Page:VCH Leicestershire 1.djvu/72

 A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE The following are confined to this division and all are very scarce; two of them it is feared have been eradicated since 1886 -.-Aquilegia vulgaris (W. Bell, 1902) ferula cynanchca, H,pp crep, S (om o,a, Scntcio camped, and Verbal Lychnith, which was found in 1 906, looks as true a native as C. Acinoi and Ononis, with which it is associated ; nor are there any plants in the ne.ghbourhood that can be suspected as aliens. Before the heath was reclaimed probably some of the rarer Lincolnshire and Northampton- shire Oolite plants grew there, such as Linum perenne, Anemone puhattlla, Hyfocbatru macu/ata, Artnaria taut/Ma, Herniaria glabra, Thesium, Orobancbe tlatitr, and Octroi (the last in Northampton only of the two counties). . Some at least of the mosses which abound on the Oolite in Lincolnshire, and which might be expected, are absent from this Leicestershire portion of the same formation, for the simple reason that there are no suitable places for them ; there can be no drier tract in this country than Division 4, whereas 3^ miles to the east, but in Lincolnshire, Pinguicula vulgaris still grows, and the handsome moss CKmac'mm dendroides fruits so splendidly that probably nowhere else in Britain can be found more fully developed examples ; it is very rarely seen in fruit in Britain, too this must be regarded as a relic of very exceptional occurrence. Excepting the bed of the Cringle Brook in Buckminster Park the ground is almost all about 500 ft. (Buckminster 5 19 ft.). 6 5. AVON The Avon and its tributary the Swift drain this area, which is wholly on the Lower Lias clay, deeply covered in parts by drift. Of the 390 or more species recorded none need be specified, as they are not uncommon elsewhere in the county. 6. WELLAND Lower Lias clay, Upper Lias, Marlstone rock and sand and a small outlier of Lias limestone and Northampton sand occur. The northern portion is well wooded and possesses considerable variety of surface. These combinations give rise to an improvement in the flora when compared with the last-named division. Although nothing is absolutely confined to it, there are three very uncommon plants: Rubus Bellardii found by W. Bell, 1903, Vina si/vatica, and Campanula Trachelium. The mosses and fungi are imperfectly known. The reservoir near Saddington and the Welland may be expected to furnish many microscopic plants as yet unrecorded for Leicestershire. Although Leicestershire has suffered so much of late from a botanical point of view through drainage, cultivation, and the spread of its towns, and the villages in the coal mining district, the county can still justly claim to possess a greater variety of brambles (Rubi) (71) than any of the counties in the northern half of England, excepting Staffordshire (77). About the year 1830 the Rev. A. Bloxam commenced to study this difficult genus, giving a great amount of his time for the remaining forty-eight years of his life to the investigation of the brambles of this county. Thirty-four species were found in the parish of Twycross alone, this number being slightly augmented. Two have been added since Mr. Bloxam's time by other students of Rubi, so that now we have a total of thirty-six species, making it appear that this parish contairts as many species as several English counties are known to have within their boundaries at the present time. Mr. Bloxam was joined in the study of brambles by the Rev. W. H. Coleman, and the Rev. Churchill Babington was also a collaborator about the same t?me as Coleman, but not nearly to such an extent as the latter. Since Mr. Bloxam's decease, a great amount of time has been devoted to the study of Leicestershire 'brambles, many additions having been made to the older records. The most valuable work has been accomplished during the last fifteen years, especially by the Revs. E. F. Linton and W. Moyle Rogers, 'the latter having elucidated some very difficult species, either unknown to, or very imperfectly understood, either by Bloxam, Coleman, or their successors. For full descriptions of all known species of Rubi see the Handbook of British Rubi by the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, 1 900, and papers !>y tjhe same author in the Journal of Botany for April, 1902, and July, 1905. The writer's sincerest thanks are due to the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers for giving so much time to the records and collection of brambles (Rubi) ; ako to Mr. William West ifor naming certain Algae, to Mr. Arthur Bennett for a list (marked H of the Naiadaceae and Chanjiceae; to Mrs. E. ' Sewstern is in this division, not in 2B as indicated in the map. 34