SOME GENERAL HINTS AND NOTES 



SECTION X 



FLOWERS OF THE BOGS AND MARSHES 



Bogs and Moors. 1 Bog and moor both owe 

 their origin to the clearing of forests from 

 regions which became waterlogged, and thus 

 established conditions suitable for the forma- 

 tion of peat. A fen resembles a bog, but in- 

 cludes marsh, with lowland vegetation, and 

 contains very little peat. In the case of 

 bogs and moors the peat is thick. They are 

 developed upon the higher parts of the hilly 

 tracts in the north and west; but a bog is 

 essentially a wetter type of formation than a 

 moor. Moors occupy in fact more convex 

 portions of highlands than the bog or fen, 

 which have a concave basis, or lie in hollows. 



The moor also is similar in some respects 

 to a heath in being drier, and the peat is the 

 subsoil for similar types of Ericaceous plants. 

 But the subsoil of the moors does not, as in 

 the case of heaths, affect the vegetation, the 

 sand and gravel underlying a heath with thin 

 peat or humus being confined to particular 

 districts. The moor and the bog or fen then 

 are characteristic of the more humid parts of 

 the British Isles. 



Local Character of Bogs and Moors. Owing 

 to the necessity for the development of peat on 

 a large scale and the dependence on more or 

 less moist conditions, bogs and moors are not 

 widely dispersed in the British Isles; and in- 

 deed the plants which are characteristic of 

 these types of formation are of very rare occur- 

 rence for the most part. This is partly due to 

 the universal cultivation and drainage of the 

 country after the cutting down of trees. But 

 it is also due to more natural causes. These 

 are the requirement of a considerable altitude, 

 and the constant replenishment of the peat, 

 which is normally developed only in regions 

 of great rainfall. 



1 See also Section IX, where dry moors are treated with 

 heaths. The two divisions overlap to some extent. 



Bogs and moors are, in fact, confined to 

 the lofty mountains or hilly regions which are 

 based upon the distribution of the older rocks 

 in this country. These are found for the most 

 part in the west of England, in Wales, in 

 the Lake District, and in Scotland generally. 

 Yorkshire also is mainly composed of lofty hills, 

 covered by moorland vegetation. In Ireland 

 peat is widespread in the whole of the north- 

 west, and along the western half of the country. 

 Thus moorland and fen are developed in the 

 regions of the greatest rainfall and altitude. 



Marsh Plants and Aquatic Plants. Since 

 marshes are areas where plants are in various 

 stages of submergence, it is not unnatural that 

 they should show various degrees of connection 

 with plants that are entirely submerged, or 

 aquatic plants. Marsh vegetation and aquatic 

 vegetation are, in fact, intimately connected. 

 The former is often marginal to the latter, 

 and the plants of the one are frequently com- 

 mon to the other; thus a river or lake with 

 aquatic vegetation may give rise to a marsh 

 at its edge. The difference again between 

 marsh formations and fen or carr vegetation 

 is less marked than the difference between 

 the former and moorland vegetation, the alka- 

 line nature of the water of the second resem- 

 bling that of a marsh. Marsh vegetation 

 may, on the other hand, become transitional 

 to wet meadows by drainage. Marsh plants 

 are also largely common to salt marshes 

 where the conditions are suitable. 



Peat and its Characteristics. Peat is the 

 result of the accumulation of vegetable matter 

 in such a state that it has preserved its original 

 character to a very great extent. It is rela- 

 tively dry at the surface, and owing to oxida- 

 tion browner, whilst below it is much wetter 

 and black. The lowest layers may be amor- 

 phous, and exhibit no traces of the original 



