IXXXVI FLORA OF BERKSHIRE 



In addition to the plants already enumerated for this area may be 

 mentioned Ranimciiliis sardous, R. Lenormandi, Viola canina, V. lactea, 

 Imixitiens parviflora, ChrysospJenium, Apium immdatum, Epilobium roseum, 

 Oenanthe crocata, Galium elongatum, G. Witheringii, Valeriana dioica, Pulicaria 

 vulgaris, Bidens ceimua, B. tripartita, Carliyia, Hieracium murorum, Campanula 

 Rapunculus, Tanacetum, Anthemis iwbilis, Anchusa officinalis, Anagallis tenella, 

 Cuscuta Epithymum, Veronica scutellata, Pedicidaris palustris, P. sylvatica, 

 Leonurus, Polygonum dumetorum, Salix amhigua, Orchis incarnata, Narcissus 

 Pseudo-narcissus, Juncus squarrosus, Scirpus paucijlorus, S. setaceus, Carex 

 dioica, C. pihdifera, C. paniculata, C. laevigata, C. Pseudo- cypenis, C. fulva, 

 C. leporina, Sieglingia, Festuca ovina, var. paludosa, F. rubra, Osmunda, 

 Botrychium, and Dryopieris montana. 



The district about Loddon Bridge and Wokingham has a varied 

 flora, as one might expect from the different soils which occur. In 

 rapid succession come the alluvial meadows of the Thames, the 

 gravelly soil in the neighbourhood of Reading, the clayey ground 

 about Ruscombe, the sandy soil near Bearwood, and the gi*avelly 

 ground near Twyford and at Wokingham and Hurst. 



From Swallowfield to Twyford the Loddon flows through pleasant 

 and more highly cultivated country, passing the pretty grounds and 

 village of Arborfield, and a neighbourhood which has been made 

 widely known by the author of Our Village, — Three Mile Cross was the 

 residence of Miss Mitford, and frequent references to the Loddon will 

 be found in the pages of her works. Between Arborfield and Twyford 

 the stream passes through a rather flat and pastoral country, but its 

 banks are adorned with a profuse growth of the Snowflake, locally 

 called Loddon lilies, and with fine old alders, celebrated by Pope, who 

 once lived in the neighbourhood at Binfield. An expedition by boat 

 down the stream gives a succession of delightful views. The sedge- 

 growth too is luxuriant and beautiful, and the willow bushes in 

 many places are very picturesque. Later in the year a most charming 

 sight is to be obtained of the bright grassy-green leaves of Potamogdon 

 fluitans (or perhaps a hybrid), an abundant plant near Sandford Mill. 

 The submerged leaves appear to be merely a net-work of veins in the 

 clear bright water, so transparent is the pellucid parenchyma. In 

 quiet pools may be found large masses of Potamogeton alpinus, while the 

 rapid water of the shallows affords P. Jlabellafus. 



The flora of the neighbourhood is likewise very interesting. The 

 narrow sheltered roads are often bordered by deep ditches witli a 

 profuse sedge-growth. In one such locality Carex elongata is abundant. 

 Carex elata occurs near the Loddon, Carex vesicaria, C. Pseudo-cj/periis, 

 C. axillaris, C. acuta, C. remota, C. vulpina, C. muricata, C. acutiformis, and 

 others are to be found about these ditches, which besides the sedge 

 vegetation afford also Bidens cernua, B. tripartita, an interesting variety 



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