266 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxviit. 



The mosses collectively form one of the most character- 

 istic features of these woods. There is scarcely a rock, a 

 tree-trunk, or a stone dyke where some representative of 

 the class is not an occupant, or an association of woodland 

 plants that does not include several. Although not absent 

 from the moor and the shore, or even from the pasture 

 fields, it is in the shade and moisture of the woods that they 

 flourish in greatest numbers both of species and individuals. 

 Luxuriating in the dull damp clays of autumn and winter, 

 they show to best advantage while most other plants are 

 undergoing their winter sleep ; humble in their positions, 

 and unobtrusive in their growth, they yet give beauty and 

 colour to otherwise lifeless surroundings. 



The numbers of archegoniate plants present in these 

 woods is an indication of the constancy of moist conditions. 

 Not all arrive, at the same season of the year, at that stage 

 in their life-history when water is a necessity, and the 

 minimum exposure to drying winds and sun, as well as 

 the conditions of situation favouring the retention of 

 surface moisture, enables that critical stage to be passed 

 through by some or others of the group at almost any 

 time. 



The other three associations may be treated collectively. 

 For considerable areas through the wood Mercurialis 

 perennis, Linn., and Luzula sylvatica, Gaud., are the 

 dominant plants. Sometimes they are found together, but 

 more often one or the other almost monopolises wide 

 tracts. Mercurialis is found in the richer and deeper 

 soils, and is often associated with Scilla nutans, Sm., and 

 Allium ursinum, Linn. Luzula sylvatica, Gaud., is a 

 particularly aggressive plant, spreading freely by means 

 of both seed and creeping rootstock. Higher up the glen 

 on drier and poorer soils, and where the ground has been 

 more recently reclaimed from the moor, Vaccinium 

 Myrtillus, Linn. ; Teucrium Scorodonia, Linn. ; and 

 Lomaria Spicant, Desv., are often found associated. 



Toward Point. — At Toward Point two small areas of 

 woodland require special notice because of the difference 

 in soil and situation. These are : — 



(1) A few acres of plantation — thirty to forty years old 

 — in low-lying marshy ground. 



