Page:VCH Northamptonshire 1.djvu/114

 A HISTORY QF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Ranunculus hirsutus. Curt., R. sarJous, already no- MyriophyUum altemifiorum, DC. Possibly correct, ticed among the extinct species was possibly a but requires confirmation misnomer C'uuta virosa, L. Ditches near Peterborough ; Barbarea stikta, Andrj. B. vulgaris was mistaken never confirmed for it by Mr. Borrer near Weedon HUraeeum tiiJentatum, Fries. Possibly a form of Scltranthui perennis, L. Mistaken for the biennial H. rigidum form of S. annum Herminium Monorchii, R. Br. Recorded from Sagjna lubukta, Presl. A very doubtful record boggy ground, a very unlikely locality for this Genista pilosd, L. Harleston gypsophilous species Pttentilla argentta, L. The locality is probably in Arenaria verna, L. ; Stellaria nemorum, L. ; Asple- Hunts nium marinum, Veronica hybrida, and V. spicata and others are certainly errors We have a few species which, though very common with us, are local in many English counties. Among these are the buckthorn [Rhumnus catharticui), the spindle tree {Euonymus europceus), the water horsebane {CEnanthe Jiuviatilii), the pepper saxifrage {Silaus fiavescem), the stone parsley {Siion Amomum), the parsnep {Peucedanum sativum), the small corn parsley {Caucalis aruensis), the knotted parsley (C. nodosa), the hemlock {Conium macu- latum), the cornel or dogwood {Cornus sanguinea), the wayfaring tree {Viburnum Lantana), the chicory {Cichorium Intyhm), the ragwort [Senecio erucifolius), the Venus' looking-glass {Spccu- laria or Legousia hybrida), the good King Henry {Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus), the willow {Salix Smithiana), the pondweed [Potamogeton Friesii), the rest harrows [Ononis campestris and repens), the rough dandelion [Leontodon hispidus), the wild licorice {Astragalus glycyphyllos) which is locally common, the great burnet saxifrage [Pimpinella major) which is widely spread, the ox-tongue {Picris Echioides), the greater knapweed {Centaurea Scahiosa) and the maple {Acer campestre). MOSSES The history of our knowledge of the mosses of Northamptonshire commences with the residence in the county of the late Rev. M. J. Berkeley, for although one or two ' mosses ' are referred to in Morton's History, the records in each case really belong to lichens. At that time lichens were scarcely distinguished from the true mosses, and the con- fusion remains, in popular language, to the present day ; the so-called Iceland moss, reindeer moss and others really belonging to classes of plants widely differing from the true mosses. The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the eminent authority on fungi, and writer of the Handbook of British Mosses, was born at Biggin, near Oundle, in 1803, and for the greater part of an exceptionally long life resided in the north of the county, and it could not be but that the mosses of the district should fall under the notice of so keen-sighted a botanist. Some of the most minute of our species were indeed recorded by him as early as 1827, but the records he has left of Northamptonshire mosses, though including a few highly interesting species, are not very numerous, and there is no doubt that his devotion to fungi precluded a close investigation of other plants. Since his time the writer of the present article has made a study — far from complete — of the distribution of mosses in the county, but with the exception of one or two observers (notably the late Mr. Robert Rogers) who have added a few records to our list, this interesting branch of botany has at present found no further adherent. It cannot be supposed therefore that our knowledge of the mosses is at present by any means complete ; still, they have received a fair amount of attention in comparison with those of other counties, and the list of 80