Wicken Fen- 
6 7 
So compact is this herbage, that the seedlings and small plants 
forming the lowest layer, frequently show all the characteristics 
of plants grown in deep shade. 
Fringing many of the lodes, which 
contain a number of aquatic species, are 
narrow reed-swamps, with Phragmites 
communis as the dominant species (cf. 
Text-fig. 11). Scirpus lacustris, Alisma 
Plantago, &c., are fairly abundant, while 
Butomus umbellatus (Plate IV., fig. 2) 
and other species are occasionally met 
with. Landwards the reeds are largely 
replaced by Carices, &c., as the reed- 
swamp passes into the drier marsh 
(Text-fig. 11). Warming calls attention 
to the readiness with which the tall 
slender leaves or un-branched shoots, 
so characteristic of reed-swamp plants 
(cf. Plate IV., fig. 2), will yield to the 
action of wind and water, and the 
elasticity with which they recover 
themselves. 1 In this connection the 
behaviour of Phragmites, when exposed 
to strong winds, may be mentioned. 
The habit of this plant, with its tall stem 
and numerous rather broad leaves is well 
known. Now the inner part of the long 
leaf-sheaths is smooth and polished (as 
is also the case in some other 
grasses). This enables the leaves, when exposed to a strong 
wind, to readily twist round to the lee side of the stem, and thus to 
stream out in the direction of the wind, instead of opposing them¬ 
selves to its violence (Text-fig. 10). The leaves, as may be seen in 
the sheltered lower part of the stem, are really inserted according 
to the usual ^-phyllotaxy. 
At the margins of the lodes, the process of land-formation, by 
the growth of either reeds or other large plants, or of “ Schwing- 
rasen,” may be everywhere seen in miniature. But both reed- 
swamps and the early stages of land-formation can be seen on a 
1 Warming, l.c., p. 163. 
2 The Text-figures are from sketches made in the field. The 
month in brackets after the description of each, shows the 
time of the year when the sketch was made. 
effect of wind. The lower 
leaves are sheltered,and retain 
their normal position. 
(August). 2 X tV 
