituents of our flora. The small bur reed (Sparganium mintmum) found in Herts is also absent, but the smallest flowering plant, Wolffia Michelii or Horkelia arrhiza will very likely be found, as it grows at Staines not far from our boundary. The Loddon pondweed (Potamogeton Drucei) is, so far as we know, limited to a portion of that charming stream in Berkshire ; but P. decipiens, once found in Oxon, P. coloratus, which ​grows at Cothill in Berks, and P. acutifolius, found in Middlesex and Herts, may yet be found. The broad-leaved cotton grass (Eriophorum latifolium), which grows in Berks, Oxon, Herts and Northants, should be looked for in calcareous bogs ; but these are very sparsely repre- sented in the county. Of the sedges we lack Carex dioica, which is found in all the bordering counties except Middlesex ; C. Bænninghausiana, found in Berks and Herts, and as it is sup- posed to be a hybrid of paniculata with remota it may be found ; C. diandra, which grows in Herts, is not likely to be found, nor is C. elongata, which grows in Berks and Beds, The grass Phleum phalaroides grows in Beds and Herts, and should be well searched for on the Dunstable downs. Agroitis setacea, which grows on the Bagshot Sands in Berks, reaches its eastern limit in that county ; but Calamagrostis lanceolata, which occurs in Northants and Beds, may be found possibly in damp woods. Gastridium, which has been found in Herts, may also be discovered, as it is of rather sporadic growth. Mellca nutans, which I discovered in Bedford Purlieus, Northants, reaches its southern limit in that county. Poa Chaixi occurs in Berks, and is naturalized in Oxfordshire. Glyceria distans is rather of casual occurrence in three or four of the bordering counties. Festuca ambigua has only been reported for Beds. The fern Cystopteris fragilis is reported for Oxon, Herts, Middlesex and Northants, but is probably introduced to each county. The beech fern, limited so far as we know to Berks, where it is very rare. The charad (Tolypella prolifera), found in Northants, Berks and Oxon, may very probably be found, as may T. intricate:, which has been found in Oxon, Beds and Northants, and Nitella mucronata, which has occurred in Berks, Oxon, Middlesex and Beds.
THE FERNS (Filices)
The county is not rich in the number of species, but a mere list of them would be very deceptive to the stranger, since so many of them are very rare, so that over a large extent of its area it is practically fern- less. Even of the list of recorded species two or three are nearly extinct, and others are practically doomed to disappear before long. Its proxi- mity to the metropolis has denuded the best known districts of all but the common forms. The Ouse district is perhaps naturally the poorest, as its stiff, heavy soil, either under pasture or arable, is unfitted for fern growth, yet the moonwort (Botrychium), the adder's tongue (Opbioglossum), the black spleenwort (Asplenium Trichomanes) and the hart's-tongue (Phyllitis or Scolopendrium) have been found in it ; the Ouzel district has the honour of being the only one where Dryopteris or Lastrea Thelypteris grows, and the very local D. uliginosa, if the latter indeed be correctly identified, and it has also the royal fern (Osmunda regalis), the hard fern (Lomaria Spicant) and others. The Thame district has the oak fern (Phegopteris Dryopteris) in one locality close to the Oxfordshire boundary, and Aspidium aculeatum also occurs. The Thames district has the limestone polypody (Phegopteris calcarea) in one place. The rusty-back (Ceterach officinarum) is rather plentiful in one locality, although it has disappeared from Beaconsfield church, a locality given by Parkinson in 1640 and the black spleenwort (Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum) , A. Tricbomanes, Osmunda regalis, Dryopteris montana (Lastrea Oreopteris), unless it has been extir- pated, Aspidium angulare, A. aculeatum and Lomaria Spicant also occur.
The Colne district is the one that has suffered most from the ravages of the fern marauder. We have seen that the Asplenium fontanum has disappeared from Amersham church, but the same tale may be told of Lastrea Oreopteris, Aspidium aculeatum, A. angulare and many others. The spleenwort (Asplenium Tricbomanes), Lomaria,Lastrea or Dryopteris dilatata and spinulosa still remain, but the hedges and woods ​which once yielded ferns in plenty are now despoiled, and the primroses are becoming in turn the sufferers.
CLUB MOSSES (Lycopodium)
These species are well nigh extinct, but drainage and cultivation rather than the wilful marauder are the agents which have exerted malevolent influence on this genus. L. inundatum still lingers in one or two heaths in the Thames district, and L. Selago formerly grew and may still occur there, and L,. clavatum may probably be found in some of the bracken-covered areas of the Chilterns or Brickhill.
PILLWORT (Marsiliaceæ)
Pilularia, the only member of this order, has been found in the heathy bogs of the Thames or Colne district, but it is very easily overlooked from its minute size and grass-like appearance, and it often grows submerged, or partially submerged, on the margins of peaty ponds.
THE HORSETAILS (Equisetum)
The wood horsetail (E. sylvaticum) is our rarest species, and it appears to be absent from the Brickhill woods, which look so suitable a home for it; but it is to be found in the Burnham country, although very locally.
E. maximum is locally abundant, especially in the Ouzel and Ouse districts, choosing a place where a pervious stratum rests upon a bed of clay, so that permanent moisture can be enjoyed, and then if it is shaded by trees the plant grows in great luxuriance and is of real beauty. E. limosum, and as the variety fluviatile, E. palustre and E. arvense are all common except in the chalk uplands.
