THE AZORES 



377 



the result being that his land is partially enclosed in a living 

 tree-fence. 



Except on the south side, where the mountain rises steeply from 

 the coast to its summit, these upland moors have generally an easy 

 slope. The bracken (Pteris aquilina) and the tussock of Polytrichum 

 give a character to their rolling grassy surfaces. It is pleasant to 

 tread their springy turf after the rough descent of the precipitous 

 and scantily vegetated lava slopes above; and, if it is summer, 

 the multitude of herbaceous plants in bloom will delight the eye. 

 One may on the western side distinguish between the boggy lower 

 areas, where Sphagna flourish, and the relatively drier upper levels, 

 where Peat-mosses do not live ; but more often this differentiation 

 is not to be made, and one may stumble on a bed or a pocket of 

 Sphagnum without much warning. 



On the drier ground thrive Erythrcea massoni, Lysimachia nemorum 

 (var. azorica), Luzula purpureo-splendens, Menziesia polifolia, Poly gala 

 vulgaris, Potentilla tormentilla, and Thymus serpyllum (var. angusti- 

 folius). Calluna vulgaris forms an occasional scrub, whilst Sibthorpia 

 europcea conceals with its foliage the shady side of pits and holes, 

 though with the species of Lysimachia it is almost as common in 

 the wetter areas. Terrestrial orchids (Serapias, Habenaria) are not 

 infrequent, and the turf is dotted with single tufts of Lycopodium 

 selago, while Blechnum spicant grows in the higher levels. 



The wetter areas, when of any size, are essentially Sphagnum 

 moors, and the Polytrichum tussocks are here more numerous and 

 larger, and measure one and a half to two feet high and two to three 

 feet across, the Peat-mosses being often closely associated with them 

 in their growth. Anagallis tenella, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, and Viola 

 palustris grow in great abundance, and among the Carices, Carex 

 flava is the most common and sometimes almost monopolises the 

 ground. It may be doubted whether the Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis 

 tenella) exists in greater profusion in any part of its range than on 

 the island of Pico. The writer has walked for miles on the mountain 

 moors to the east of the peak, treading on its flowers at nearly every 

 step. In the tussocks, or rather hummocks, of Polytrichum, almost 

 all the flowering plants of the wet moor in turn find a home; but 

 Hydrocotyle vulgaris is most frequently to be noticed growing in their 

 midst. The tussocks, by becoming confluent, form in places dense 

 beds nearly appropriating the ground. This is to be observed at 

 altitudes of 5000 feet on the north side of the mountain, where the 

 moor vegetation begins to ascend its steep upper-third. 



The Sphagnum growth is in some localities very extensive, as on 

 the south-west side of the mountain between the Serra Gorda and San 

 Mattheus. For one and a half or two miles from the Serra the soil 

 is stoneless and peaty, and Sphagna form dense growths, a foot 

 high or more, around the bases of the shrubs of Erica azorica that here 

 clothe the surface. The bushes, in fact, seem to grow out of Sphag- 

 num tussocks. The signification of this association is not very 

 obvious. Tansley in his Types of British Vegetation (1911, p. 235) 

 describes similar growths of Sphagna around the bases of bushes and 

 on the stools of Phragmites in the fen formation of East Norfolk, 



