444 THE ECOLOGY OF PLANTS. 



Sorrel, etc.), then taller herbs like Foxglove and Angelica, then 

 shrubs (Brambles, Roses, Hawthorn, Rowan, etc.), then Birches and 

 other trees. 



417. Spring-flowering Plants. We have studied many plants 

 which flower in spring. Most of them are perennials, but a few 

 annuals flower in spring and early summer, e.g. Shepherd's Purse, 

 Groundsel, Chickweed (these three plants, as well as several species of 

 Speedwell, flower also at other times of year), Hairy Bittercress, 

 Vernal Whitlow, Wall-rue Saxifrage, and a few less common plants. 

 In studying perennial spring-flowerers you will notice that they store 

 up food in rhizomes, bulbs, cornis, or root-tnbers ; that many of them 

 grow in woods or in hedgerows, which later in the year are often 

 densely shaded by the foliage of the trees or shrubs ; that their flowers 

 usually either droop or perform closing movements at night and in 

 bad weather. 



Many of the early flowers of spring in this country are garden 

 flowers only, e.g. Crocus and Winter Aconite. Others, e.g. Snowdrop, 

 Daffodil, Sweet Violet, are grown in gardens, but also occur in habitats 

 which make their garden origin much more questionable. Among 

 wild herbaceous perennials that flower in spring are Cuckoo-pint, 

 Bluebell, Early Purple Orchis, Field Woodrush, Broad-leaved Wood- 

 rush, Garlic, Lesser Celandine, Goldilocks, Marsh Marigold, Wood 

 Anemone, Pasque Flower, Red Campion, Stitchwort, Cuckoo-flower, 

 Violets, several Speedwells, Dog's Mercury, Wood Spurge, Wood 

 Sorrel, Wild Beaked Parsley, Golden Saxifrage, Moschatel, Herb 

 Robert (Geranium robertianum), Ground Ivy, Red and White Dead- 

 nettles, Yellow Archangel, Coltsfoot, Butterbur, Daisy, Dandelion, 

 and many more. 



Many of these grow in woods, protected from cold, wind, and snow 

 to some extent, and flower early before the shade of the leaf -canopy 

 overhead cuts off their share of light. Insects, too, forsake the woods 

 to a large extent when they become densely shaded in summer. 

 Flowering so early in the year, the plants must draw upon supplies 

 of food made during the previous growing season by their foliage- 

 leaves and stored up underground in rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, etc. 



Among trees and shrubs which have spring flowers the Hazel and 

 Alder are usually first. Other spring-flowering British trees and 

 shrubs are Spurge Laurel, Butcher's Broom, Aspen and other Poplars, 

 Willows, Gorse, Sloe, Wild Cherry, Box, Elm, etc. Among cultivated 

 spring-flowerers are Almond, Jasmine, Forsythia, Flowering Currant, 

 Laurustinus, Japanese Quince, Magnolia, etc. 



418. Hedges. Many shade-plants grow in hedgerows, the 

 flora of which presents several interesting features. At the 

 top of a hedge-bank the light is very feeble and the soil 

 dry. Now all plants which grow in dry soil require plenty 