THE CHAR ADS (Characecæ)
These water plants having been mentioned under the various districts, a mere allusion to them will suffice. They are often of very uncertain appearance, being most abundant for a season and then disappearing for many years. The largest and most beautiful of the order, Nitella translucens, is however almost always to be seen in the ponds at Burnham Beeches; N. flexilis has been found at Brickhill and in Wilton Park, N. opaca at Eton, etc. Tolypella glomerata occurred near Castlethorpe in the Ouse, and at Brickhill in the Ouzel district. Chara hispida occurs at Brickhill, and C.fragilis var. Hediwigii in the Thames.
Further search will be certainly rewarded by the discovery of three or four more species.
THE BRAMBLES (Rubi)
Among the British counties Buckinghamshire ranks above the average in the number of its bramble forms, as in the sandy heaths and gravelly commons and woods they meet with a soil and conditions which are suitable for this very variable genus. The Greensand at Brickhill is especially rich in forms, and it is the only British home for Rubus hirtus ​vzr.flaccidifolius, and it there extends into Bedfordshire. Of the sub-erect forms, which are more frequent in the north of Britain or in peaty places, the same district gives R. fissus in considerable quantity, and Mr. Ben- bow has found R. Rogersii near Alderbourne. R. plicatus is not uncommon about Brickhill, while R. nitidus is so far restricted to Shalbourn Wood in the Ouse district, and there not quite typical. A very local species, R. latifolius, also grows near Brickhill, and with the last named belongs to the Sub-Rhamnifolian group. Of the Rhamnifolian brambles R. incurvatus grows near Fulmer, and R. rhamnifolius is widely distributed. R. Lindleianus is also common at Brickhill, and is frequent on the dry, heathy commons in the Thames and Colne districts. R. dumnoniensis is so far only known from north Bucks in the Ouzel district, as at Ivinghoe and Brickhill ; R. pulcherrimus is found at Brickhill, and is common in many parts of the heaths and woods of the Thames and Colne districts. The group Villcaules is represented by R. Selmeri, which occurs at Brickhill, and is a striking feature of Stoke and Fulmer Commons, and it just comes in the Thame district at Chequers. R. calvatus I have only obtained from Naphill Common in the Thames district. R. gratus, a local and handsome species, occurs at Heath in the Ouzel and Alderbourne in the Colne district. R. rhombifolius is very local, and is found at Wing in the Ouzel and Stoke in the Thames districts. The group Discolores, to which our commonest species R. ulmifolius or rusticanus belongs, has R. thyrsoideus in the Ouzel and Thames, and R. argentatus from Medmenham in the Thames district, and R. pubescens as the typical plant from Westbury Wild in the Ouse district, where brambles are very poorly represented. The Silcatici are represented by R. sivaticus from near Wycombe, R. macrophyllus which is widely distributed and rather common about Iver, R. Schlechtendalii from near Amersham, R. Salteri from Heath in the Ouzel district. Of the Vestiti group we have R. Sprengelii at Burnham in the Thames district, JR. pyramidalis from Brickhill and from the Thames and Colne districts. R. leucostachys is one of the species which is generally distributed, even in the woods and hedges of the Ouse district. R. gymnostachys grows at Brickhill. Of the Egregii we possess R. cinerosus from the Wycombe neighbourhood, R. mucronatus from Iver Heath, R. infestus from Brick- hill, R. uncinatus as a form collected by Mr. Britton at Mop End near Amersham, elsewhere only known from Gloucester and Monmouth, and R. Leyanus found by the Rev. E. F. Linton at Brickhill. Of the group Radulœ, R. radula is a rather common and widely distributed plant, occurring in all the districts, but chiefly as the var. echinatoides. The var. anglicanus occurs at Westbury in the Ouse and in several places in the Thames and Colne districts. R. echinatus is also rather common, and is one of the few species not uncommon in the woodland portions of the Ouse district. R. rudis is much more local, but I have found it at Moulsoe in the Ouse, Brickhill in the Ouzel, and Bulstrode in the Thames districts. R. oigoclados var. Neivbouldit, an endemic form, is apparently limited to Halton in the Thame district. Of the Sub-Kœhleria group ​R. Babingtonii occurs in the Thames district near Seer Green, and the var. phyllothyrsus has been found by Mr. Britton near Beamond End. R. Lejeunei var. ericetorum occurs at Naphill and a closely allied form at Heath in the Ouzel district. The Sub-Bellardiani are represented by R. fuscus var. nutans, which Mr. Benbow records from near Farnham Common. R. scaber is found at Alderbourne, etc. R.foliosus occurs at Dropmore and Brickhill. The Kæhleriani include 'R. rosaceus, which as an aggregate species is widely distributed ; var. Hystrix occurs at Brickhill, the sub-species infecundus at Shalbourn in the Ouse district, and is not uncommon in the heathy parts of the Thames and Colne districts.
