8 THE EXISTING FLOWERING PLANTS OF EPPING FOREST.
thrown open to the public. In 1890 I received a specimen taken
by Mr. P. Thompson from a well-known pond in the northern part
of the Forest area. As I had dipped in this pond for years without
seeing any trace of so remarkable a plant, I suspect it to be a recent
introduction.
Butomus umbellatus, Linn. Once plentiful in ditches
towards the Lea : now scarce there, but fairly plentiful in the Roding.
Triglochin palustre, Linn. Walthamstow marshes, sparingly.
Potamogeton natans, Linn. Abundant.
P. polygonifolius, Pour. Not uncommon.
P. lucens, Linn. In the Roding.
P. perfoliatus, Linn. In the Lea.
P. crispus, Linn. In several Forest ponds.
P. densus, Linn. Ditches near the Lea.
P. pectinatus, Linn. Wanstead Park.
Scirpus fluitans, Linn. Common in the southern part of the
district.
S. sylvaticus, Linn. Near Buckhurst Hill.
S. setaceus, Linn. Near Loughton ; rare.
Eriophorum (angustifolium ?), Roth. The species is rather
uncertain, as the spot is inaccessible where this "Cotton-grass" has
maintained its hold for the whole period I have known the Forest.
The commoner Carices are abundant in damp places. In
some spots Carex echinata, C. ovalis, C. goodenowii, C.
panicea, C. flava, and C hirta form the bulk of the herbage.
As Mr. Paulson has recently given a full list of the Forest
Carices in the Essex Naturalist (vol. iv., p. 137), the names need
not be repeated here. I have repeatedly looked in vain with him for
C. pulicaris at High Beach, where E. Foster knew of its existence
from 1795 to 1861.
The student of the Grasses will find our area anything but bare.
Since 1875 I have collected 49 species and two or three varieties.
Among the rarest are :—
Alopecurus fulvus, Sm, Near Walthamstow.
Milium effusum, Linn. Near Epping, and (1891) Buckhurst
Hill.
Calamagrostis epigios, Roth. Sewardstone.
Apera spica-venti. Beauv. About Walthamstow.