THE VEGETATION OF WOODLANDS. 7 



and practical questions. In response to a request from the 

 editor, we propose to collect together here some of the more 

 important observations on woodlands. This is rendered the 

 more easy because an important paper on the woodlands of 

 England has been published recently.^ The time has not yet 

 come for publishing a similar account of Scottish woodlands, 

 but observations are being collected. Although the first 

 botanical survey was Scottish, yet the later investigations have 

 been more actively pursued south of the Border ; the areas 

 dealt with in England are, however, sufficiently varied to apply 

 generally to woodlands in Scotland. They range from the Lake 

 District over practically the whole of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, 

 and include many important areas of woodland in England, such 

 as the Lake District, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the Cotswold 

 and Chiltern Hills, and southwards to the well-wooded counties 

 of Hampshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex. In reviewing 

 the results obtained, the opportunity is taken to incorporate 

 other information on the composition of woods, and on the 

 relation of soil and climate to woodlands. 



The Structure of a Wood. 



The term wood is used here to include all areas covered with 

 trees, and, leaving out of account for the present whether the 

 wood is natural or planted, it may be useful to consider the 

 vegetation which goes to make a wood. From the silvicultural 

 point of view the trees are the important part of a wood ; from 

 the outlook of game preservation the undergrowth is often the 

 more important element ; but from the botanical point of view 

 canopy, shrubby growth and the: low ground-vegetation are all 

 equally important. 



A wood in middle age or during the later period shows a 

 series of layers of vegetation which, when perfectly developed, 

 are as follows: — (i) Canopy of trees, (2) shrubs, (3) ground- 

 vegetation. Frequently each of these may show a fairly well- 

 marked upper and lower layer, thus : — 



{a) Upper canopy, consisting of the taller dominant trees — 

 oak, ash, beech, Scots pine, larch, etc. 



1 "The Woodlands of England," by C. E. Moss, W. M. Rankin, and 

 A. G. Tansley. Reprinted from The Neiv Phytologist, vol. ix., April 1910, 

 36 pages. Copies (price is. id.) may be obtained from W. G. Smith (Hon. 

 Sec. Central Committee for British Vegetation), 13 George Square, Edinburgh. 