Sub-sp. Purcbasianus is the name suggested for a bramble I gathered at the Chequers in the Thame district, but in England it is a very local form. Sub-sp. R. adornatus was found by the Rev. E. F. Linton at Great Horwood in the Ouse district. R. fuscoater is very local at Elles- borough in the Thame and at Naphill in the Thames districts. R. Kæhleri as the var. cognatus occurs at Dropmore. R. dasyphyllus is the commonest woodland bramble on dry soils, occurring in all the districts ; it is the R.pallidus of Babington and many English writers, but not of Weihe and Nees. R. Marshalli grows about Black Park in both the Thames and Colne districts. Of the Bellardiani Mr. Benbow records R. viridis from Black Park. R. Bellardi occurs at Burnham. R. serpens has been found by Mr. Britton at Penn Street, and at Black Park by Mr. Benbow. R. birtus as the var. flaccidfolius has been already men- tioned. Of the Cæsii we have R. diversifolius rather frequently, especially in clayey soils, with a thin stratum of gravel, and it is found in all the districts. The Rev. W. Moyle Rogers finds the var. ferox near Brickhill. R. corylifolius is the commonest bramble on clay soils, and both the var. sublustris and cyclophyllus are found. R. Balfourianus is recorded for Brickhill and Alderbourne. R. cæsius, the dewberry, is very common in clay soils and in ditches and wet woods, and occurs in all the districts. Rubus carpinifolius and R. Salteri have also been found near Brickhill, and R. infestus near Chesham. Many hybrids of the various species occur. Large as is the number of species in the foregoing list it is by no means exhaustive ; a considerable amount of work still remains to be done, and several additional species will certainly be discovered.
THE ROSES (Rosa)
This group is not nearly so well represented as the brambles. The burnet rose (Rosa spinosissima) is not recorded, and therefore the involuta group, which consists chiefly of hybrids of spinosissima with R. villosa and R. mollissima, Willd. (R. tomentosa, Sm.), are also unrepresented, and R. bibernica, a hybrid of the burnet with the dog rose, for the same reason is absent. The sweetbriar R. rubiginosa is sparingly distributed over the county, but is more frequent on the chalk where, too, R. micrantha is also more common. R. sepium will almost certainly be found on the chalk escarpment, and I have apparently a form of it from near Marsh ​Gibbon in the Thame district. R. obtusifolia occurs in the Thames and Colne districts, and on the chalk escarpment both in the Ouzel and Thame drainage, and it grows at Lillingstone in the Ouse district, and the var. tomentella is also found.
R. canima as lutetiana is the commonest and most generally distributed form, and the var. Andegavensis occurs at Chalfont, etc. Another widely distributed and common rose is R. dumalis, the R. sarmentacea of Forster. R. dumetorum and the var. urbica is also widely spread. R. verticillacantha is local, but it occurs at Marsh Gibbon and Chalfont. R. Deseglisei is found at Beaconsfield, R.glauca grows near Brill, and the var. subcristata at Swanbourne, but these sub-erect plants are very rare in the south of England. R. stylosa is very local in the north of the county, but there are some fine bushes about Brill; but near Beaconsfield and in the country towards Penn and Chalfont it is very common, and some large plants are also to be seen between Lane End and Medmenham. R. arvensis is a very common rose on clay, and is especially frequent in woods on stiff soils. The downy-leaved rose (R. mollissima, Willd., the R. tomentosa, Sm.) is not unfrequent in dry soils in hilly districts, as at Brickhill, and more frequently on the southern slopes of the chalk where the var. subglobosa, Sm., var. scabriuscula (Sm.) and var. syfoestris (Lindl.) have been noticed. At present I have no authentic record of R. villosa, L., the R. mollis, Sm., in the county.
THE MOSSES (Musci)
The moss flora of Buckinghamshire is but very imperfectly known, but it is probably much richer than Oxfordshire, since the Brickhill district certainly yields a large number of species. The woods of Penn, and the neighbourhood of Dropmore, Burnham Beeches, Stoke Common, Fulmer, Black Park, Gerrard's Cross, the wet woods near Tilehouse Denham, are all places which would well repay the bryologist for exploring.
For the following notes I am especially indebted to Mr. E. M. Holmes, F.L.S., who is a native of the county, being born at Wendover, and Mr. John Benbow of Uxbridge, who has done so much in exploring the botany of the county of Middlesex.
Sphagnum rubellum, Wils. Burnham Common —— acutifolium, Russ. & Warnst., var. pallescens. Burnham —— recurvum, Russ. & Warnst., var. amblyphyllum. Burnham Common —— rufescens, Warnst. Little Brickhill —— cymbifolium, Warnst., var. glaucescens. Little Brickhill
var. pallescens, Warnst. Burnham Common —— papillosum Lindb., var., normale, Warnst. and var. sublaeve, Limpr. Burnham —— Catharinea undulata, Web. & Mohr. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Shalbourn, Great Brickhill, Brill, etc. Polytrichum nanum, Neck. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Naphill ——aloides, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H); Brickhill, Stoke Pages ——formosum, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Brickhill, Beaconsfield ——commune, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Archidium alternifolium, Schimp. Tring Ditrichum flexicaule, Hampe. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Ceratodon purpureus, Brid. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wing, Heath, Naphill, etc.
