MORE ABOUT "MOORLOG." 243
Common Reed flourished with other marsh plants, including
sedges. Mrs. Reid identified three species of Carex, C. rostrata,
C. flava and C. pulicaris, besides Floating Sedge (Scirpus
fluitans) and Creeping Sedge (Eleocharis). Associated with
these came Water Plantain, Bur Reeds, Sparganium ramo-
sum, S. simplex and the floating variety 5. natans. Plants
with more conspicuous flowers include Ragged Robin,
Willow Herb, Greater Spearwort, Meadow Sweet and the Marsh
Cinquefoil. A complete list of animals and plants is given in
Appendix B.
Of trees, remains of branches, roots and fruits show the
Birch to have been widely distributed ; a few nuts prove the
existence of Hazel, and leaf impressions indicate the Willows
Salix aurita and S. repens. Numerous pollen grains of a species
of Pine—probably Pinus sylvestris—form the only other evidence
of trees. An unidentified fern was plentiful, its sporangia
appearing.
The flora of the Dogger Bank on the whole must have been
-similar to that of the fenlands of East Anglia to-day, though a
comparison of the floras reveals great gaps in that of the Dogger
Bank. The geological record is by no means perfect. Birch
stems, fruits and roots survive, willow leaves make impressions,
reeds bequeath easily recognisable rhizomes, the hard parts of
iruits—Carex fruits for instance—remain, but many Fenland
plants, e.g., orchids, sundews and Grass of Parnassus have tiny
seeds, so minute that one could hardly hope to recover them.
Again, a fertile seed on germination ruptures its seed coat and so
destroys the best evidence of the plant's existence. This raises
a point of great interest. Why are seeds of Bog-bean so numer-
ous and why have so large a proportion of them the testa intact ?
Were large numbers of them sterile ? The achenes of the Marsh
Cinquefoil, on the other hand, have been split open, as if
germination had taken place.
No bones of any kind have been found.
Beetle remains occur in the form of elytra or wing cases. Mr.
Champion determined nine species, chiefly common marsh in-
sects. I have recently picked out 56 specimens and among these
Mr. Blair has recognised six genera and has been able to give
specific names in five cases. The insects are all Fenland species
still in existence, the commonest being Donacia which lives on
marsh plants.