SOME GENERAL HINTS AND 
NOTES 
SECTION V 
WOODS AND COPSES 
The Density of the Woods.—An outstanding 
feature of a wood or forest, especially in its 
natural state, is its dense character. It is for 
this reason that one resorts to it, for its cool 
and shady character in summer is at once 
a pleasing contrast to the open fields where 
the full blaze of the sun is felt. But the 
density of a wood has a more particular bear- 
ing on the component parts of the woodland 
flora. In the first place, it is the density 
of the wood that makes the habit of the tree 
zone. The ranks of the tree-trunks 
themselves cause each to have a particular 
habit, and regulate the mode of branching 
above. This is well shown where different 
degrees of closeness are exhibited, as in 
natural glades or clearings, or where arti- 
ficial thinning or coppicing is carried out. 
The density of a wood also regulates the 
extent and character of all the lower strata, 
e.g. scrub and ground flora. Where a wood 
is dense the scrub may be absent, or as in 
case of the trees, attenuated, and growth con- 
fined mainly to upward extension. In the 
case of the ground flora the density of a 
wood will cause the societies to be large or 
small proportionally, or even absent in many 
cases, as in a Beech woodland. Apart from 
this effect on habit, a dense woodland is far 
moister, darker, and more liable to fungal 
pests. 
The Darkness of Woods.—The darkness of 
a wood has less effect upon habit than upon 
the character of the lower zones, when the 
absence of light is due to the density of the 
tree zone. Since plants depend for the forma- 
tion of starch very largely upon light, it is 
obvious that this factor is of very great 
importance. In a dense wood one may see 
numerous instances of complete etiolation or 
bleaching, and partial etiolation or variega- 
close 
tion. The vigour of plants is also corre- 
spondingly affected in other directions, in the 
size and extent of their parts, the absence of 
flowering or successful fruiting. Many trees 
even may not succeed in flowering or maturing 
seeds in a dark wood. 
The prevalence of fungi, which obtain their 
carbohydrates ready made, is a feature of 
woodlands, and their existence in a dark wood 
is due to their ability to adapt themselves in 
this way. The kindred groups of phanero- 
gamic saprophytes or parasites, such as Broom- 
rapes, Toothwort, Bird’s-nest Orchis, &c., that 
live on the roots of trees, is another feature of 
woods, and their dark character has perhaps 
been here responsible for the differentiation of 
such groups. 
Moisture of the Woods.—Woods are the 
principal agents in condensing the moisture 
of the atmosphere in the bulk, and for this 
reason their preservation is an actual neces- 
sity. It is only since the greater part of the 
wooded areas have been disafforested that the 
climate of this country has become so much 
drier. 
One feature of woodland life that should be 
noticed is the extraordinary wealth of the 
lower plants or Cryptogams. These depend 
upon water for the effective fertilization of the 
ovum by the spermatozoid, which must meet 
it in water. Hence the habitat they require 
must be moist, and a woodland is an ideal 
type of vegetation for this purpose. 
Here, too, is the home of those higher 
plants that are unable to exist in the open 
glare of the sun and need moist conditions. 
Another effect of the moisture of the woods 
that must not be overlooked is the luxuriance 
of the vegetative organs. 
Coldness of the Woods.—A condition that 
regulates the distribution of plants is the 
239 
