WOODS AND COPSES 
rule. The pedunculate Oak has wet-soil con- 
ditions, the sessile being adapted to dry-soil 
conditions. 
The woodlands on calcareous soils (Carboni- 
ferous Limestone, Chalk, Oolite) afford in the 
case of Ash woods varied habitats or types of 
association, the plants being often gregarious, 
as in the case of Dog’s Mercury and Arch- 
angel. They rise to some altitude. On marls 
the Ash-Oak woods are variable in the types 
of association. In the case of Beech woods 
the habitat is upland very largely, and dry, 
there being a scanty scrub and ground flora. 
The Habit of Woodland Plants.—The wet 
or dry character of the woodland determines 
largely the nature of the habit. Thus in 
Alder-Willow woodland associations the plants, 
such as Rushes, Grasses, and Sedges, with the 
grass habit are largely tufted or caspitose. 
Even the rosette types are frequently tufted, 
as in the case of Marsh Marigold and Bitter- 
cress. The procumbent or trailing habit is 
also characteristic. These habits are transi- 
tional to the submerged and floating habits of 
purely aquatic plants, which are intimately 
associated with fen formations. 
In the normal dry woodlands the tree habit 
is the dominant one. The scrub is analogous 
to that of the tree habit, but is always influenced 
by the tree zone. The stems and branches are 
less strong, and thick, the leaves are small, 
and often several times pinnate. Spines are 
more numerous, and the flowers are more 
suited in most cases to pollination by insects. 
The ground flora is variable in habit. There 
is the climbing habit of the Ivy or the Honey- 
suckle, &c., adapted to reliance upon the sup- 
port of trees or scrub. The bulbous or tuber- 
ous habit is especially typical, e.g. Bluebell, 
Orchids. A large number of plants are pros- 
trate or procumbent, or provided with creeping 
underground stems, Strawberry, Wood 
Anemone. 
Flowering Seasons in the Woods.—The shade 
conditions in a woodland have a marked effect 
upon the periods of flowering. There are thus, 
apart from the general seasons of flowering in 
May, June, and July, when the sunlight is fuller 
and stronger, early-flowering plants and late- 
flowering plants. Those plants that flower 
early, seize the opportunity of doing so before 
the leaves of the trees appear, or at least before 
the foliage is fully developed. The growth 
season of bulbous plants is short, and they 
flower early in consequence. 
The earlier plants to bloom in the woods are 
the Winter Aconite, Snowdrop, Lesser Celan- 
dine, Spurge Laurel, &c. 
The trees themselves largely flower before 
the leaves, owing to their adaptation for wind 
Vou. III. 
as 
243 
pollination, as the pollen would be less likely 
to be dispersed when the leaves are fully ex- 
panded. The Willows depend partly on the 
wind, partly on insects, and so flower early. 
The scrub is largely influenced by the same 
factors also. The Hazel relies on wind pol- 
lination, and is the earliest to flower. The 
Blackthorn also flowers before the leaves ap- 
pear, since it is more conspicuous then than 
later. The Grasses, in spite of the fact that 
they are chiefly wind-pollinated, flower, as a 
rule, rather late in the woods. 
The late-flowering groups are chiefly the 
Hawkweeds, rosette plants whose scapes are 
long. The Brambles, owing to the great out- 
put of stems and branches, also flower late. 
The latest plant to flower of all plants is a 
woodland plant, the Ivy. 
Height of Woodland Plants. —A particular 
feature of the woodlands is the height of the 
dominant type, the trees. It is largely owing 
to their height, which is regulated to a con- 
siderable extent by the wind and soil, that they 
are the dominant type of plant, next to Grasses, 
in the world flora itself. 
This character enables them to outstrip other 
plants in the struggle for sunlight and air. 
They are thereby enabled to counteract the 
influence of all other classes of plants, which 
growing below do not affect them in these 
respects. These facts require special emphasis. 
The lower strata of plants are directly in- 
fluenced as regards height (and other factors 
equally) by the dominance of the tree zone. 
This is seen in its greatest extreme in a Beech 
wood, where the ground flora is often 777. 
The scrub, e.g. Blackthorn, Elder, &c., 
suffers less than the ground flora, and this is 
seen in clearings, where the scrub may rival 
the younger trees in height, &c. Like the 
tree zone, the scrub normally has a definite 
upper limit. The undershrubs, that are in 
turn dominated by the scrub or large shrubs 
and smaller trees, also approximate in height 
to a certain standard. 
The ground flora is of course influenced 
most by being covered by two strata above. 
Consequently, as a rule, it also approximates 
to a certain general height, e.g. Grasses, and 
others with the grass habit. Orchids and 
bulbous plants come next. Then there are 
the trailers, such as the Barren Strawberry; 
and lastly the mosses and hepatics. 
Life Duration of Woodland Plants.—<As a rule, 
shade plants are perennial, whilst the annuals 
and the biennials are to be found amongst the 
sun plants. A feature of the woods, dominated 
by the tree type as they are, is the deciduous 
character of the vegetation, at least in the cold 
temperate zone, This is an adaptation to 
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