1 66 Crossland and A^eedham : The Plants of Peckef Wood. 



year. With mosses it was different, nine-tenths were found in 

 the first year. The wood bore a similar g-eneral appearance 

 each successive season until the spring- of 1903, when a number 

 of trees were cut down and left it much more open. What 

 effect this chang-e will have on shade-loving- plants remains to 

 be seen. 



The Hebden Bridg-e and Keighley turnpike traverses its 

 whole leng-th, cutting- it into two unequal halves. The upper 

 one is smallest and driest, and partakes of the nature of an 

 open, heathy woodland. The plant associations here are 

 characteristic of such places in this district. The trees are oak, 

 birch, and planted scots pine. Oak is most prevalent, except 

 near the escarpment, where birch is in the ascendant. At one 

 time birches may have been most plentiful g-enerally, as the old 

 quarry up the roadside has long- been known as ' T' Birks 

 delph. ' 



The other vegetation is principally composed of hair-grass 

 [Deschampsia jiexiiosa\ bracken [Pteris aquilina)^ li^'^g" [CalluiKi 

 Erica), bilberry {Vaccininm Myrtillns), male-fern [N'epJirodiuni 

 Filix-mas), broad-buckler-fern {Lastrcsa dilatata), and lady 

 fern iyAthyriuin Filix-foe?nina). Hair-grass is the dominant 

 grass, if not the dominant plant. The thin sheets of weedy 

 bracken give place northward to scattered tufts of male-tern 

 and broad-buckler-fern ; the lady fern occurs in the damper 

 places near the water-courses with small beds of the great 

 wood-rush [Luziila maxima). Ling, in patches mingled with, 

 or free from, bilberry; an occasional plant of straggling cow- 

 berry (Vaccinium Vitis-Idcea), with here-and-there small loose 

 bunches of fine-leaved heath {Erica cinerea), and cross-leaved 

 heath [Erica Tetralix) make up a typical flora for this kind of 

 situation and ground. The bilberry often appropriates the soil- 

 capped, half-embedded rocks. There are a few graceful broom- 

 bushes [Cytisns scopariiis) and odd plants of hard fern [Loniaria 

 Spicant\ and common polypody [Polypodiuni vulgarc). The 

 stag's-horn club-moss [Lycopodiuin clavatuni) was formerly here 

 but has recently disappeared. This rocky and heathy piece 

 of woodland has yielded two rare species of fungi — Lycopcrdon 

 fiavosuni and Sfrohiloniyees strobilacciis. The heath-loving wood- 

 rush {Lu-ziild crccfa) secures a few inches to each tuft towards 

 the roadside. W^oodbine [Lonicera Pcriclymciim), willow [Salix 

 Caprea), and brambles [Rnbus spp.) are mostly confined to the 

 roadside bank ; this and its supporting wall, which are rather 

 moist in many places, harbour a fairly abundant flora. 



Naturalist, 



