1 65 



THE PLANTS OF PECKET WOOD. 



C. CROSSLAND, F.L.S., and j. XEEDHAM. 



Peckht Wood is one of those numerous stretches of woodland, 

 probably remnants of original forest, which flank the valleys of 

 the river Calder and its numerous tributaries. Like most of its 

 confreres Pecket Wood occupies a steep, rugged hillside unfit 

 for any other economic purpose. It lies on the Wadsworth side 

 of the Hebden V^alley abo\e Hebden Bridge, on the Keighley 

 and the Hardcastle roads. Its situation is at a bend in the 

 valley opposite the towering Heptonstall, and has a western 

 aspect. The geological formation is millstone grit with its 

 alternate beds of shale and grit rock. There is a bold 

 escarpment at the top of the wood (Gallstones) from which 

 at various times huge blocks of grit have been detached 

 by denudative undermining, and are now strewn about the 

 wood. 



The average fall of the ground is equal to i in 2, from 

 850 feet at Gallstones to 475 feet in Midgehole Road, a distance 

 of 766 feet. The wood is rather over half a mile long, and 

 250 yards broad in its widest part, covering about 35 acres. 

 It is separated from Midgehole Wood by a boundary wall 

 beginning in Midgehole Road and ending at Nab Nook in 

 Pecket Road. It is named Spring Wood on the Ordnance 

 Survey. Two or three small rills run down it, but have cut 

 only shallow courses. 



We have investigated this wood for the last 15 years {1888- 

 1903), more particularly for its moss and fungus floras. In the 

 meantime we have gleaned many particulars respecting its 

 general flora, with the exception of the Algaj, and now propose 

 to include these observations with those on its mosses and 

 fungi. We do this the more readily because, so far as we 

 know, very few places in any locality have been so thoroughly 

 overhauled for their botanical productions. 



For some reason or other, possibly by being largely excluded 

 from the south, the Pecket Wood and Hardcastle districts are 

 at least a fortnight behind Elland Park Wood, 7-8 miles lower 

 down the Calder Valley, with their vegetation. 



To get an idea of what the wood fostered in the way of 

 fungi it was found necessary to devote at least a decade to it, 

 fresh things making their appearance continuously year after 



1^4 June 3. 



