BOTANY 



IN treating of the flora of a county, it is well to refer not only to 

 that which is now prevalent ; but also, so far as knowledge serves, 

 to that which has prevailed in the past, but whose existence has 

 become impossible owing to altered surroundings. In few of our 

 midland counties have the changes incidental to the growth of popula- 

 tion been more marked than in Warwickshire. A glance at a map 

 of the county, and a study of the names of localities, will show that 

 formerly heaths, wastes, commons and marshes existed, indeed were 

 extensive in all parts of the county ; and the records of the older 

 botanists show that plants characteristic of such localities, though now 

 in many cases either extinct or very rare, were then of more frequent 

 occurrence ; but heaths, wastes and commons have been enclosed and 

 reclaimed, marshes and bogs drained, and the only portions of the county 

 which at the present time really represent these past conditions, are 

 some of the wilder portions of Sutton Park ; for here we have the 

 lingering remains of a flora which was once widespread, such as the 

 cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos ; the whortleberry, V. Vitis-Idaea ; the black 

 crowberry, Empetrum nigrum ; the grass of parnassus, Parnassia palustris ; 

 and the rare sedge Carex Ebrartiana, now its only British home. The 

 distribution of plants is to a certain extent determined by climate ; 

 proximity or otherwise to maritime influences, altitude, and by the 

 general character of its rocks, whether igneous, calcareous or sandstone. 

 The insular position of Warwickshire, and the absence of any great 

 irregularities in its surface produce a mildness of climate ; while it is free 

 from the disturbing influences of either sea or mountain. Although 

 everywhere undulating beautifully, the greatest altitude is only 855 feet 

 above sea-level, and the average altitude about 380 feet above the sea, or 

 well within the lowest zone of climatic influence. Its rocks are varied, 

 beginning with the Cambrian and ending with the Inferior Oolite, but 

 these are often in a degree obscured by the sands, gravels and clays of 

 the drift, and these deposits materially affect the character of the flora. 

 Throughout its area Warwickshire is well covered with trees, many of 

 the woods being extensive, probably remains of the Great Forest of 

 Arden, and are often rich in characteristic plants, as in the well-wooded 

 district around Atherstone and Hartshill. Here is found the rare wood 

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