Barry: Sylvan Vegetation of Fylingdales. 429 
a natural wood of Rowan is forming slowly and by irregular 
steps, according to the degrees of inattention of the successive 
tenants, on the slopes of the little moor ‘intake’ near Swallow 
Head. In the lowest part adjoining the Ramsdale Woods some 
of the trees are already old, and close enough together to keep 
down all undergrowth. 
NATURALISED TREES. 
The Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus L.), known locally as 
‘The Plane,’ is now around homesteads perhaps the most 
characteristic tree of the Dale. The choice is a wise one, since 
though liable from its early leafing to be cut by spring storms, 
it usually recovers itself before the season is out, and is, of all 
trees of first-rate dimensions, the one that keeps its shape best 
under exposure to the sea winds. At the same time, like its 
scriptural namesake,* it is less liable to be uprooted than perhaps 
any other tree, the proverbial Oak not excepted. 
Of course the Sycamore is an exotic, and the evidence of its 
exotic character can been seen here, as elsewhere, in the fact 
that, whenever planted and allowed to mature, it rapidly 
spreads itself. Had it therefore been indigenous it must 
necessarily have been ubiquitous, That, however, is not the 
case. It does not occur in natural woods, and in no woods 
except those at Fyling Old Hall do I know any specimens a 
hundred years old. Seedlings, in fact, are seen only where 
they can be accounted for by the presence of standards from 
which the seed can have blown. And the seed will generally, 
I think, be found to have blown in an easterly direction, since 
the prevailing winds at the time of leaf-shedding are the 
westerly. Thus, in the Ramsdale woods, the seedlings and 
saplings of Sycamore which now, to the owner’s annoyance, 
abound, and which cannot be extirpated, can be traced to some 
standards of this tree planted near the edge of the woods on a 
moor-edge farm that was sold out of the estate about a century- 
and-a-half ago. The seedlings and saplings have been gradually 
spreading in a down-valley or easterly direction, so that they 
may now be traced that way for about a mile. Up the valley, 
or in a westerly direction, only one or two plants are to be 
found. These, moreover, are at not more than a hundred-and- 
fifty yards from the presumed parent tree, and have shown 
themselves only in the last few years. 
* Luke xvii. 6. 
1907 December ri 
