192 VEGETATION OF THE PEAK DISTRICT [CH. 



to be found on such extremely decadent moors are a few 

 straggling and miserably developed specimens of Eriophorum 

 angustifolium. The words " Bare peat," printed on the vege- 

 tation maps here and there, roughly indicate the spots where 

 the more extensive of the tracts occur such as are here described. 



As has been stated, an examination of the peat deposits 

 underlying the retrogressive peat- moors here described proves 

 that it is composed almost wholly of the remains of cotton-grass ; 

 and the living Vaccinium and Empetrum which crown the 

 " peat-hags " rest unconformably — as the geologists would say 

 — on strata of cotton-grass peat. Hence the conclusion may be 

 safely drawn that the retrogressive phases characteristic of the 

 highest Pennine plateaux are very recent in origin, and, in all 

 probability, have been initiated during the last few centuries. 

 The process is still at work, and is likely to become more and 

 more pronounced as time goes on. 



The decadent condition of many of the summits of the 

 Pennine peat moors make it an easy task to determine that 

 the ancient Pennine forest did not, at any period, spread over 

 the highest summits ; as, although the base of the peat is very 

 frequently exposed, remains of timber have nowhere been found 

 on the highest summits. In addition to the examination of 

 the peat which is being denuded on the high summits, several 

 sections have also been cut with the spade, and with the same 

 negative results. The retrogressive changes appear, in many 

 cases, to be spreading downwards into the lower cotton-grass 

 moors ; but many of the latter show no signs of degeneracy as 

 yet. The heather moors also are generally speaking in a state 

 of stability at the present time. 



On the vegetation maps, the more pronounced of the retro- 

 gressive moors are indicated by the hatching of red lines on the 

 Eriophorum colour. It is reasonable to use this ground colour 

 as the evidence shows the moors to have been Eriophorum 

 moors until quite recent times, and the retrogressive changes 

 are still in operation. Owing to the comparative inaccessibility 

 of these moors, the absence of landmarks upon them, the absence 

 of contour lines on the six-inch Ordnance maps, and the im- 

 permanent nature of the plant association, the boundaries of 

 these retrogressive moors were difficult and in many cases 

 impossible to fix with accuracy. 