Dicranella heteromalla, Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Window, Brill
—— varia, Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Dicranoweissia cirrhata, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Dicranum Bonjeani, De Not. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— majus, Turn. Wycombe, Henley, etc., (Fl. Oxf.}
—— scoparium, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M..H.) ; Brickhill, Lane End
—— montanum, Hedw. Tilehouse Woods, Alderbourne, and all woods in the Burnham Beeches district (J. Benbow)
Leucobryum glaucum, Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; very common about Burnham, Dropmore, near Lane End, Brickhill, and fruiting near Burnham Beeches
Campylopus brevipilus, Bruch. & Schimp. Fulmer and Stoke Common (J. Benbow)
Fissidens bryoides, Hedw. Tingewick (E.M.H.)
—— taxifolius, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Lane End
—— collinus, Mitt. Tring
Grimmia apocarpa, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— pulvinata, Sm. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Castlethorpe, Brickhill, Moulse
—— orbicularis, Bruch. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Phascum cuspidatum, Schreb. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Thame (Dr. Ayres)
Pottia recta, Mitt. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— truncatula, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Thame
—— intermedia, Turn. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— minutula, Turn. "" ——lanceolata, C. M. Tingewick (E.M.H.) ; near Stokenchurch
Tortula pusilla, Mitt. Buckingham
—— lamellata, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— rigida, Schrad. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Borstall
—— ambigua, Angstr. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— aloides, De Not.""
—— marginata, Spruce.""
—— muralis, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wavendon, etc. Common
—— angustata, Wils. Margin of Tilehouse Wood (J. Benbow)
—— mutica, Lindb. Fruiting on willows at Thornborough (E.M.H.) ; Frogs Meadows, Uxbridge (J.B.)
—— laevipila, Schwgr. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— intermedia, Berk."
—— ruralis, Ehrh. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Linslade
Tortula papillosa, Wils. Abundant by the Ouse near Buckingham (H. Boswell) ; Frogs Meadows, Uxbridge (J.B.)
Barbula lurida, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——rubella, Mitt.""
——tophacea, Mitt.""
——fallax, Hedw.""
——rigidula, Mitt.""
——vinealis, Brid.""
——sinuosa, Braith. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wycombe, Henley (Fl. Oxf.)
——revoluta, Brid. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Castlethorpe
——convoluta, Hedw.
unguiculata, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Brickhill, etc. Common
Weisia crispa, Mitt. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——squarrosa, C. Mull.""
——viridula, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Bledlow
Trichostomum mutabile, Bruch. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Pleurochaete squarrosa, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Encalypta vulgaris, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Wicken
—— streptocarpa, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Zygodon viridissimus, Braun. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Orthotrichum anomalum, Hrd. var. saxatile, Milde. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Thame (Dr. Ayres)
—— leiocarpum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——Lyellii, Hook. & Tayl. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Stokenchurch (Dr. Ayres)
——affine, Schrad. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Thame (Dr. Ayres) ; Henley, Lane End
——stramineum, Hornsch. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——tenellum, Bruch. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Ephemerum recurvi folium, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Physcomitrella patens, Bruch. & Schimp. Near Verney (E.M.H.)
Physcomitrium pyriforme, Brid. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Thame (Dr. Ayres), Brickhill
Funaria ericetorum, Dixon. College and Brockhurst Woods (J. Benbow)
——hygrometrica, Hedw. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Common and generally distributed
Aulacomnium palustre, Schwgr. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Brickhill, Burnham, Lane End, Fulmer
Bartramia pomiformis, Hedw. Iver Heath, Alderbourne, Bottom Heath, Tilehouse, etc. (J. Benbow)
Philonotis fontana, Brid. Bog Farnham Common (J. Benbow)
Fontinalis antipyretica, Dill. Thames, etc.
Webera carnea, Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Bryum inclinatum, Bland. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——nutans, Schreb. Thame, abundant (Dr. Ayres)
——caespiticium, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——murale, Wild. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Castlethorpe (H. N. Dixon)
——argenteum, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Brickhill, Denham Common
——roseum, Schreb. Iver Heath, Dromina (J. Benbow)
Mnium rostratum, Schrad. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Soulsbury, Lane End
—— undulatum, L. Buckingham, Brickhill, Lane End
—— hornum, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Lane End, etc.
—— punctatum, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Neckera complanata, Huebn. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Moulsoe
—— crispa, L. Kimble, Bledlow, Medmenham
Homalia trichomanoides, Brid. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Bledlow
Leucodon sciuroides, Schwgr. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wavendon, etc.
Leskea polycarpa, Ehrh. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Halton, etc.
Anomodon viticulosus, Hook. & Tayl. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Castlethorpe, Bledlow, etc.
Thuidium tamariscinum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Castlethorpe, Great Brickhill, etc.
——recognitum, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Cylindrothecium concinnum, Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
Porotrichum alopecurum, Mitt. Near Thame
Isothecium myurum, Brid. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wavendon, Lane End, etc.
Pleuropus sericeus, Dixon. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Princes Risborough, etc.
Camptothecium lutescens, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) , Halton, Princes Rhborough, etc.
Brachythecium albicans, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; The Warren (Wm. Milne)
——rutabulum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— velutinum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham(E.M.H.)
—— purum, Dixon. Buckingham (E.M.H.) Common
Eurhynchium piliferum, Bruch. and Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Brickhill, Princes Risborough
Eurhynchium crassinervium, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
——praelongum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham(E.M.H.) ; Salcey, Moulsoe
Swartzii, Hobkirk. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— pumilum, Schimp.""
