Page:VCH Staffordshire 1.djvu/78

 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE bedstraw (Galium uliginosum) ; and a small marsh near Penkridge has yielded one of our rarest marsh plants, Elatine Hydropiper. There are no natural lakes in Staffordshire, but many of the pools are natural and some of them exten'sive and like lakes in character. The large lake at Rudyard is purely artificial and has been formed by damming up a deep valley. Swampy places are on its margins, where are found the mud wort (Limosel/a aquatica), the marsh cinquefoil (Co- marum palustre), the money wort (Lysimachia vu/garis), and on the bank the trailing stems of Corydalis clauiculata. On the north-west borders at Betley and Balterly are large pools where are found several water-loving plants as the white water lily (Nymphcea alba], the sweet flag (Acorus Calamus) and the frog bit (Hydrocbaris Morsus-Ranee), and in the valley of the Sow is the natural pool, Copmere Pool, very picturesque, clothed with a fringe of tall rushes and bulrushes, and in its waters a too abun- dant growth of Anacbaris ; here are also Ranunculus circinatus, the pond weed Potamogeton filiforme, and all the British duck weeds (Lemna trisulca, L. gibba, L. polyrbizza and L. minor). Near this is the large pool of Maer, in which is an abundant growth of sweet flag (Acorus Calamus), and on its banks the trailing St. John's wort (Hypericum bumifusum). In the park at Trentham is a fine lake-like pool formed by the river Trent. This is beautifully reed grown and fringed with the flowering rush (Butomus umbel/atus], the arrow-head (Sagittaria sagittifolia), the rare bur reed (Spar- ganium neglectum), wood sedge (Scirpus sy/vaticus), wood rush (Luzula syhatica), and the rare pillwort (Pilularia pilulifera). But the finest natural sheet of water in the county is the large one, perfectly oval in form, called Aqualate Mere, which is one mile long and half a mile broad; the margins are marshy and yield much floral wealth ; here are found the water violet (Hottonia palustris), the brook weed (Samolus Valerandi], the reed grasses Calamagrostis Epigejos and C. lanceolatus, and on the banks the wild liquorice (Astragalus glycyphyllos), the spindle tree (Euony- mus europteus), the bog myrtle (Myrica gale], and the narrow-leaved reed mace (Typba angustifo/ia] ; near here is Forton Pool, where are the pond- weeds Potamogiton heteropbyllus and P. peclinatus. In the south-west of the county is Perton Pool; here are the mare's tail (Hippurus vu/garis), and the rare water milfoil (Myriopbyllum verticillatum), and on the con- fines of Birmingham is Harborn reservoir, where are Ranunculus circinatus and the rare mousetail (Myosurus minimus}. The woodlands of Stafford- shire are extensive, forming indeed one-twentieth of the whole area ; those of the southern portion of the county are usually destitute of any special wild flora, though often beautiful in the summer by the abun- dance of wild hyacinth (Scilla nutans], but in the north the woodlands are extensive and are the homes of some of our rarer native plants. The woods near Belmont in the valley of the Churnet possess craggy ravines watered by rapid streams, their banks clothed with a rich abun- dance of wild vegetation, and here are found the globe flower (Trollius europaus], the bear's foot (Helleborus fcetidus), the everlasting pea (Lathyrus Nissolia] and the London pride (Saxifraga umbrosa) ; and in the rich 44