THE ANKER VALLEY AND ITS FLORA. 
57 
Extensive quarries of quartzite occur at Hartsliill and 
Caldecote ; these have been made greatly interesting by the 
important discoveries of Professor Lapworth and Mr. Harrison. 
The rich Warwickshire coalfields which, lie mostly on the left 
bank of this river include those of Paddesley, Poleswortli, 
Austrey, Hartsliill, Griff, Nuneaton, and Bed worth, which 
yield not only their valuable mineral wealth, but also charge 
the atmosphere with dense volumes of smoke. 
Permian rocks occur at Baddesley, rocks of the Bunter 
formation are seen at Poleswortli, Bramcote Hall, and 
Warton, but the principal formation is that of the Upper 
New Red Sandstone, or Keuper. Calcareous beds occur 
near Bole Hall, but do not seem to in any way influence the 
flora. Red marl, white sandstone and conglomerate are to 
be seen near Marston Jabet and Warton, and in the latter 
village many of the fences and small houses are built of 
sandstone. 
Although the district as a whole is well wooded, woods 
of any great extent are to be found only on the western 
side of the river. Here we have what may possibly be a 
portion of the remains of the old Forest of Arden, the more 
noticeable being Arbury Woods, Hartsliill Hayes, the woods 
about Oldbury and Atlierstone, Bentley Park, Menvale Park, 
Grendon Woods, and Birch Coppice. On the east side of 
the river the woods are usually little more than copses, 
Weddington Wood, formerly extensive, being now a thing of 
the past. 
The woods are by no means prolific in woodland species, 
even such plants as the Cow-wlieat, Melampyrum pratense ; the 
Yellow Pimpernel, Lysimachia nemorum\ the Pendulous Sedge, 
Corex pendula ; the Wood Spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides ; 
the greater Wood-rush, Luzula maxima , being confined to 
woods about Bentley, Oldbury, and Arbury. Herb Paris, 
Paris quadri/olia, I have seen in Hartsliill Hayes and near 
Oldbury in a spinney. The yellow Bird’s-nest Orchis, 
Neottia nidus-avis, and Lily-of-the-valley, Convallaria majalis, 
both occur in Bentley Park. The wild Service Tree, Pyrus 
torminalis', Water Purslane, Pep Us portula ; the Pale Sedge, 
Co rex pallescens ; Wood Scorpion Grass, Myosotis sylvatica, 
are, I think, confined to Hartsliill Hayes. The Wood Horse¬ 
tail, Equisetum sylvaticum ; Great Horse-tail, E. maximum, 
occur abundantly in Bentley Park, the latter also sparingly 
in Arbury Park; the Wood Club Rush, Scirpus sylvaticus, has 
at present only been observed in Merivale Park; the Wood 
Snrill-reed, Calamayrostis epigejos, only in a thicket near 
Wolvey; the Service Tree, Pyrus Aria, near Weddington; 
