A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE frequent in Berkshire, where it is known as the Loddon lily ; but if the unrestricted rooting up of this charming ornament from our rivers is allowed to persist, the plant will meet with a similar fate to that which it has met with in the neighbouring county. The poisonous waterdrop- wort (CEnantbe crocafa), which is absent from the greater part of Oxford- shire and is very rare in its restricted range, is an abundant and conspicu- ous feature in Berkshire south of the Kennet. The small shepherd's rod (Dipsacus pilosus) is also rather more frequent in Berkshire, while Mercurialis annua and Antirrhinum Orontium, both very rare in Oxford- shire, are found, the former in plenty in garden ground near Bisham, the latter also frequently in cultivated soils in the Kennet and the Loddon districts. Comparing the flora of Berkshire with that of Buckinghamshire it will be found a few plants which occur in the latter county are unre- corded for Berkshire ; among these are the great earth-nut (Carum Bul- bocastanuni) ; the limestone polypody (Phegopteris calcarea = P. Robertiana) ; the oak fern (P. Dryopteris) ; the milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre), but this may have been planted ; the sedge (Carex montana), and the fern (Lastrea uliginosa). Besides the foregoing a few species have been recorded for Bucking- hamshire but on very unreliable authority, and in one or two cases they are certainly erroneous ; none of these are known to grow in Berkshire. They are Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Melampyrum cristatum, Filago gallica, Aceras anthropophora, Orchis purpurea, Campanula patula (casual in Berks only) and Utricularia intermedia, but the two last named are almost cer- tainly mistakes for C. rapunculoides and U. major (U.neglecta) respectively. The flora of Buckinghamshire is less perfectly known, so that Berkshire has a large number of plants not at present recorded for the larger county, but it is probable that the flora of Buckinghamshire is numerically inferior to that of Berkshire. In comparison with Surrey the flora of Berkshire will be found to be rather poorer in the number of its recorded species. The principal species which have not been found by me in Berkshire but which have been reported from Surrey are Barbarea stricta, Cardamine impatiens, Cerastium pumilum, C. tetrandum, Linum angustifolium, Trifolium glomeratum, T. ochroleucon, Lathyrus hirsutus, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Epilobium Lamyi, Bupleurum fa/cafum, B. tenuissimum, Hieracium surrejanum, Senecio viscosus, Centaurea Calcitrapa, Lactuca Scariola, Phyteuma orbiculare, Cam- panula latifolia, C. patula (casual in Berks), Oxycoccos, Cynoglossum mon- tanum, Symphytum tuber osum (? native), Orobancbe Picridis, Mentha rotundi- folia, Teucrium Botrys, Chenopodium glaucum, Rumex limosus, Buxus (extinct as a native plant in Berks), Ma/axis, Cephalanthera ensifolia, Orchis pur- pur ea, Aceras, Scilla autumnalis (? extinct), Sparganium affine (S, natans, auct. var.), Potamogeton gramineum (P. heterophyllus], P. decipiens, P. Zizii (P. angustifolius], P. acutifolius, P. trichoides, Cyperus fuscus (? native), Scirpus Tabernamontanus, S. carinatus, S. triqueter, Eriphorum vaginatum, E. gracile, Rynchospora fusca, Carex diandra (C. teretiuscula], C. depauperata 38
