GRASS HEATHS 



20 1 



is very conspicuous during the flowering season, July and August. 

 It frequents badly drained ground containing a good deal of peat, 

 and is therefore not found with Heather, which likes a drier 

 situation. In the Hebrides the stems are made into ropes, mats, 

 and baskets ; the fishermen especially value the ropes made of 

 this grass, for they last a long time without rotting. Moor and 

 heath grasses have very thick, stringy roots, which, unlike those 

 of most grasses, are not easily broken ; thus they bind the soil 

 together. Their leaves roll in at their edges, which are usually 

 thickened. This prevents too rapid evaporation, for a much 

 smaller leaf surface is exposed. 



The Moor Mat Grass (Nardus) has bristle-like leaves, and the 

 flowers are all turned towards one side. It has a straight, hairy 

 style, not plume-like, as in most grasses. The " awns " are very 

 short. Sedges and Rushes are very often associated with this 

 grass, and make the soil sour. The Purple Molinia differs from 

 many other grasses in having no ligule or mem- 

 branous outgrowth at the junction of the blade 

 of the leaf with the sheath ; this is represented 

 by a tuft of hairs, and the leaves taper to a 

 point. These two moor grasses are easily dis- 

 tinguishable from each other. The Mat Grass 

 is very slender and wiry, not more than a foot 

 high ; whilst the Molinia is coarser and often 

 three feet high. 



The plants commonly found with these 

 grasses are, as would be expected from the 

 nature of the habitat, different in the two cases : 

 where the Moor Mat is dominant it is usual to 

 speak of a Nardus association ; and on those 

 grass heaths dominated by the Purple Molinia, 

 of a Molinia association. The most marked 

 difference is the absence of Heather in the 

 Nardus association. Besides, the Heath Rush, stricta}. 

 Juncus squarrosus, which likes a drier situation than the majority 

 of Rushes, the chief plants of the Nardus association are : the Blue 

 Moor Grass (Sesleria ccevulea) ,the Tormentilla, the Dwarf Furze, the 

 Bilberry, the Staghorn Moss, and the Heath Bedstraw. Most of 



FIG. 63. Moor Mat 

 Grass (Nardus 



