Ivydene Gardens Wild Flower Gallery: Wild Flowers on Calcareous (Chalk) Soil in Habitat Table

The data in the following is from The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe by R.Fitter, A.Fitter and M. Blamey (ISBN 0 00 219715 4 paperback 0 00 219765 0 hardback) reprinted :-

• Woodland formed of deciduous trees has a flora of plants that come into leaf and flower early and catch the light before the leaves on the trees cut it out. Plants such as Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula) and Bluebell (Endymion non-scriptus) are characteristic. Most of the low-lying part of Great Britain would naturally be covered in oakwood. Beech trees often intercept so much light that in some beechwoods no plants can survive except those such as the Birdsnest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), living on dead leaves. Britain is on the edge of the beechwood range and is found mainly in the south of England.
• Pinewoods have leaves on the trees all year, but natural pinewoods have well-scattered trees and ample light, and seem very different from the sombre plantations. The flora normally comprises dwarf shrubs, mainly in the heather family (Ericaceae), of which the commonest is heather Calluna vulgaris. When the trees are cleared, the same areas form the vast tracts of heather moorland, so characteristic opf the British hills. These moors have very few plants in their flora.
• Grasslands have very different flowers depending on whether they are on acid, neutral or lime-rich soils, and whether they are cut for hay or grazed. In grazed pastures the plants are often low-growing, with their buds low down and protected. Hay-meadows, usually neutral grassland, contain taller plants, flowering in spring and early summer, but they too have their buds low down.
• Saltmarshes formed in estuaries are often grass-covered, and also include many members of the Goosefoot family. Many of the plants are succulent (Glassworts - Salicornia) and flower late in the year. Succulence enables them to counteract the salt in the soil.

Some of the data in the following table is from The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe by R.Fitter, A.Fitter and M. Blamey (ISBN 0 00 219715 4 paperback 0 00 219765 0 hardback) reprinted :-

A Habitat Table with its Wild Flower Plants:-