Page:VCH Berkshire 1.djvu/102

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A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Hawkstone there is a coppice known as ' Hurt's Copse,' from the profusion of Vaccinium Myrtillus which grows there. The Pang itself rises near Compton at about 320 feet above sea level, and flows past Hampstead Norris to Frilsham, near which is Marlstone Park, a locality for the yellow tulip, and then to Bucklebury and Stanford Dingley. Here tufts of Carex paniculata and (Enanthe crocata begin to appear and Carex dioica has also been found. The Pang then passes by Bradfield, once the residence of Elias Ashmole, and on its way to Tidmarsh and Pangbourn flows through meadows where the avens Geum rivale and its hybrid G. intermedium appear ; while Aconitum Napellus has become naturalized on one place. A profusion of Cardamine amara is to be noticed, and in the damp coppices the Solomon's seal is luxuriant. Trifolium uabrum occurs on a patch of gravel on its banks. The once interesting marsh near Pangbourn is now nearly ruined and, like the village itself, suffers from the irruption of residents from Reading ; but I saw Genista anglica once there as evidence of what it formerly was. To the south of this marsh rises the beautiful wooded slopes of Sulham and Purley, which are charming in themselves, and are also the home of many local species. The rose of Sharon (Hypericum calycinum) is quite naturalized there, and H. Androstsmum and H. montanum are native. On the sloping grassy bank in its only known Berkshire locality grows Galium syhestre, and near it is naturalized Euphorbia Chamescyparissias, while Cuscuta Epithymum and Thesium still grow, and formerly Gentiana campestris occurred. In this vicinity also are Arenaria tenuifolia, Ruscus, Carum segetum, Valerianella carinata, Geranium rotundifolium, Linaria repens, Iberis amara, Papaver hybridum, Antirrhinum Orontium, Myosurus, Lonicera Caprifolium, Blackstonia, Dianthus Armeria, Arabis hirsuta, Viola tricolor var. bella (Gren. and Godr.), Lactuca virosa, Vinca minor, V. major, Vhcum, Saponaria, and also a variety of Malva moschata with nearly uncut leaves, which comes under var. Ramondiana (Gren. and Godr.) and is the var. integrifolia of Lejeune. A form of the winter cress occurs, which I have named Barbarea vulgaris var. transiens, Druce (see Flora of Berkshire, p. 44). The more elevated portion of the Pang district, such as that about East Ilsley, is bare and bleak, but further south there are extensive woodlands, such as Ashridge, where the spiked star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum) grows, and in which there is also Colchicum, Vicia sylvatica, Lathyrus sylvestris and Polygonatum multiflorum. At Oare, where the London Clay is worked for brickmaking, we have Equisetum sylvaticum and Carex pallescens. In the vicinity is Grimsbury Castle, 460 feet above sea level, with its circular rampart now overgrown with whortleberry. The higher portion of Fence Woods leads to the elevated plateau of Cold Ash Common, from which a glorious prospect of the surrounding country can be obtained, and near are the extensive commons of Bucklebury and Chapel Row, and there are some very lovely bits of country and rich botanizing to be found about them and in Fence Woods and the numerous coppices. In this vicinity we have Aquilegia, Arabis perfoliata, Cerastium quaternellum, very abundant on some of the gravelly commons ; Hypericum Elodes, Millegrana, Genista anglica, Drosera longifolia (intermedia), Cuscuta Epithymum, Carex dtoica, C. Itevigata, C. Hormchuchiana, C. vesicaria, and a magnificent clump of Osmunda once grew near a bed of Menyanthes. As specially interesting plants of the Pang district, in addition to those already mentioned, are the following : Ranunculus Lingua, L. Rubus Borreri, Bell-Salt. Anemone Pulsatilla, L. anglosaxonicus, Gelert Adonis annua, L. foliosus, W. and N. Fumaria Vaillantii, Lois. Lejeunei var. ericetorum, Lefev. parviflora, Lam. - rosaceus, W. and N. [Barbarea intermedia, Bar.'] Geum rivale, L. Lepidium heterophyllum, Bentb, var. canescen x intermedium, Ebrb. Gr. and Godr. Pimpinella major, HuJs. x Viola permixta, JorJ. [Lonicera Caprifolium, L.} palustris, L. Crepis biennis, L. Polygala oxyptera, Relcbb. Myosotis annua, Mcench, var. umbrosa (Bab.) Lychnis dioica x alba [Scrophularia vernalis, L.] Ulex Gallii, Planch. [Mimulus Langsdorffii, Donn.} Trifolium subterraneum, L. (? extinct) Euphrasia Kerneri, Wetts. Vicia gemella, Cr., var. tenuissima, Druce Mentha Pulegium, L. Lathyrus Aphaca, L. [Chenopodium opulifolium, ScbraJ.] Rubus erythrinus, Geniv. Leucojum aestivum, L. pallidus, W. and N. Orchis Simia, Lam. (? extinct) 56