i86 



HINTS AND NOTES 



wort, Scorpion Grass, Water Fitfwort, Skull- 

 cap, iMarsli Woundwort, Great Water Dock, 

 Marsh Orchid, Yellow Flag, HuniniocU Sedge, 

 Tussock Grass (Calahrosa aqualica). Manna 

 Grass, Horsetail, &:c. 



Wet and Submerged Character of Marshes. — 

 Marsh vegetatioji is distinctly hygrophilous, or 

 made up of plants that require a considerable 

 amount of moisture; in the marsh the soil is 

 saturated with water, but owing to the close 

 association of the plants and the absence of 

 channels, the water is stagnant, and peat is 

 formed on a small scale. 



Relatively the same conditions are thus 

 obtained b}- the marsh plants in the lowlands 

 that are seized upon by bog or moorland 

 plants in the uplands. But there is an essen- 

 tial difl'erence in the resulting soil conditions 

 or w-ater content. In the marsh the soil may 

 be peat or silt, the water if rich in mineral 

 salts is alkaline. In the bog the water is also 

 alkaline, but more so, and the peat thick, and 

 in the moor the water is acid, whilst the water 

 is derived from aerial sources. 



A marsh is an aquatic formation of a closed 

 character in which there is not a free circula- 

 tion of water. In aquatic vegetation the plants 

 are submerged beneath the water-table, and as 

 a rule So per cent of their surface is covered. 

 In a marsh the percentage may be between 

 5 and 20 per cent. 



Habitats of Bog and Marsh Plants. — A com- 

 mon charactt'rislic of both bog and marsh 

 plants is the moist nature of the habitat. The 

 flora of a bog is exposed to wind and insola- 

 tion, and sunshine for long periods, and it 

 shows adaptation to these conditions. Little 

 shade is afforded for the bog plants, except by 

 the few shrubby types for the smaller plants, 

 e.g. trailers. 



The bog or fen vegetation may be extensive, 

 and afford habitats for a number of ditilerent 

 plants ; or consist of a few plants, as Cotton 

 Grass, making up a wide association. 



Trees and scrub are much more frequent in 

 a marsh than in an upland bog, and the marsh 

 flora in any case exhibits a greater diversity 

 as it merges into aquatic vegetation, which 

 is verv diversified. 



The Habits of Bog and Marsh Plants.— 

 Bog plants as a whole are strikingly homo- 

 geneous in their habit of growth. The domin- 

 ant habit is the grass habit, as in the case of 

 the Sedges, Cotton Grass, &c. But the rosette 

 habit is also not uncommon, as in Butterwort, 

 Grass of Parnassus, &c. The trailing habit is 

 met with in the case of the Bog Pimpernel, 

 common also to the marsh flora. The shrub 

 habit is found in the case of Cranberr\-, Wild 

 Rosemarv, and Bog Mvrtle. In all cases 



there is a marked reduction in leaf and stem 

 owing to the xerophytic adaptations which the 

 bog plants have acquired. 



The marsh flora is more or less similar in 

 general characteristics to the bog flora, as far as 

 the dominance of the grass type is concerned, 

 but contains numerous other types less usual 

 in the bog flora. 



Some plants are procumbent types, such 

 as the Bog Bean. Non-glumaceous plants 

 adopt the grass habit when associated with 

 Grasses, e.g. Bog Speedwell, Bog Asphodel, 

 and (ireat and Lesser Spearworts. The in- 

 versely pyramidal habit is found in .Marsh 

 Marigold and .Marsh Louseworl. 



Height of Bog and Marsh Plants. — Bog 

 plants are perpetually exposed to wind, and 

 are as a whole not tall. The development of 

 the grass habit, in fact, establishes a more or 

 less uniform height, which is from g in. to 

 1 ft. or 18 in. The necessity for adaptation 

 to dr)- conditions also prevents upward growth. 



The marsh flora containing tree types con- 

 sists of much loftier types, and again, wind is 

 less influential in a marsh than in an upland 

 bog. The marsh flora is altogether less sub- 

 ject to dry conditions, hence the ground flora 

 is more luxuriant, and the plants are generallv 

 more robust. 



The Flowering Seasons of Bog and Marsh 

 Plants. — As might be expected in the case of 

 plants which flourish only where there is some 

 degree of moisture, the flowering seasons of 

 bog and marsh plants are as a whole rather 

 late. 



The earliest plant to flower amongst those 

 especially selected for description is the Marsh 

 Marigold, which blooms in March. The 

 White Willow comes next, and flowers with 

 others in April. 



In May, Valerian, Rosemary, Butterwort, 

 Bog Myrtle, Cotton Grass, and Great Pricklv 

 Sedge, with other Sedges, commence to bloom. 



The plants that flower for the first time in 

 June are Great Spearwort, Cranberry, Bog 

 Speedwell, Marsh Red Rattle, Bladderwort, 

 Jointed Rush, and Hummock Sedge. 



When July opens, a number of others just 

 commence to tlower, and but few plants linger 

 till August and September before they bloom, 

 such as .Sundew, Water Violet, Bog Bean, 

 (iolden Dock, Marsh Helleborine, Bog .Aspho- 

 del, Galingale, Common Spike Rush, Prickly 

 Twig Rush, Bog Pimpernel, and Grass of 

 Parnassus. 



The Duration of Bog and Marsh Plants. — 

 Bog and marsh plants are amongst the most 

 truly native of our wild plants. The vegeta- 

 tion they make up is cssentiallv primitive, de- 

 rived verv largelv from arctic or northern 