—— tenellum, Milde. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; near Princes Risborough
—— myosuroides, Scliimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wavendon, Halton, etc.
—— striatum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Hambledon, etc.
—— rusciforme, Milde. Buckingham (E.M.H.); Thame (Dr. Ayres)
—— murale, Milde. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— confertum, Milde.""
—— megapolitanum, Milde. ""
Plagiothecium denticulatum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Winslow
—— sylvaticum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— undulatum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Black Park (J. Benbow)
—— latebricola, Bruch. & Schimp. College and Brockhurst Woods in fruit (J. Benbow)
Amblystegium serpens, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Brickhill, etc. Common
—— filicinum, De Not. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Winslow
Hypnum riparium, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— falcatum, Brid. Winslow, very rare
—— chrysophyllum, Brid. 'Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Princes Risborough
—— stellatum, Schreb. Winslow
Sommerfeltii, Myr. Buckingham (E.M.H.); woods between Stoke and 'Burnham Beeches (J. Benbow)
—— cupressiforme, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Wavendon, etc.
—— Patientiae, Lindb. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— molluscum, Hedw. ""
—— brevirostre, Ehrh. Wycombe, Henley and Marlow Woods (H. Boswell)
—— cuspidatum, L. Buckingham (E.M.H.)
—— Schreberi, Willd. Buckingham (E.M.H.);
—— Brickhill, Princes Risborough, etc.
Hylocomium splendens, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Princes Risborough —— squarrosum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.), Brickhill, Halton, etc.
—— triquetrum, Bruch. & Schimp. Buckingham (E.M.H.) ; Halton, Princes Risborough, Medmenham, etc.
THE LIVERWORTS (Hepaticæ)
The knowledge possessed at the present time of the liverworts or scale mosses of Buckinghamshire is even more fragmentary than that of the mosses; like them, but to even a greater extent, they show a preference for moist situations and a humid atmosphere. The damp woods of the Colne and such places as the boggy parts of Brickhill, Black Park, Alderbourne Bottom and Dropmore are places where several species are found, but a systematic search in other parts of the county would certainly result in adding fresh species to the county. Among the more interesting species which have been found are Riccia glauca, Madotheca platyphylla and Radula complanata gathered by Mr. Holmes near Buckingham; and Mr. Benbow records Lejeunea minutissima from Tilehouse and Stoke Wood, L. serpyllifolia from Brockhurst Wood, Lepidozia reptans from the Denham and Chalfont Woods and at Burnham Beeches, Blepharostoma trichophylla, Cphalozia multiflora and C. sphagnei, C. divaricata, Jungermannia venfricosa, Mylia Taylori, M. anomala and Gynocolea inflata from Stoke Common, C. sphagnei, M. Taylori and M. anomala also occurring on Farnham Common. Plagiochila asplenioides occurs near Lane End, Jungermannia ventricosa above Princes Risborough, Cepbalozia divaricata, Brickhill, C. bicuspidata, at Lane End, and Madotheca platyphylla at Brickhill.
THE LICHENS (Lichenes)
The lichen flora of Buckinghamshire is practically an unworked field, and although the county is not likely to be so rich as some of those in the west of England, yet a large number of species are certainly found in it. But the absence of the primitive rocks and the scarcity of rock surfaces, and the fact that so much of the woodlands consist of beech whose smooth trunks and almost complete shade which they cast are inimical to the growth of these organisms, necessarily tend to limit the total number of the species, but some of the low-lying woods in the Colne and Chess drainage as well as the older woods in the Ouse district are happy hunting grounds. Nor must we omit to mention what a charm is given so frequently to rural scenes by the abundance of the golden lichen (Physcia parietina) on the brick-tiled roofs of many a farm homestead or village barn.
The following list has been given by Mr. E. M. Holmes all from Buckingham except when otherwise stated.
Collema pulposum, Ach. Tingewick —— glaucescens, Hoffm. Bulstrode Leptogium minutissimum, Koerb. Butlers Holt, Buckingham Cladonia sylvatica, Nyl. Farnham Royal Ramalina calicaris, Nyl ——farinacea, Ach. f. phalerata, Ach. Stowe Park ——fraxinea, Ach. Ramalina fastigiata, Ach. ——pollinaria, Ach. ——evernioides, Nyl. f. monophylla, Cromb. Evernia prunastri, Ach. Platysma diffusum, Nyl. Maidenhead, Stoke Park Parmelia perlata, Ach. —— exasperata, Ach.
