84 Tlie Plant-formation of Clays and Loams 



flourish. Shade plants of the oakwood association are also 

 often found within the shelter of the bushes. 



Neutral grassland association {Graminetwrn, neutrale). 

 This is the ultimate phase of degeneration of damp oak- 

 wood. It consists of a close turf of grasses with associated 

 herbaceous plants. The term " neutral " is intended to 

 express the fact that this type of grassland is free from 

 the characteristic plants of calcareous pasture on the one 

 hand and of acid heath pasture on the other. Neutral 

 grassland is practically always heavily grazed, and this 

 of course must modify its composition and character to 

 some extent, but as yet it has scarcely been studied. 

 Many of the " commons " and village greens of central 

 and southern England consist of the neutral grassland 

 (pasture) association with or without the scrub described 

 above. The severe grazing that such land usually suffers, 

 apart from the greater exposure to light and drought, 

 scarcely allows of the persistence of many members of the 

 ground vegetation of the oakwood, but in places which 

 escape such treatment woodland plants, e.g. Scilla iion- 

 scripta, Anemone nemorosa, Primula vulgaris and others, 

 may be found in such grassland. 



The following is a list of species found in neutral 

 grassland (including meadowland)\ As in the case of 

 the list for damp oakwoods, it includes species found 

 on a fairly wide range of soils in respect of texture and 



^ Manuring of various kinds has of course a very important effect on 

 the vegetation of grassland. Pasturage itself always involves manuring 

 by the dung and urine of the animals, while the effect of artificial manuring 

 varies according to the kind and amount of the manure employed. Very 

 extensive data for the study of these eiiects have been collected as the 

 result of the long-continued experiments at the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station. In general it may be said that heavy long-continued manuring 

 reduces the number of species occurring in the grassland, while special 

 kinds of "one-sided" manuring sometimes lead to the introduction of 

 fresh species. A comparative study of the British grasslands from the 

 ecological standpoint is very much needed. 



