SOME GENERAL HINTS AND NOTES 



SECTION V 



WOODS AND COPSES 



The Density of the Woods. An outstanding 

 feature of a wood or forest, especially in its 

 natural state, is its dense character. It is for 

 this reason that one resorts to it, for its cool 

 and shady character in summer is at once 

 a pleasing contrast to the open fields where 

 the full blaze of the sun is felt. But the 

 density of a wood has a more particular bear- 

 ing on the component parts of the woodland 

 flora. In the first place, it is the density 

 of the wood that makes the habit of the tree 

 zone. The close ranks of the tree-trunks 

 themselves cause each to have a particular 

 habit, and regulate the mode of branching 

 above. This is well shown where different 

 degrees of closeness are exhibited, as in 

 natural glades or clearings, or where arti- 

 ficial thinning or coppicing is carried out. 



The density of a wood also regulates the 

 extent and character of all the lower strata, 

 e.g. scrub and ground flora. Where a wood 

 is dense the scrub may be absent, or as in 

 case of the trees, attenuated, and growth con- 

 fined mainly to upward extension. In the 

 case of the ground flora the density of a 

 wood will cause the societies to be large or 

 small proportionally, or even absent in many 

 cases, as in a Beech woodland. Apart from 

 this effect on habit, a dense woodland is far 

 moister, darker, and more liable to fungal 

 pests. 



The Darkness of Woods. The darkness of 

 a wood has less effect upon habit than upon 

 the character of the lower zones, when the 

 absence of light is due to the density of the 

 tree zone. Since plants depend for the forma- 

 tion of starch very largely upon light, it is 

 obvious that this factor is of very great 

 importance. In a dense wood one may see 

 numerous instances of complete etiolation or 

 bleaching, and partial etiolation or variega- 



tion. The vigour of plants is also corre- 

 spondingly affected in other directions, in the 

 size and extent of their parts, the absence of 

 flowering or successful fruiting. Many trees 

 even may not succeed in flowering or maturing 

 seeds in a dark wood. 



The prevalence of fungi, which obtain their 

 carbohydrates ready made, is a feature of 

 woodlands, and their existence in a dark wood 

 is due to their ability to adapt themselves in 

 this way. The kindred groups of phanero- 

 gamic saprophytes or parasites, such as Broom- 

 rapes, Tooth wort, Bird's-nest Orchis, &c., that 

 live on the roots of trees, is another feature of 

 woods, and their dark character has perhaps 

 been here responsible for the differentiation of 

 such groups. 



Moisture of the Woods. Woods are the 

 principal agents in condensing the moisture 

 of the atmosphere in the bulk, and for this 

 reason their preservation is an actual neces- 

 sitv. It is only since the greater part of the 

 wooded areas have been disafforested that the 

 climate of this country has become so much 

 drier. 



One feature of woodland life that should be 

 noticed is the extraordinary wealth of the 

 lower plants or Cryptogams. These depend 

 upon water for the effective fertilization of the 

 ovum by the spermatozoid, which must meet 

 it in water. Hence the habitat they require 

 must be moist, and a woodland is an ideal 

 type of vegetation for this purpose. 



Here, too, is the home of those higher 

 plants that are unable to exist in the open 

 glare of the sun and need moist conditions. 

 Another effect of the moisture of the woods 

 that must not be overlooked is the luxuriance 

 of the vegetative organs. 



Coldness of the Woods. A condition that 

 regulates the distribution of plants is the 



