22 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



good many local plants occur which are not often found in 

 oak-wood districts, e.g., lily of the valley, stone-bramble {Rubiis 

 saxattlis), wood geranium {G. sylvaticum), and others. 



The typical ash-wood is not hard to distinguish, but difficulties 

 arise when we find that this becomes modified into a mixed ash- 

 oak-wood on soils where the lime is much mixed with sandy 

 material. In many respects the ash-oak-wood resembles the 

 damp oak-wood, but frequently the ground-vegetation is enriched 

 by the presence of species characteristic of calcareous soils, 

 such as those just mentioned above. The following shrubs 

 also indicate this type of wood : wayfaring tree ( Viburnum 

 Lantana), spindle-tree {Euonytnus europceus), and wild clematis. 

 The mixed wood of oak and ash is familiar to many foresters 

 and may have arisen from seedling ash taking the place of 

 the oak removed. In some districts open places in oak-woods 

 soon become occupied by seedling ash trees ; in other localities 

 breaks are filled with seedling birch. The reason must 

 be something more than the seeding. Ash and birch may both 

 be dispersed from fruiting trees, but in the one case the ash 

 survives best, in the other it is the birch. It would be 

 premature at the present time to say that the presence of ash 

 indicates lime, or that lime-content is the cause of ash being 

 present ; the outstanding fact is that on distinctly calcareous 

 soils ash is a conspicuous tree in the woodlands. 



The beech-wood association is another calcareous type found 

 on the chalk escarpments and valley sides of south-eastern 

 England, including the Chiltern Hills; beech-woods are also well 

 developed on the Cotswolds. This area is regarded as the habitat 

 of the native beech ii.i Britain, because there it forms natural 

 woods with a characteristic undergrowth. This tree grows 

 quite well in northern England and in the Lowlands of Scotland, 

 and may be the last tree seen in ascending many valleys towards 

 the moorlands ; it may even ripen its seed, and seedlings may 

 be found, but it is generally held by botanists that in northern 

 Britain the beech is always a planted tree. The authors of the 

 " Woodlands of England " have confirmed this view after examin- 

 ing most of the well-known beech-wood areas. Under the deep 

 shade, the ground-vegetation is meagre, oak is rarely met with, 

 but yew is fairly frequent; ash varies considerably, but in some 

 parts appears to be replacing beech where this fails to rejuvenate. 

 The ground-vegetation, where it exists, includes dog's mercury. 



