12 



VEGETATION OF THE PEAK DISTRICT 



[CH. 



peat and hill peat, should be ignored on most of the maps of 

 the Geological Survey, even on their published drift maps. 

 However, this fact makes such vegetation maps as accompany 

 this memoir all the more valuable; as, on vegetation maps, the 

 plant associations characteristic of peaty soils are indicated ; and 

 thus the occurrence and distribution of peat may be inferred. 



The following table summarizes the chief strata and soils 

 of the district, and states the general character of their 

 accompanying vegetation. Farmland and plantations occur, to 

 a greater or lesser extent, on all the rocks and soils, except on 

 wet peat, and are omitted from the table. Marsh vegetation 

 and stream vegetation also occur on all the soils; and these 

 also are omitted. 



Geological Strata 



Soils 



Vegetation 



I. Carboniferous 

 or Mountain Lime- 

 stone rocks 



b. Volcanic rocks 



c. Chert 



d. Refuse heaps 

 ("rakes") of old lead 

 mines and of recent 

 spar and gravel pits 



1. On steep slopes, es- 

 pecially those below 1000 

 feet (305 m.) : shallow, 

 brown, ferruginous, cal- 

 careous marls or gravels 



2. On more or less 

 level ground, especially at 

 elevations greater than 

 1000 feet : shallow, dark 

 brown, highly ferruginous, 

 and more or less leached 

 marls 



Non - calcareous soils 

 varying from soft gravels 

 to a kind of false clay, 

 light brown or black in 

 colour 



(c i) Non-calcareous soils 

 varying from hard gravels 

 to a kind of false clay, 

 reddish brown in colour, 

 or black when mixed with 

 much acidic humus 



(c ii) Peat, rarely exceed- 

 ing one foot (30-5 cm.) in 

 depth 



Loose calcareous and 

 cherty gravels containing 

 salts and oxides of lead 



1. Ash woods, 

 scrub, calcareous 

 grassland 



2. Scrub, calcare- 

 ous grassland, cal- 

 careous heath 



Siliceous grassland 



(c i) Siliceous grass- 

 land, siliceous grass- 

 land mixed with 

 heather 



(c ii) Heather moor, 

 heather moor with 

 much cotton-grass 



Open plant associa- 

 tions usually charac- 

 terized by the lead- 

 wort ( Arenaria verna) 

 in abundance 



