BOTANY OF THE LAKE DISTRICT 137 



there would hence, for example, be justification for such features as the 

 Roman road along the High Street range. The clearing of the valleys seems 

 to have been left to the Scandinavian invaders of comparatively recent times. 



As the grasslands are of biotic origin, they show marked tolerance for a variety 

 of soil conditions, and undoubtedly their detailed composition is affected by 

 the local grazing pressure. Agrostis vulgaris, Festuca ovina (especially var. 

 capillata), Galium saxatile and Hylocomium squarrosum are the species most 

 constantly present. Nardus stricta and Juncus squarrosus become abundant 

 or dominant on the damper slopes, typically on glacial clay or redistributed 

 peat. This type of grassland is especially common on the drift-covered slopes 

 in the north-west. 



In the south, the Bannisdale flags and grits often yield an undulating surface 

 of which the knolls bear Calluna and Erica cinerea, while grasslands, usually 

 with Pteridium, occupy the hollows. Juniper is abundant in this area, and 

 on the flatter-topped hills an interesting damp Ca//xina-juniper heath may be 

 developed, though the burning of these areas for grouse is rapidly reducing the 

 proportion of juniper. Calluna moors, however, are only commonly developed 

 on the Skiddaw slates in the north. These rocks are rather poorer in bases 

 than the typical Borrowdale slates, and their grasslands are less extensive. 

 Vaccinium ' edges ' are also characteristic of the sharper ridges on these rocks, 

 that of Cat Bells being a convenient example. Deep peats are rather local in 

 the Lake District, and they usually show extensive signs of degeneration. They 

 are confined to a few of the flatter hill tops, particularly round Hawes Water 

 and on Mungrisdale Common, and to hollows above 1,500 feet. Scirpus 

 caespitosus, Eriophorum vaginatum and Juncus squarrosus are usually 

 characteristic in the vegetation. The peat-forming plant was mainly cotton- 

 grass. Buried timber, usually birch, occurs up to 2,000 feet. 



The higher hills, above 2,000 feet, are normally either grassland, crag or 

 scree, and the summits, if not of rock detritus alone, tend to vary between a 

 sparse grassland and Rhacomitrium heath. The latter is less common, and it is 

 perhaps best developed on Grassmoor, where R. lanuginosum is dominant along 

 with both Vaccinium myrtillus and V. Vitis-Idaea, Lycopodium selago and 

 L. alpinum, Empetrum nigrum and the viviparous form of Festuca ovina. 

 Lichens are abundant, but not fully known. Cetraria aculeata, Cladonia 

 spp., Cetraria islandica and Sphaerophora fragilis are recorded as the most 

 characteristic. The more typical summits (e.g., Helvellyn) are clothed with 

 sparse sub-alpine grassland, in which the most typical new elements are a dwarf 

 form of bilberry and Carex rigida. Salix herbacea usually occurs on this type 

 of summit, but in the more rocky places. The real arctic-Alpine element 

 in the Lake District flora is small, and the species are mainly of local dis- 

 tribution, as for example, Lychnis alpina on Hobcarton Crags. The most 

 typical plants of the higher hills are Allosorus crispa, the parsley fern and 

 Alchemilla alpina. The abundance of these species here is in great contrast 

 with their scarcity in the Pennines. In the flushes, Saxifraga stellaris and 

 S. aizoides, usually with Montia fontana and a variety of mosses, are perhaps 

 most typical. 



No account of the botany of the district would be complete without some 

 reference to the aquatic plants. In regard to these, the particular interest of 

 the Lake District lies in the fact that the lakes represent a series giving various 



