BOTANY 



The following twenty-one plants are peculiar to the Avon district, not having been found 

 elsewhere in Worcestershire, and the first and last of them only doubtfully recorded. Anemone 

 Pulsatilla, Ranunculus tripartitus, Glaucium luteum, Thlaspi perfoliatum, Linuni angustifolium. 

 Astragalus hypoglottis, Hippocrepis comosa, Saxifraga hypnoides, Lythrum hyssopifolia, Asperula 

 cynanchica, Cnicus acaulis, Limnanthemum peltatum, Cuscuta epithymum, Calamintha Nepeta, 

 Chenopodium hybridum. Euphorbia platyphyllos, Buxus sempervirens, Alisma ranunculoides, Cladium 

 Mariscus, Festuca uniglumis and Polypodium Robertianum. 



(ii.) The Severn district is a strip down the centre of the whole of the county, broad 

 in the north, where it extends from the western limit of Bewdley Forest to the point where 

 the Stour becomes the county boundary in the east ; from this point to Tardebigge it abuts 

 on the Lickey district ; and then turning south it is bounded as far as Tewkesbury by the 

 Avon district. Of the western side, the northern portion is irregular until the boundary meets 

 the Teme, after which it follows southward the course of that river and of the Severn, and the 

 district ends in a narrow point opposite Tewkesbury. The northern part is chiefly on the 

 New Red Sandstone, but by far the greater portion consists of the Red Marl. 



There are several interesting botanical localities in this district. On the left bank of the 

 Severn at Hawford, the canal from Droitwich falls into the river. Between Hawford and 

 Dodderhill church may be found on its banks, or near thereto, Apium graveolens, Atriplex 

 laciniata, Carum segetum, Geranium perenne (in quantity on the railway embankments near 

 Droitwich railway station), Glaux maritima, Glyceria distans, Lepidium latifolium (abundantly 

 by the Salwarpe at Droitwich), Lepidium ruderale, Medicago maculata, Myosurus minimus {18^2), 

 Pimpinella major. Ranunculus parvijlorus, Saponaria officinalis, Senebiera Coronopus, Spergularia 

 salina, Triglochin palustre and Verhascum nigrum. Daphne Laureola and Lonicera Xylosteum 

 occur by the lake in Westwood Park. Valisneria spiralis, the occurrence of which cannot be 

 accounted for, was found shortly before 1877, inhabiting a pond in a brickyard at Northwick 

 near Worcester, but none remains in the county except in the form of specimens in the 

 Museum at Worcester. 



Following up the left bank of the Severn to Stourport, in the angle between it and the 

 river Stour is Hartlebury Common, a wild space of land consisting of two distinct tracts — a 

 sandy waste at the top of a steep bluff, and a moor-like expanse at the bottom of it. The 

 sandy summit is covered with Calluna vulgaris, and here 'grow Botrychium Lunaria, Diplotaxis 

 tenutfoUa, Erodium maritimum, Hypocharis glabra, Lycopodium clavatum, L. inundatum, Ornithopus 

 perpusillus, Plantago Coronopus, Silene conica, Spergularia rubra and Teesdalia nudicaulis. The lower 

 portion of the common is a pallid similitude of a Highland moor, with similar peaty cracks 

 filled with stagnant water, and nourishing weak specimens of similar plants. Here are to be 

 found Drosera rotundifolia in abundance reddening the ground, Eriophorum polystachion, 

 Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Pedicularis palustris, and Viola palustris. One small pool is entirely 

 filled with a mass of Potentilla Comarum and Menyanthes trifoliata. On the drier parts of 

 the low ground, Anthemis nobilis, Marrubium vulgare, Sedum acre, Sisymbrium Sophia, Trifolium 

 striatum, T. scabrum and Fiola canina are to be found. 



At Hoobrook, below Kidderminster, several streams converge on their way to the Stour. 

 One of these comes from Stanklin Pool, the one locality in the county where Parnassia 

 palustris still flourishes, and in abundance. About the pool grow also Agrimonia odorata, 

 Menyanthes trifoliata, Myriophyllum spicatum, Pedicularis palustris, Potentilla Comarum and 

 Typha angustifolia, and an Orchis once held to be 0. incarnata, but now referred to 0. latifolia. 

 By the side of the stream from this pool was the last known locality for Osmunda regalis in the 

 county. Another stream passes through the wild dingle called Fenny Rough, in which the 

 vegetation is most luxuriant. Here are Aquilegia vulgaris, Cardamine impatiens, Carex Bcen- 

 ninghauseniana, Convallaria majalis, and Polygonatum multiflorum. Above Kidderminster a 

 chain of pools stretches out towards the high land in the north-east ; Nuphar luteum occurs 

 in several of them, but Nymphaa alba is entirely absent. It was in one of these pools that 

 Elatine hexandra and E. hydropiper were once found. Near the northern boundary of the 

 county in the neighbourhood of Blakeshall a sandy, heather-covered common extends for some 

 distance, near which Cotyledon Umbilicus and Erodium maritimum are to be found. Habberley 

 Valley, some two miles north-west from Kidderminster, is an interesting spot ; Cotyledon 

 Umbilicus is found here also, and in the neighbourhood Botrychium Lunaria, Erodium maritimum 

 and Verhascum virgatum are recorded. 



The banks of the Severn and its neighbouring pools afford Brassica nigra, Carex Pseudo- 

 cyperus, Geranium pratense, Hypericum quadrangulum, CEnanthe Phellandrium, Scirpus sylvaticus 



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