The Woodlands of England. 131 
(Galium saxatile), the golden-rod ( Solidago Virgaurea), and the 
hawkweeds, such as forms of Hieracium vulgatuni and H. borealc. 
(B). Oak-Birch-Heath association. In the dry oakwoods, 
more or less isolated patches of heath vegetation are often found, 
with the bilberry ( Vaccinimn Myrtillus), the characteristic heath 
grass, Aim gexuosa, and in well lighted spots, the ling or heather 
(Calluna vulgaris). Sometimes considerable areas, or the whole of 
the woodland floor, are covered with this heath vegetation, and thus 
we pass to woods of the oak-birch-heath association, a very 
common type on the light sandy soils of south-eastern England and 
very sharply contrasted with all other kinds of woodland in this 
region. Wide areas are covered with this type of wood in Kent, 
Surrey and Sussex, and are continued locally and intermittently so 
far north as Cheshire ( e.g., in parts of Delamere Forest) and the 
Bunter Sandstone of Nottinghamshire (e.g., in parts of Sherwood 
Forest). The association is confined to the coarser sandy and 
gravelly soils. 
The typical native trees are oaks, either Q. Robur or both Q. 
Robur and Q. sessiliflora with hybrids, or, more rarely, Q. sessiliflora 
alone. Birches (chiefly Betula toineutosa, but B. verrucosa and 
hybrids also occur) are often very abundant and even dominant 
locally; and, in southern England at least, the beech (Fagus 
sylvatica) occurs more or less commonly, sometimes forming local 
woods where the deep shade cast by this tree excludes almost all 
competition and greatly impoverishes the ground-vegetation. Hazel, 
and many other shrubs, are typically absent from this kind of woodland. 
The characteristic shrubs and small trees are holly (Ilex Aquifolium), 
mountain ash (Pyrus Aucnparia), hawthorn (Cratcegus 1 tionogyna), 
and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). The “alder buckthorn” (Rhannius 
Frangula), sometimes the juniper (funiperus communis), the yew 
(Taxus baccata) and the whitebeam (Pyrus Aria), are also character¬ 
istic of many such woods, the last three being better known as 
plants of calcareous soils. The ubiquitous climber, honeysuckle, 
(Lonicera Periclymenum) is also found. Of planted trees, the Scots 
pine ( Pinus sylvestris) generally and abundantly, and the sweet 
chestnut (Castanea sativa) and the Turkey oak (Quercus Cerris) 
occasionally, spring up from self-sown seed. 
The ground-vegetation, as the name of the association implies, 
consists of typical heath plants. The ling (Calluna vulgaris) is 
frequently dominant where the illumination is sufficient; associated 
with this, and locally dominant we have the purple heath (Erica 
