4 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



True forests in the Temperate regions (excluding conifers) are 

 mainly made up of deciduous trees, the regions of winter following the 

 fall of the leaf. The leaves, their texture, form, and position are all 

 adapted to meet the necessary conditions of light. Below the tall 

 trees are shrubs and bush, and .below these a characteristic ground flora 

 of plants with broad, flat, smooth leaves, as in Wood Sorrel, Wood 

 Anemone, Wood Balsam, Enchanter's Nightshade, Moschatel, Dog's 

 Mercury, Lily-of-the- Valley, &c. 



Woods are especially characterized by the predominance of some 

 one species which grows there at its best, e.g. Beech, Oak, and Birch. 

 The Beech wood forms a dark wood where the ground is bare or 

 strewn with leaves, and the soil may be mild humus or sour humus. 

 In the first one finds Woodruff, Wood Sorrel, Wood Anemone, Sweet 

 Violet, Dog's Mercury, Melic Grass, Millet, Ivy, Great Stitchwort, 

 Lungwort, Sedges, Poa nemoralis, Winter Aconite, Moschatel, Wound- 

 wort, Enchanter's Nightshade, Herb Paris, Lily-of-the- Valley, Solo- 

 mon's Seal, Helleborines, Twayblade, Bird's Nest Orchid, also Coral 

 Root, Monotropa, Epipogum, &c., Gagea, &c. On a sour humus one 

 finds Deschampsia flexuosa, Trientalis, May Flower, Cow Wheat, 

 Ling, Whortleberry, and so on. 



The Oak forest or wood lets in more light between its branches 

 and neighbouring trunks. Amongst the oaks are found Lime, Maple, 

 Aspen, Elm, Ash, and Hornbeam. The ground flora is abundant, and 

 there are numerous shrubs forming a bush of Hazel, Hawthorn, Maple, 

 Sloe, Hornbeam, Spindle Tree, Willow, Guelder Rose, Bramble, 

 Honeysuckle. Amongst the ground flora are the Wood Anemone, 

 Violets, Vetches, Meadow Vetchling, St. John's Wort, Cinquefoil, 

 Bluebell, Milfoil. The Common Brake Fern forms dense brakes here 

 (hence the name). 



True Birch forests are not prevalent in Britain, being found in 

 higher latitudes, and they are often planted here. Ashwoods occur 

 on limestone and chalk soils. 



The Sylvestral, or Septal plants as they are also called, are a large 

 section of the British flora numbering some 300, including some dry- 

 soil heath plants which survive from a former woodland association. 



We have included some 42 of the woodland plants here, some 

 of which are common to Beech, some to Oak woods, some found on 

 ordinary humus, some on sour humus, and so on. 



In the shaded depths and open clearings amongst hazels and 

 sallows the shy and delicate Wind Flower finds a shelter in the 

 woods. Here, too, Goldielocks lurks in the shade, seldom having all 



