BOTANY 



The place of the elm as hedgerow timber is taken by the oak, which 

 however does not usually grow to any great size. Sycamores grow 

 finely on the southern slopes of the hills, and the hornbeam occurs 

 occasionally in the neighbourhood of Bromsgrove. Traveller's joy. 

 Clematis Vitalba, which plentifully decks the hedgerows where the soil is 

 at all calcareous, seldom strays on to the New Red Sandstone of the northern 

 parts. Primroses, absolutely abounding in the valley of the Teme, and 

 general elsewhere, thin out as the northern part of the county is 

 approached, where they lurk only on hidden banks and in the thickets of 

 woods, while in the extreme north-east they hardly occur ; but the 

 woods and dingles which clothe the hills in this district are the chosen 

 home of the bluebell and wood-anemone. The roadside wastes and 

 hedgerow banks show little floral decoration after speedwell, stitchwort, 

 and wild parsley have disappeared with the first burst of spring. A 

 feature of the sandstone banks of the north is Saxifraga granulata^ some- 

 times occurring most abundantly ; but Cotyledon Umbilicus, even in places 

 which seem typical habitats, is unknown except in Habberley Valley and 

 Wolverley near Kidderminster. In many localities on the Red Sandstone, 

 and occurring more sparsely elsewhere, are two somewhat rare plants — 

 Arabis perfoliata and Campanula patula. The former is especially abundant 

 on the sides of the railway to the north of Kidderminster ; and the latter 

 fringes in quantity the deep railway-cutting through the water-stones to 

 the south of Stourbridge, but entirely disappears to the north-east of 

 the Clent Hills. 



There are no natural lakes in Worcestershire, the largest sheets 

 of water being that in Westwood Park, some 60 acres, and Pirton Pool, 

 a few miles to the south of Worcester. But the brooks coming down 

 towards the Stour from the high land at Clent have been formed 

 into chains of pools, usually of no great size. Some large reservoirs have 

 been constructed in the neighbourhood of the Lickey and at Tardebigge 

 to feed the Birmingham Canal. Many marshy spots have been drained, 

 and the plants that love such spots have vanished. Especially is this the 

 case with Longdon Marsh, near Upton-on-Severn, in the south of the 

 county, which in rainy seasons used to assume the appearance of a 

 vast lake. Here grew, and possibly some of them still linger in lesser 

 quantity, Butomus umbellatus, Carex disticha, Cnicus pratensis, Hippuris 

 vulgaris, Lathyrus palustris, Lysimachia vulgaris, CEtianthe Lachenalii, 

 CE. Peucedanifolia, Phragtnites communis, Poterium officinale, Rumex maritimus 

 and Scirpus maritimus. In the far north of the county Moseley Bog, 

 the drainage of which ultimately found its way into the Trent, but the 

 site of which is now nearly covered by extending Birmingham, once 

 produced many rare plants, including Anagallis tenella, Cnicus pratensis, 

 Drosera rotundifolia, Equisetum sylvaticum, Eriophorum vaginatum, Hyperi- 

 cum elodes, Menyanthes trifoliata, Molinia ccerulea, Narthecium ossifragum, 

 Osmunda regalis, Parnassia palustris, Pedicularis palustris, Potentilla Coma- 

 rum, Rhyncospora alba, Vaccinium Oxycoccus and Viola palustris. Some 

 eight miles to the east of Droitwich there formerly existed a tract 



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