A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



Torquay), the wolf, hyaena, cave bear, glutton, bison, musk ox, 

 numerous deer, hippopotamus, Rhinoceros etruscus, Elephas merUionalts, 

 and E. antiqtius, the Russian desman {Myogale moschata), and many other 

 forms, as well as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, etc.* 



If the fauna of the Forest Bed is of great interest, no less so is its 

 flora, for our knowledge of which we are especially indebted to the 

 labours of Mr. Clement Reid. He has pointed out that while the cold 

 of the succeeding Glacial period drove out many species, yet they must 

 have survived within a moderate distance from England. Among those 

 found in the Forest Bed Series, the following may be mentioned : — 



Yellow water-lily {Nuphar luteum) . Alder {Alnus glutinosa) . 



Mare's tail {Hippuris vulgaris). Birch {Betula alba). 



Water chesnut [Trapa natans). Willow {Salix). 



Bog-bean [Menyanthes trifoliata). Pondweeds [Potamogetori). 



Golden dock {Rumex maritimus). Reeds {Phragmites). 



Hornwort {Ceratophyllum demersum). Scotch Fir {Pinus syhestris). 



Elm (JJlmus). Spruce Fir {Picea excelsa). 



Oak {Quercus robur). Yew {Taxus baccata). 



Beech {Fagus syhatica). Royal fern {Osmunda regalis). 

 Hazel {Corylus ave liana). 



Mr. Reid observes that the plants are aquatic and wet-meadow 

 species and forest trees, and all that have been found in the deposits, 

 except Trapa natans^ Najas minor and Picea excelsa, are now natives of 

 Britain.^ 



Above the Upper Freshwater Bed there is a deposit of marine sand 

 known as the Leda-myalis bed, and equivalent to the ' Mundesley Beds ' 

 described by Prestwich.^ This may be regarded as a passage-bed between 

 Pliocene and Glacial deposits. Still higher than this is a bed which 

 indicates more distinctly the incoming of colder conditions. It was first 

 noticed by Dr. Alfred Nathorst in 1872, beneath the Glacial Drift at 

 Mundesley, and he then discovered remains of arctic plants in it. The 

 same horizon was a few years later detected by Mr. Reid at Beeston, and 

 at Ostend, near Bacton. The arctic birch {Betula nana), the arctic willow 

 {Salix polaris), and Hippuris vulgaris are among the plants. They appear 

 to have flourished in the area when it was approximately about the same 

 level as now, and before the incoming of any masses of the ice of the 

 Glacial period. 



* See E. T. Newton, ' Vertebrata of the Forest Bed Series' {Geol. Survey), 1882 ; and 

 ' Vertebrata of the Phocene Deposits of Britain ' [Geo/. Survey), 1 89 1 . See also Memorials of John 

 Gunn^^vo, Norwich, 1891. 



^ 'On the Flora of the Cromer Forest Bed,' Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc, vol. iv. p. 189 : 

 The Origin of the British Flora, 8vo, London, 1899. 



^ Report Brit. Assoc, for 1881, p. 620. 



16 



