XXX VI. THE l-'LORA OF HALIFAX. 



Cavdamine flexuosa Cavex echinata 



Spivaa U I man a C. pendula 



Geuin vivale C. laevigata 



Angelica sylvestvis Deschampsia ciespitosa 



Valeriana sambucifolia Holcus lanaUis 



Cnicus palustris Equisctum sylvaticum 



Crepis paludosa E. palustre 



As the beech affords much greater shade than the oak, 

 wherever a beech plantation is met with in the heart of a mixed 



wood, a corresponding effect may be noticed on 

 Beech the vegetation beneath. Not only is the corn- 



Woods, petition of the beeches sufficient to exclude 



other forest trees and shrubby undergrowth, 



but the herbaceous vegetation becomes much more limited. 



The conditions are dense shade, except in the early spring, and 



a moist soil enriched with the humus of the decayed leaves. If 



the trees are close set, hardly anything will be found beneath 



the carpet of withered leaves, except a few mosses. Such an 



extreme case is not found here, but the small areas of beech 



wood in Sun Wood, North Dean Wood, or High Green Wood 



show the same principle. Such shade-loving or early flowering 



plants as perennial mercury, wood-rufF, wood-sorrel, anemone, 



lesser celandine, and blue-bell are generally present, though in 



greatly reduced numbers ; moisture-loving plants like garlic, 



valerian, Luzula sylvatica and Stachys sylvatica, may be present. 



Hevacleum Sphondylinm wins an entrance from the neighbouring 



wood but is only a shadow of its real self. The common moss 



Milium hornum seems most at home of anything, and spreads 



very freely on the ground, the competition of other plants being 



so greatly reduced. Of the grasses, Melica uniflora and Milium 



effusiim are both adapted to the shade, but if the wood is more 



open Holcus mollis gains a footing along with the common ferns, 



Lastvcea dilatata perhaps taking the lead. The only shrubs 



present are ivy, raspberry and blackberry, the last of which is 



generally confined to the edges. 



At the other extremity of the scale, there comes in the dry 

 oak, or oak and birch, wood. Situated on a rocky, dry, elevated 

 slope, moisture is lacking, and there is much more light pene- 

 trating through the thinner foliage. So the 

 Dry Oak moisture and shade-loving plants of the damp 



Woods. mixed wood are absent, and their places are 



taken by a flora which comes in from the moors. 

 Parts of North Dean Wood, or the woods in the Hebden Valley, 



