ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
limit also other plants disappear. The typical 
vegetation above this is the moorland heather, 
&c., varied with Matweed or wet-soil plants, 
as in the bogs, which cover so large a part of 
the uplands. Asa whole, in fact, the flora of 
a roadside is usually very uniform in this 
respect, as it is a sine gua non to provide a 
level road. But there are considerable varia- 
tions in altitude in the same road, and the 
flora even at the bottom of a long steep hill 
will differ from that at the top, if only from 
the greater exposure to wind. 
At low levels in flat country the roads may 
frequently be under water for some period of 
the year, or the surrounding district over- 
saturated with moisture, especially near rivers. 
In this case many plants will be dispersed, 
owing to the floods, by the carrying of seeds 
from elsewhere, and aquatic plants often 
spring up along such roads. 
The influence of altitude upon plants in this 
way should be carefully noticed, and lists of 
plants at different heights should be made and 
compared. 
Effect upon Habit.—The tree types and hedge 
or scrub of a roadside may be continuous or dis- 
continuous. In the former case, if the two sides 
of the road are equally allowed to attain their 
full development, as in an avenue, to take an 
extreme case, the effect upon the rest of the 
flora will be similar to that of a ride or glade 
in a wood, and the conditions as regards light, 
moisture, and protection will be such as shade- 
plants require. The latter have several types 
of habit, as the inversely pyramidal, grass 
habit, and rosette habit. Where the tree and 
scrub are discontinuous the conditions will be 
intermediate, and sun-plants will in this case 
be more dominant, whilst shade-plants will 
seek the shelter of the hedge bottom or ditch. 
In the opposite extreme case, where both trees 
and scrub are absent and the hedges layered 
or cut back, shade-plants will survive only in 
the hedge bottom and ditch. 
The flora of the sward in the first case will 
be more akin to that of a woodland, whilst in 
the third case the flora will be of a dry-soil 
meadow type. The plants in the ditches, 
owing to the narrow character of the latter, 
will be erect and drawn up, developing spike- 
like flowering stems, and reduced or rosette 
foliage, whilst the aquatic types will be less 
well-developed, and in the intense struggle for 
existence will at the lowest level show ab- 
normal characters. The hedgerow plants and 
trees are largely affected in habit by artificial 
trimming or layering. 
Flowering Seasons.—The flora of the road- 
side is decidedly composite, so that the seasons 
of flowering of wayside and hedgerow plants 
249 
are sufficiently representative. The meadow 
types that flourish on the sward are akin to 
those that grow in the fields, and these, except 
Grasses, are more or less early. Plants such 
as the Ragworts, Red Bartsia, and Rushes 
are late-flowering. The Sedges usually met 
with are early-flowering species, as Carex 
verna (or precox), Carex glauca, &c. The 
Daisy and the Dandelion are almost perennial, 
The ditch vegetation, like that of truly 
aquatic formations, is as a whole late, e.g. 
Watercress, Great White Stitchwort, many 
Rushes, Sedges, &c., whilst Cuckoo Flower is 
early in flowering. The plants that lurk in 
the hedge bottom are representative of all 
months of the year. The Lesser Celandine 
appears almost before any other flowers, and 
the Spurge Laurel soon after. The Common 
Chickweed is nearly perennial. Moschatel is 
fairly early, and so, as wayside plants, are 
Lords and Ladies and Dog’s Mercury, indicat- 
ing former woodland. The Red Campion, 
also a woodland plant, is a little later. Ground 
Ivy is one of the early plants, and Germander 
Speedwell also. 
In the hedge the Hazel is the first to bloom, 
then come the Sloe, Crab Apple, Hawthorn, 
and still later the Dog Rose, Cornel, Guelder 
Rose, and Buckthorn. Privet is the latest, 
save the Ivy. Of the trees, the Elms are very 
early, as are the Willows, then the Ash, the 
Oak, Beech, Field Maple, and Lime com- 
mence to flower by degrees. 
Effect upon Height.—The continuity or other- 
wise of the trees and scrub in the hedgerow 
has a marked effect upon the rest of the road- 
side flora. Much depends upon the direction 
of the road, and the relation of the sun to the 
barriers that the hedges form to its path across 
the road. 
There are roughly four types of vegetation 
along a roadside or a hedgerow, and the plants 
of each type more or less retain the same rela- 
tive standard as to height, save in the case of 
the plants on one side which receive least sun, 
or are hidden by an overhanging hedge or tree 
belt. The height of the ditch plants is regu- 
lated by the height of the ditch. Those that 
grow vigorously, as Great Hairy Willow-herb, 
endeavour to reach above the banks on either 
side, and are usually abnormally long. Hence 
they must not be taken as typical examples. 
The plants at the bottom, as Watercress, are 
necessarily dwarfed, and consequent upon the 
crowded character of the ditch often lie along 
the bottom in a procumbent manner, and so 
lose height, even if they do not spread much 
more extensively than usual. The plants 
below or at the bottom of the hedge, as Three- 
nerved Stitchwort, usually lie on the surface, 
