IxXXviii FLORA OF BERKSHIRE 



sight by one of these ponds is afforded by the abundance of Lychnis 

 Flos-cuculi, which contrasts strangely with the ochreous tint of the 

 anthers of Alopecurus fuhus, which is one of the chief occupants of the 

 shallower portion of the water. The pond nearer the church is full of 

 Pofamogeton crisjmm, and by it grow Roripa paliistris and Juncus compressus. 



The flint walls of the church afford Asplenium AcUantum-nigrum, a very 

 rare Berkshire plant which it is hoped that this reference may do 

 nothing to injure. A seedling yrw, probably from the fine tree near, 

 springs from the stone-work of the upper part of the tower. 



One of the small streams which run into the Loddon is called the 

 Emme Brook. This rises in the Bagshot Sands beyond Wokingham 

 from the north-eastern side of Easthampstead Plain, and drains the 

 interesting Eomano-British encampment known as Caesar's Camp, 

 with its distinct double vallum enclosing an area of about 600 yards by 

 300 in its greatest breadth. The vallum is overgrown with Vaccinium 

 Mijrtillus. From tlae summit a very fine view is to be obtained over the 

 wooded country as far as to Wokingham, and beyond that town the 

 distant hills of Oxfordshire are to be seen. One of the paths leading 

 from the Camp, as seen from the summit, shows a most beautiful 

 mingling of the foliage of the chestnut, birch, oak, larch, beech, and 

 pine. In the neighbourhood there is an extensive piece of bog land 

 which affords Potamogeton alpinus, P. polijgonifolius, Schoenus, Fajnchospora 

 alba, Eriophorum angustifolium, Narihecimn, the two common Droseras, and 

 the usual bog plants. 



The Broadwater drains the hilly and heathy district of Bracknell, 

 and has a flora which is very similar to the one recently described. 

 Easthampstead Park formerly yielded, and perhaps even now may 

 contain, Samolus Valerandi : Swinley Lodge and its neighbourhood 

 afford Myrica Gale, Centimcidus, Millegrana Badiola, Drosera longifolia, 

 Lepidium heterophyllum, var. canescens {L. Smithii), with many other of 

 the usual bog and heath plants. The fine old oaks at Swinley are 

 beautiful specimens. Hypochoeris glabra, Teesdalia, Sagma subulata, 

 Anthemis nobilis, Silene anglica, and TrifoHum arvense also occur, near 

 Bracknell, in this vicinity. As the Broadwater leaves the Bagshot 

 Sands it passes into a flat tract of country on the London Clay, through 

 which it slowly winds in a very devious course, passing by Binfield, 

 once the residence of Pope, Waltham, and Ruscombe, where Wm. Penn 

 died. The country is so low and flat that the waters formerly inun- 

 dated the country round for a considerable distance, the stream being 

 then more worthy of its name and appearing on the map as Ruscombe 

 Lake. Numerous ponds and the deep ditches by the roadsides are 

 evidences of the former marshy condition of the country, which at 

 one time was the habitat of Damasonium ; careful searching may show 

 that the plant is still to be found there. 



