Clxxviii FLORA OF BERKSHIRE 



records of plants which he sent to the Botanicil Exchange Club in 

 1867, namely Sisymbrium Sophia from Botley, 'in Berkshire/ and 

 Mentha piperita and Rnmex pratcn^is {R. aciifns) from Boar's Hill, in the 

 same comity, these being claimed as additions to the sub-province of 

 West Thames. No. 9 of the Cyhelc Britannica. 'Probably Sisymhrium Sophia 

 was found in Oxfordshire, not in Berkshire ; it had already been 

 recorded .on good authority from the province ; the name also of Mentha 

 piperita was given by Dr. Mavor, and Riimex pratensis (acutus) included 

 in two previous lists. As these records are very doubtful, since the 

 mints and docks were not well understood by the local botanists, 

 Mr. Dyer may be considered to be tbe first who published them as 

 undoubted records for the county. In the Journal of Botany for 1871 

 (p. 145) Mr. Dyer published a paper on the plants of the neighbour- 

 hood of Oxford, in which Ranunculus pseudo-Jluitans, Bab. and Sedum 

 dasyphyllum are given as additions to Berkshire, and Ranunculus 

 Drouetii (the plant probably referred to by Merrett) is put definitely on 

 record. To Mr. Britten's Contributions Mr. Dyer supplied Rubus idaeus, 

 var. Leesii (anonmlus), Barbarea vulgaris, var. diiaricata, Rosa canina, vars. 

 tomentella, tirbica, and dumcOis. and Scirpus {Elvocharis) uniglumis. Papers 

 by Mr. Dyer also appeared in the Phyto^ogist of 1861 and 1863, which 

 contained some Berk.shire records. 

 Bri"tin. Mr. James Britten, of the Botanical Department of the British 



Museum, published in the Journal of the Newbury District Field Club for 

 187 1 his Contributions to a Flora of Berkshire. In this excellent and 

 concise publication Mr. Britten brought together much information 

 which, he says, ' was scattered through botanical works, together 

 with such lists as I could obtain from other sources, and the result 

 will, I hope, be found to be that though one or two less generally 

 known books may have been overlooked, most of our better known 

 authoritif^s, from Gerard downwards, have contributed their quota 

 to the following pages. By the assistance of manuscript lists from 

 living botanists I have been enabled to add many species to the flora 

 of the county which were previously unrecorded, so that the present 

 enumeration may be looked upon as a record of the plants known to 

 exist in Berkshire in or previously to the year 1871.' In order to 

 show plant-distributiun through the county. Mr. Britten has divided 

 it into five artificial districts, and the occun-ence of each plant, as far 

 as it was then known, is shown in tabular form. It will be noticed 

 that I have departed from Mr. Britten's arrangement, in order to 

 base the districts on the river-drainage ; but lam not quite convinced 

 of the snpcriority of this plan when it is used for so small an area as 

 is comprised in the county of Berkshire, especially when this happens 

 to be all in the basin of on^ river-drainage, and when too I have not 

 been quite consistent in carrying it out. Mr. Britten mentions the 