Parmelia saxatilis, Ach. —— Borreri, Turn. —— caperata, Ach. —— physodes, Ach. Lobaria pulmonaria, Hoffm. Peltigera canina, Hoffm. —— spuria, Leight. Physcia parietina, De Not. —— lychnea, Nyl. —— ciliaris, DC. —— pulverulenta, Nyl. —— pityrea, Nyl. —— stellaris, Nyl., sub-sp. tenella, Nyl. —— obscura, Leight. var. virella, Leight. Lecanora murorum, Ach. —— callopisma, Ach. —— laciniosa, Nyl. —— vitellina, Ach. —— citrina, Ach. —— aurantiaca, Nyl. —— ferruginea, Ach. —— cerina, Ach. —— pygmaea, Nyl. —— luteoalba, Nyl. —— calva, Nyl. —— variabilis, Ach. —— exigua, Nyl. —— galactina, Ach. —— subfusca, Nyl. —— Parisiensis, Nyl. —— chlorina, Nyl. —— sulphurea, Nyl. —— varia, Ach. —— expallens, Ach. var smaragdocarpa, Nyl. Summit of Chiltern Hills Lecanora atra, Ach. —— parella, Ach.,f. Turneri, Nyl. —— calcarea, L. —— pruinosa, Nyl. Pertusaria globulifera, Nyl. —— amara, Nyl. —— communis, DC. —— Wulfenii, DC. —— coccodes, Nyl. Burnham Beeches Phlyctis agelasa, Kcerb. —— argena, Kœrb. Urceolaria scruposa, Ach. Lecidea ostreata, Hoffm. —— vernalis, Ach. —— quernea, Dicks. —— parasema, Ach. —— canescens, Dicks. —— stellulata, Tayl. —— myriocarpa, DC. —— casrulea-nigricans, Hoffm. —— tricolor, Leight. —— albo-atra, Hoffm. —— aromatica, Ach. —— sphaeroides, Nyl. —— sabuletorum, Leight. —— effusa, Leight., var. caesiopruinosa, Mudd. —— concentrica, Leight. —— truncigena, Ach. Opegrapha herpetica, Ach. Verrucaria nigrescens, Leight. —— glaucina, Mudd. —— fuscella, Turn. —— viridula, Ach. —— chlorococca, Leight. Stokcnchurch (Lar- balestier)
Two of the foregoing, Verrucaria chlorococca Leight., found by Mr. Larbalestier in Stokenchurch Woods, and Ramalina farinacea Ach. f. phalerata found at Stowe Park by Mr. Holmes, are only known in Britain for these localities. The curious variety of Lecanora expallens characterized by the bright emerald green apothecia, is found nowhere else in Great Britain (Grevillea, xviii. 69).
THE FRESHWATER ALGÆ
The knowledge of these organisms, so far as the county is concerned, is almost a blank; the boggy portions of Burnham Beeches, the ponds on the Chiltern Commons, the anastomosing ditches by the Thames, and the sphagnum bogs of the Brickhill district are places which will well reward the searcher.
FUNGI
The county has very favourable localities for fungi, and in some of the woods on the Chilterns, as well as those at Black Park and the ​neighbourhood of Brickhill and Burnham, an extremely large number of species are to be found. They are necessarily very uncertain in appearance, depending as they do so much upon climatal influences, so that a long period is required before a district, even of limited dimen- sions, can be said to be exhaustively explored. Their occurrence depends to so great an extent upon the higher forms of life, for instance upon the proper quantity of dead wood, decaying vegetable matter or the like, and in few, if any, instances is food obtained directly from the soil.
Space will not allow of anything like a complete list, even of the species known to grow in the county, being given here, but in passing we may mention that the genera Amanita, Russula, Agaricus and Boletus are well represented. The poisonous A. muscarius is often very common in Black Park, at Wilton Park and Dropmore, and the even more poi- sonous A. phalloides occurs near Princes Risborough, where Tricboloma spermatica is also found ; Lepiota vittadini has been found near Bledlow ; Clitocybe dealbatus and C. laccatus at Burnham ; Collybia esculenta at Lane End ; Clitopilus prunulus near Halton ; Hebeloma crystallina, H. geophila and H. concentrica at Brickhill ; Coprinus micaceus and C. atramentarius on the rubbish heaps near Iver ; Lactarius piperatus, L. deliciosus, L.fuliginosus near Halton ; Russula nigricans, Brickhill ; R. emetica, R. ocbroleuca, R. alutacea, and R. rubra about Black Park ; Cantharellus cibarius near Farnham ; Boletus luteus, B. luridus, B. edulis, B. flavus, at Brickhill, etc. ; Fistulina hepatica, Wilton Park ; Hydnum auriscalpium, Marlow woods ; Hirneola Auricula-Judæ, near Wycombe ; Phallus impudicus, very common in the Chiltern woods, and in 1902 especially frequent in a wood near Amersham, also in the Brickhill pine woods ; the puff ball Lycoperdon giganteum, and the smaller members of the genus, as L.gemmatum, saccatum and pyriforme, have been noticed about Brickhill. The pretty Cyathus vernicosus was found near Buckingham. The ' rusts, smuts, mildews and moulds,' which in some instances are such deadly foes to the agriculturists, market garden- ers, or horticulturists, are too well represented. As an instance of leaf- fungi one may draw attention to a common example in the sycamore, where the unsightly black patches on the leaves in the autumn are caused by the fungus Rhytisma acerinum ; another is the well known wheat rust (Puccinia graminis), one of the pests which it is said is referred to in the Old Testament. For many ages it was supposed to be connected with the occurrence of the barberry (Berberis vulgaris), and edicts were promulgated to destroy the plant in certain countries, but the botanists of the early part of the nineteenth century proved to their own satisfaction that the barberry could not have this malevolent influence, since the fungus which grew upon it was a different species from that which was found upon the wheat, the former being Æcidium Berberidis, the latter Puccinia graminis, in fact belonging to two different genera. It was however reserved for De Bary to prove that these two widely differing fungi were really only two different stages in the life history of a single individual species, and demonstrated it by sowing the aecidiospores of the barberry upon the ​leaf of the wheat and thus infecting it with the fungus which eventually produced the well known wheat rust (Puccinia graminis), a startling dis- covery, with far-reaching results, but which has its prototype in the larval and imago stages of the insect world.
