XXXVl FLORA OF BERKSHIRE 



characters of the Chalk formation can be well seen. The northern 

 portion is composed of grassy downs with softly curving outlines, or 

 of the more undulating tracts which have been brought under cultiva- 

 tion. Further south the Chalk becomes covered with ' Chiy-with- 

 Flints,' 'Brick earth,* or Eocene beds, and is often a woodland tract, 

 such as Ashridge, Lambourn Woodlands, or Ashampstead. Numerous 

 dry valleys radiate from the Ridgeway. Some, however, have springs 

 of a temporary character. 



Whiting is largely made from the Chalk at Kintbury by grinding 

 the Chalk in water ; the material, after elutriation, is allowed to 

 settle in tanks, and is then framed in moulds and dried. As 

 much as 2,000 tons have been made in a single year. Many of the 

 village churches are built of flints from the Upper Chalk, among 

 others the beautiful church of Shottesbrooke, St. Lawrence at Reading, 

 and Little Shefiford. The Chalk is used as a building material for the 

 inside of churches, as at Tilehurst and Sonning, and for the outside 

 of Sparsholt Church. 



Sections of the Upper Chalk, with flints in the bedding planes, are 

 to be well seen in the railway cutting at Pangbourn, at Cookham 

 Dene, and in other places. At Englefield great chalk-pit the Chalk 

 appears to be reconstructed. 



The flora of the Chalk area offers a great contrast to that of the 

 other geological formations. The grass downs afford a pleasing vegeta- 

 tion in the number of flowering plants which grow among the short 

 turf. Among the specially interesting ones must be mentioned. 

 Anemone Pulsatilla, Hippocrepls comosa, Polygala calcarea, P. vulgaris, Gentiana 

 germanica, G. Amarella, Carlina, Cerastium arvense, Asperula cynanchica. 

 Thenum, Senecio campestris, Orchis ustalata. 0. pyramidalis, Ophrys apifera, 

 Hdbenaria viridis, H. conopsea, Herminium Monorchis, Gyrostachis autumnalis, 

 Campanula glom.erata, Bromus eredus, Brachypodium pinnatum, Koeleria 

 crisfata, Avena pubescens, A. pratensis, Blackstonia, Arabis hirsuta, Spiraea 

 Filipendula, Vcrbascum nigrum, Saxifraga granidaia, Sedum acre, Astragalus 

 glycypJnjllus, Anthyllis, Scabiosa Columbaria. The wooded parts afford 

 Qrnithogalum pyrenaicum, Polygonatmn mxdtiflorum, Cephalanihera pallens, 

 Ophrys muscifera, Hdbenaria bifolia, H. chloroleuca, Epipactis media, E. 

 violacea, Neottia Nidus-aiis, Orchis militaris, 0. Simia (probably now ex- 

 tinct"), Helleborus foetidus, H. viridis, Milium effasum, Elymus europaeus. 

 Myosotis sylvatica, Atropa Belladonna, Biiscus, Lactuca muralis, Veronica 

 montana. Allium ursinum, Pyrus Aria, P. torminalis, Colchicum, Hypopitys, 

 Hy2)ericum montanum, H. Androsaemum, Serratula, Lathyrus sylvestris, Vicia 

 sylvatica,, Agrimonia odorata, Hex, Nepefa Cataria, Dap)hne Laureola, D. Mese- 

 reum, Iris foeiidissima, and Juncoides Forsleri. The cultivated fields have 

 Iberis amara, Fumaria parviflora, F. VaiUantii, F. densiflora, Brassica alba 

 (^ which here replaces B. Sinapis), Onobrychis, Lathyrus Aphaca, Adonis, 



