68 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



district in the two or three following years, and the account of the fungi 

 contained in the Victoria History represents our present knowledge of 

 the group, with the exception of an article on the Myxomycetes of 

 Nottinghamshire published in the Transactions of the Nottingham 

 Naturalists' Society for 1910-11. 



A comparison of the county flora in its present state with the records 

 of Jowett and Howitt furnishes melancholy evidence as to the large 

 number of interesting plants which, once common, have now become 

 exceedingly rare or altogether extinct. The enormous extension of the 

 city of Nottingham and other towns and villages in our area has covered 

 some of our best collecting grounds with buildings; while the cultivation 

 of waste lands, the drainage of marshy ground, the multiplication of 

 railways and collieries, the conversion of large areas of arable land into 

 pasture, and even the laying out of golf-courses, have all been potent 

 agents in the destruction of our native plants. Perhaps the most famous 

 of our disappearing species (though of course not a true native) is the 

 purple spring crocus (Crocus vernus) which formerly covered many acres 

 of the Nottingham meadows with such a luxuriant growth as to suggest 

 the idea of its having been sown as a crop. Most of the ground this 

 beautiful plant occupied is now built over, and though it still persists in 

 a very restricted area, it seems doomed to early and complete extinction. 

 In the same locality grew abundantly the autumnal crocus (C nudiflorus), 

 first recorded as a British plant in 1738 by Deering, and still to be found 

 there in recent years. The Nottingham Catchfly {Silene nutans) was still 

 common on the ruined walls of the old kitchens of the Castle up to 1889, 

 but the restoration of this part of the Castle in that year destroyed it. 

 It is probable, however, that the plant still lingers on the inaccessible 

 parts of the Castle-rock. 



The drainage of the few small areas of bog which formerly existed in 

 the county is responsible for the extinction of a number of interesting 

 plants. Such are the Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis), Lastrea uliginosa 

 and L. oreopteris, the Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). Cranberry {Oxy- 

 coccus quadripetala), Vaccinium vitis-idaea, and the beautiful Gentiana 

 pneumonanthe. On the other hand the rare Crested Fern (L. cristata) 

 still persists in its ancient station, along with the Marsh Fern (L. thelyp- 

 teris) and the Crowberry {Empetrum). The Bog Orchis {Epipactis 

 palustris), Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris), Butterwort (Pinguicula 

 vulgaris), Cnicus pratensis, and Crepis paludosa, long supposed to be 

 extinct, have been rediscovered, each in a single station. The Sweet-gale 

 (Myrica gale) also maintains its footing in a single locality, while the 

 Grass of Parnassus iParnassia palustris). Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella) 

 and the Cotton-grasses (Eriophoruin vaginatum and E. angustifolium) 

 may still be found. 



Other interesting plants which formerly occurred but have not been 

 seen for many years are Viola lutea (probably an error of identification), 

 Dianthus deltoides, Moenchia erecta, Radiola linoides. Geranium san- 

 guineum. Cicuta virosa, Myrrhis odorata, Bupleurum rotundifolium. 

 Antennaria dioica, Pyrola minor, Rhinanthus major, Rumex pulcher, 

 Spiranthes spiralis, Cephalanthera ensifolia and C. grandiflora. Orchis 