In compiling the foregoing notes I have to acknowledge assistance of many friends who have sent me notes on the county plants, among whom I may mention the Rev. F. H. Woods, Rev. W. H. Summers, Rev. E. F. Linton, Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, Rev. H. J. Riddelsdell, Miss Johnson, Messrs. J. G. Everett, Garry, C. E. Britton, J. Britten, E. M. Holmes, Bolton King and J. Saunders.
BOTANOLOGIA
Although not far removed from the great botanical centres of London and Oxford, there are comparatively few references to Buckinghamshire localities in the works of the botanists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is true a few may be found in the pages of Gerard's Herbal of 1597, four or five in Parkinson's Herbal of 1640; others are to be picked out of the Phytologia of William How published in 1650, from Culpeper's Physician Enlarged of 1653, from the Botanologia of Robert Turner of 1664, and the Pinax of Christopher Merrett, which was issued in the year of the great fire of London, namely 1666.
The great Cambridge botanist, John Ray, was indebted to Leonard Plukenet for one or two records which he inserted in the Catalogus of 1670, but the county received little or no attention from Ray himself, and even in the enlarged third edition of the Synopsis which was published by Dillenius, afterwards professor of botany at Oxford, only a solitary addition to the county flora is made.
John Blackstone, who lived just outside the county boundary near Chalfont, published in 1737 a Fasciculus Plantarum circa Harefield sponte nascentium, which contains several Buckinghamshire localities, and there are still more in his Specimen Botanicum of 1746. In the voluminous works of the prolific writer John Hill, who lived at Denham, there are but few notices of his county plants, but about a score may be found either scattered through pages of his Flora Britannica of 1760, or the Herbarium Britannicum of 176970, or in his enormous Vegetable System and a few specimens collected by him from the county are contained in the herbarium of the British Museum, which also contains others gathered by the great scientist Sir Joseph Banks, probably while he was at Eton College, for they are chiefly from that classic neighbourhood. We have only a small number from Dr. Lightfoot, who was librarian and chaplain to that well known botanist and patroness of natural science, the Dowager Duchess of Portland, then living at Bulstrode. In the pages of English botany we learn that he introduced the small winter green (Pyrola minor) to the woods of Bulstrode, and three plants, the milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre), the water soldier (Stratiotes Aloides), and the yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsijlora), which still grow by or in the ornamental water there, were also probably planted either by Dr. Lightfoot or the Duchess of Portland. He was for a long time resident at Uxbridge, and was the author of the impor- tant Flora Scotica issued in 1777. I have also a few MS. notes by Lady Mary Markham, a sister of the well known botanist, the Countess of Aylesford, made while visiting the Duchess of Portland at Bulstrode, and a few others by Professor Sibthorpe of Oxford, a friend and correspondent of Dr. Lightfoot. There are a few isolated references to Buckingham- shire plants in the pages of the first edition of English Botany, others in the first edition of the Botanist's Guide of 1805. Joseph Woods, the author of the Tourist's Flora has left records of a small number of plants from the south of the county, where a nephew of his is rector of Chalfont St. Peter's and inherits the love of the science from his uncle. There are also a few local notes in the New Botanist's Guide edited by Mr. H. C. Watson in 1835, and a few additions are to be found in the London Flora by Alexander Irvine in 1838. The latter botanist was the editor of the Phytologist a botanical magazine in which first appeared anything like a comprehensive list of Buckinghamshire plants. The list, which was published in 1843, was by Mr. G. G. Mill, son of James Mill, the author of The History of British India and the brother of John Stuart Mill It ​enumerates about 380 plants seen growing in the neighbourhood of Great Marlow. This indeed forms the basis of the county flora, but it must be borne in mind that a considerable number are from Berkshire localities. Shortly afterwards Dr. Ayres of Thame issued Exsiccati of plants found growing in the neighbourhood of Thame in north Buckinghamshire, and in these Oxfordshire localities are also represented. Notes on the flora of the neighbourhood of Stoke Poges were contributed to the Phytologist by Mr. (now Sir) W. Thiselton Dyer; Messrs. W. Pamplin, C. J. Ashfield and S. Beisley also added some county references in the same journal. Buckinghamshire specimens collected by Edward Forster, jun., Mrs. Robinson, Mr. T. Cox, J. Forbes Young and Samuel Rudge are in the British Museum herbarium, and others obtained by Mr. W. Wilson Saunders and by Mrs. Lightfoot of Wootton in Northamptonshire are in the Fielding herbarium at Oxford. Elizabeth Chandler of High Wycombe prepared a herbarium about 1864-5 of plants from that vicinity, which is now in the British Museum, and it filled up many gaps in the records of common species; and she also published notes in the Botanical Chronicle for 1864. In the pages of The Quarterly Magazine of the High Wycombe Natural History Society Mr. James Britten contributed the result of such records as had been already made by other writers, as well as his own discoveries.
