V. The Chautauqua Woodland Floor 



Because of its forest covering the woodland floor possesses 

 many distinctive and interesting characters. Its soil, rich with 

 leaf-mold and humus, differs markedly from that of the open 

 field. It is protected from wind, and rain, and erosion. The 

 plants that grow on the woodland floor are in the main well 

 adapted for these quiet, shady, humid conditions. Ferns, 

 mosses, liverworts, lichens, mushrooms, and other fleshy and 

 woody fungi, and many beautiful flowering plants, large and 

 small, make their home here. Many species of animals 

 minute crustaceans, spiders, thousand-leggers, beetles, moths, 

 ants, wasps and bees, are found chiefly within or on the out- 

 skirts of woodlands. Under the decaying logs are salaman- 

 ders and other batrachians. The squirrels rummage among 

 the fallen leaves. The. ovenbird and the chewink live on the 

 woodland floor; there the woodcock and the night-hawk nest. 

 It is a life-area teeming with interest and with good field prob- 

 lems. 



The woodland wild flowers grow in well-defined habitats, 

 a rich mellow, leaf-mold soil; shade varying from considerable 

 to very dense; little or no exposure to wind; and a humid at- 

 mosphere. They reflect these conditions in their own struc- 

 ture and adaptations. Many of these woodland plants are 

 fragile, shallow rooted, and few-seeded; the invasion of man 

 and cattle into their sanctuaries results in pathetically rapid 

 extermination. They lack the versatility and ruggedness of 

 the roadside plants. Just as many of our sturdy weeds can 

 only be held in check by the most unrelenting repression, so 

 many of our most beautiful and characteristic woodland 

 flowers can only be preserved by the strictest guard, fences 

 for cattle, and educated public opinion and statutes for human- 

 kind. 



Representative Woodland Plants : Jack-in-the-pulpit ; Clin- 



