A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



grows at Cothill in Berks, and P. acutifolius, found in Middlesex and Herts, may yet be found. 

 The broad-leaved cotton grass (Eriophorum latifolium), which grows in Berks, Oxon, Herts 

 and Northants, should be looked for in calcareous bogs ; but these are very sparsely repre- 

 sented in the county. Of the sedges we lack Car ex dioica, which is found in all the bordering 

 counties except Middlesex ; C. Bcenninghausiana, found in Berks and Herts, and as it is sup- 

 posed to be a hybrid of paniculata with remota it may be found ; C. diandra, which grows in 

 Herts, is not likely to be found, nor is C. elongata, which grows in Berks and Beds, The grass 

 Phleum phalaroides grows in Beds and Herts, and should be well searched for on the Dunstable 

 downs. Agroitis setacea, which grows on the Bagshot Sands in Berks, reaches its eastern limit 

 in that county ; but Calamagrostis lanceolata, which occurs in Northants and Beds, may be found 

 possibly in damp woods. Gastridium, which has been found in Herts, may also be discovered, 

 as it is of rather sporadic growth. Mellca nutans, which I discovered in Bedford Purlieus, 

 Northants, reaches its southern limit in that county. Poa Chaixi occurs in Berks, and is 

 naturalized in Oxfordshire. Glycerin distant is rather of casual occurrence in three or four of 

 the bordering counties. Festuca ambigua has only been reported for Beds. The fern Cystop- 

 teris fragilis is reported for Oxon, Herts, Middlesex and Northants, but is probably introduced 

 to each county. The beech fern, limited so far as we know to Berks, where it is very rare. 

 The charad (Tolypella pro/if era), found in Northants, Berks and Oxon, may very probably be 

 found, as may T. intricate:, which has been found in Oxon, Beds and Northants, and Nitella 

 mucronata, which has occurred in Berks, Oxon, Middlesex and Beds. 



THE FERNS (Ft/ices) 



The county is not rich in the number of species, but a mere list of 

 them would be very deceptive to the stranger, since so many of them 

 are very rare, so that over a large extent of its area it is practically fern- 

 less. Even of the list of recorded species two or three are nearly extinct, 

 and others are practically doomed to disappear before long. Its proxi- 

 mity to the metropolis has denuded the best known districts of all but 

 the common forms. The Ouse district is perhaps naturally the poorest, 

 as its stiff, heavy soil, either under pasture or arable, is unfitted for fern 

 growth, yet the moonwort (Botryc&ium), the adder's tongue (Opbioglossum), 

 the black spleenwort (Asplenium T'richomanes] and the hart's-tongue (Phyllitis 

 or Scolopendrium) have been found in it ; the Ouzel district has the honour 

 of being the only one where Dryopteris or Lastrea Tbelypteris grows, and 

 the very local D. uliginosa, if the latter indeed be correctly identified, 

 and it has also the royal fern (Osmunda rega/is), the hard fern (Lomaria 

 Spicant) and others. The Thame district has the oak fern (Pbegopteris 

 Dryopteris) in one locality close to the Oxfordshire boundary, and As- 

 pidium aculeatum also occurs. The Thames district has the limestone 

 polypody (Phegopteris calcarea) in one place. The rusty-back (Ceterach 

 qfficinarum) is rather plentiful in one locality, although it has disappeared 

 from Beaconsfield church, a locality given by Parkinson in 1640 and the 

 black spleenwort (Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum) , A. 'Tricbomanes, Osmunda 

 rega/is, Dryopteris montana (Lastrea Oreopteris], unless it has been extir- 

 pated, Aspidium angu/are, A. aculeatum and Lomaria Spicant also occur. 



The Colne district is the one that has suffered most from the 

 ravages of the fern marauder. We have seen that the Asplenium fon- 

 tanum has disappeared from Amersham church, but the same tale may be 

 told of Lastrea Oreopteris, Aspidium aculeatum, A. angulare and many 

 others. The spleenwort (Asplenium Tricbomanes], Lomaria^ Lastrea or 

 Dryopteris dilatata and spinulosa still remain, but the hedges and woods 



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