MYCETOZOA
Of the numerous organisms that form connecting links between the animal and the vegetable kingdoms, those that are known as Mycetozoa are remarkable alike for their variety and beauty, and also for the strange metamorphoses through which they pass, in completing their life cycle. It has been customary in scientific classification to place the Mycetozoa with the Fungi, but as the former differ from the latter in several essential features, particularly in the power of locomotion which they exhibit in certain stages of their existence, it has been proposed by a German systematist to rank them as a separate kingdom.
The investigations that have been carried on in Buckinghamshire, although over a somewhat limited area, are sufficient to show that the county is rich in these organisms. In this respect it agrees with the adjoining counties of Herts and Beds, the district under consideration containing either an unusual abundance of Mycetozoa, or else that the neighbourhood has been carefully searched for them. Taking the three counties just mentioned, there have been recorded ninety-nine species out of the one hundred and forty catalogued for Great Britain, the number of species for the whole world being two hundred and two.
Nearly all the Bucks records are founded on gatherings made in the eastern portion of the county, chiefly in the parishes of Dagnall, Ivinghoe and Little Brickhill. The most prolific locality is Ward's Coombe Wood, where the conditions are particularly favourable to the growth of these organisms. The wood has a northerly aspect, is cool and moist, and the trees are allowed to grow naturally. Those that fall, through age or by storms, are left to gradual decay, and these, especially the beeches, when in an advanced stage of disintegration, sustain great numbers of the Mycetozoa, often several genera being present on one ​trunk. Amongst the county records the finding of Cribraria violacea deserves special mention. It was first noticed in Ward's Coombe Wood near Ivinghoe, on the inside of the bark of a decayed beech log. Specimens were submitted to Mr. A. Lister for determination, who notified that it was the first record of this species for Europe, the previous locality being Philadelphia. The evidence of its existence in this county does not rest upon a solitary instance, as on several subsequent visits it was found in various parts of the same wood. The only other records known for Europe are those of a few sporangia which developed at the British Museum on a stick sent from Lyme Regis, found in Devon, which had been forwarded, because it bore on its surface another species, and a single gathering from Aberdeenshire, by Mr. Cran in 1898.
Fuligo ellipsospora, first found in Beds, is now recorded also for Bucks and Herts, and Badhamia ovispora, also first observed in Beds by Mr. E. Saunders, is now known as well for Bucks and Herts, the counties being mentioned according to the priority of the records. The latter species is not at present known in Great Britain outside the area included in the South Midlands.
The arrangement and nomenclature of the following list are those of the Monograph of the Mycetozoa by Mr. A. Lister. To that gentleman as well as to Miss G. Lister the writer is indebted for the critical examination of every specimen upon which a record is based.
Ceratiomyxa mucida, Schroet.
Badhamia hyalina, Berk.
——utricularis, Berk.
——panicea, Rost.
——ovispora, Racib.
Physarum leucopus, Link.
——psittacinum, Ditm. Rare.
——viride, Pers.
——nutans, Pers.
and var. leucophaeum.
——calidris, Lister.
——compressum, Alb. and Schw.
——didermoides, Rost.
and var. lividum.
——bivalve, Pers.
Fuligo septica, Gmel.
——ellipsospora, Lister.
Craterium pedunculatum, Trentep.
——leucocephalum, Ditm.
Leocarpus vernicosus, Link.
Chondrioderma radiatum, Rost.
Didymium difforme, Duby.
——nigripes, Fries.
——effusum, Link.
——Trochus, Lister.
——Serpula, Fries.
——Clavus, Rost.
Spumaria alba, DC.
Stemonitis fusca, Roth.
——ferruginea, Elirenb.
Stemonitis flavogenita, Jahn.
Comatricha obtusata, Preuss.
——typhoides, Rost.
——Persoonii, Rost.
Enerthenema elegans, Bowen.
Lamproderma irideum, Massee.
Linbladia Tubulina, Fries.
Cribraria argillacea, Pers.
——violacea, Rex. E. Saunders. First European record.
Dictydium umbilicatum, Schrad.
Tubulina fragiformis, Pers.
Dictydsethalium plumbeum, Rost.
Reticularia Lycoperdon, Bull.
Trichia affinis, de Bary.
—— persimilis, Karst.
—— scabra, Rost.
—— varia, Pers.
—— contorta, Rost.
and var. inconspicua.
—— fallax, Pers.
—— Botrytis, Pers.
Hemitrichia rubiformis, Lister.
—— clavata, Rost.
Arcyria albida Pers.
—— punicea, Pers.
—— incarnata, Pers.
—— flava, Pers.
Perichasna populina, Fries.
Lycogala miniatum, Pers.
* ↑ 'The Flora of Northamptonshire,' by G. Claridge Druce, Journal of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society, 1880, et seq.
* ↑ The Flora of Oxfordshire, by the same author (James Parker, Oxford, 1886), pp. 446.
* ↑ The Flora of Berkshire, by the same author (the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1897), pp. 846 ; The Flora of Hertfordshire, by R. A. Pryor, edited by B. D. Jackson (Gurney & Jackson, London, 1887) ; The Flora of Middlesex, lumen *n& Dyer (R. Hardwicke, London, 1869); The Student's Flora, by Sir J. D. Hooker, ed. 3 (Macmillan & Co., London, 1884).
* ↑ By James Saunders, A.L.S., Luton.
* ↑ Myxomycetes or Myxogastres of some authors.