158 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



juniperinuni) and the Broom-Fork Moss (Dicranum Scoparium) 

 occur in patches. Towards the fringe of the wood Bracken is 

 abundant. These with grasses form the greater part of the under- 

 growth. A plant that is to be found in the pine woods of Scotland 

 is the little Linncea borealis, the one plant that Linnaeus allowed 

 to be named after him. In an oak wood the case is very different. 

 In the month of August, by no means the best month for botanical 

 observations, as many plants have ceased to flower by that time, 

 the following notes were made on the herbaceous vegetation of 

 an oak-birch wood in Gloucestershire. In the lighter, drier parts 

 of the wood Foxgloves and tall Thistles (Carduus crispus) were 

 conspicuous ; both these plants belong to sandy soil. Centaury, 

 Wood Sage, Wild Angelica, Self-heal, Cowwheat, and Wood Betony 

 were still in flower ; the paths in places were covered with Cud- 

 weed. In the more swampy parts of the wood, Watermint, 

 Sedges, and Lesser Spearwort were the characteristic herbs, growing 

 together very thickly. Among the spring plants, Primrose 

 leaves were seen, but not in any quantity ; Wood Spurge was more 

 common, and the Daffodil the most abundant. In the parts of 

 the wood where the trees were closer together a dense under- 

 growth was formed of Mosses, Ferns, and Grasses ; Bracken and 

 Polypody were the most common ; the Rose Bay Willow-Herb, 

 the Meadow-sweet, Woodruff, Angelica, were more conspicuous 

 than in the lighter parts of the wood, for the closeness of the 

 trees not only provided greater shade but deeper humus. In an 

 oak-hazel wood of the same district the undergrowth was some- 

 what different. Wood Sanicle, of which there had not been a 

 trace in the oak-birch wood, was abundant in the oak-hazel ; the 

 flower was over in August, but the leaves were very frequently 

 found. Mr. Moss, who has investigated the herbaceous under- 

 growth of ash, oak, and oak-hazel woods in the Bridgwater 

 district of Somerset, notes that this plant is abundant in the 

 ash and oak-hazel woods, but is only occasionally found in pure 

 oak woods. Another spring plant that was far more abundant 

 in the oak-hazel wood than in the oak-birch was the primrose. 

 This is also the case in Somerset, where the primrose is so 

 abundant in the ash and oak-hazel woods as to rank as a sub- 

 dominant species. Cudweed, which was very abundant in certain 



