Editing Ashdown Forest (section)

===Flora===

====Heathland====
Ashdown Forest is noted for its heathland plants and flowers, such as the [[Gentiana pneumonanthe|marsh gentian]], but it also provides other distinctive or unusual plant habitats.

The extensive areas of dry heath are dominated by [[Calluna|ling]] (''Calluna vulgaris''), [[bell heather]] (''Erica cinerea'') and [[Ulex minor|dwarf gorse]] (''Ulex minor''). Important lichen communities include ''Pycnothelia papillaria''. [[Common bracken]] (''Pteridium aquilinum'') is dominant over large areas. On the damper heath, [[cross-leaved heath]] (''Erica tetralix'') becomes dominant with deer-grass (''[[Trichophorum]] cespitosum''. The heath and bracken communities form a mosaic with acid grassland dominated by [[Molinia caerulea|purple moor-grass]] (''Molinia caerulea'') mingled with many specialised heathland plants such as [[Genista anglica|petty whin]] (''Genista anglica''), [[Salicaceae|creeping willow]] (''Salicaceae'' sp.) and [[Dactylorhiza maculata|heath spotted orchid]] (''Dactylorhiza maculata'').

In the wet areas are found several species of [[Sphagnum|sphagnum moss]] together with [[Narthecium ossifragum|bog asphodel]] (''Narthecium ossifragum''), [[Eriophorum angustifolium|common cotton-grass]] (''Eriophorum angustifolium'') and specialities such as [[Gentiana pneumonanthe|marsh gentian]] (''Gentiana pneumonanthe''), [[Wahlenbergia|ivy-leaved bell flower]] (''Wahlenbergia hederacea''), [[Rhynchospora alba|white-beaked sedge]] (''Rhynchospora alba'') and [[Lycopodiella inundata|marsh club moss]] (''Lycopodiella inundata''). The marsh gentian, noted for its bright blue trumpet-like flowers, has a flowering season lasting from July well into October and is found in about a dozen colonies.

[[Ulex europaeus|Gorse]] (''Ulex europaeus''), [[Betula pendula|silver birch]] (''Betula pendula''), [[Quercus robur|pedunculate oak]] (''Quercus robur'') and [[Pinus sylvestris|Scots pine]] (''Pinus sylvestris'') are scattered across the heath, in places forming extensive areas of secondary woodland and scrub. Older woodlands consist of [[Fagus sylvatica|beech]] (''Fagus sylvatica'') and [[Castanea sativa|sweet chestnut]] (''Castanea sativa''). These contain [[Common bluebell|bluebell]] (''Hyacinthinoides non-scripta''), [[Vaccinium myrtillus|bilberry]] (''Vaccinium myrtillus''), [[Blechnum spicant|hard fern]] (''Blechnum spicant'') and [[Lonicera periclymenum|honeysuckle]] (''Lonicera periclymenum'') with [[Neottia nidus-avis|birds-nest orchid]] (''Neottia nidus-avis'') and [[Epipactis purpurata|violet helleborine]] (''Epipactis purpurata'') found particularly under beech. In the woodlands can also be found [[Anemone nemorosa|wood anemone]] (''Anemone nemorosa'') and [[Oxalis acetosella|common wood sorrel]] (''Oxalis acetosella'').

[[File:Ashdown Forest - Friends Clump.jpg|thumb|right|Friends Clump]]

====Streams and ponds====
Forest streams, often lined by [[alder]] trees such as ''[[Alnus glutinosa]]'', and [[Salix|grey sallow]] ''[[Salix cinerea]]'', birch and oak, cut through the soft sandstone forming steep-sided valleys (ghylls) that are sheltered from winter frosts and remain humid in summer, creating conditions more familiar in the Atlantic-facing western coastal regions of Britain. Uncommon [[bryophyte]]s such as the liverwort ''[[Nardia compressa]]'' and a range of ferns including the mountain fern ''[[Oreopteris limbosperma]]'' and the [[Dryopteris|hay-scented buckler fern]] ''[[Dryopteris aemula]]'' thrive in this “Atlantic” microclimate.

The damming of streams, digging for marl, and quarrying have produced several large ponds containing, particularly in former marl pits, localised rafts of [[Potamogeton natans|broad-leaved pondweed]] ''Potamogeton natans'', beds of [[Typha latifolia|bulrush (reedmace)]] ''Typha latifolia'' and [[Equisetum fluviatile|water horsetail]] ''Equisetum fluviatile''.

====Woodland====
Woodland covers nearly {{convert|1000|ha|acre}} of the forest, 40% of its area<ref>Note: the figures quoted here refer to the land administered by the conservators, and exclude all privately held land.</ref> Most of the woodland on the common land of the forest is young and contains few older trees; there is little ''[[ancient woodland]]'', defined as woodland that has been continuously wooded since 1600. Almost all the latter that exists within the medieval forest pale is found on land that was set aside in the 1693 division of the forest for private ownership and exploitation.<ref name="forestplan2">Strategic Forest Plan of the Board of Conservators of Ashdown Forest 2008-2016, p. 2.</ref> Some wooded ghylls however do contain older trees and there are a few individual old trees, especially beech, that mark former boundaries.

The two most common forms of forest woodland are oak woods on acid brown earth soils, including hazel and chestnut coppice (62% of the total woodland area), and birch woods with oak in degenerating heathlands (27%). Alder trees growing in wet and waterlogged peaty soils account for about 1% of the woodland, while birch and willow trees growing in wet areas each account for less than 1%. Beechwoods growing on acid brown earth soils account for another 3%.<ref name="forestplan9">Strategic Forest Plan of the Board of Conservators of Ashdown Forest 2008-2016, p. 9.</ref>

The clumps of [[Pinus sylvestris|Scots pine]] that form such a distinctive, iconic hilltop feature of Ashdown Forest were first planted in 1816 by the [[Lord of the Manor]] to provide habitats for [[blackgame]]. 20th-century plantings comprise Macmillan Clump near Chelwood Gate (commemorating former British prime-minister [[Harold Macmillan]], who lived at Birch Grove, on the edge of the forest at Chelwood Gate), Kennedy Clump (commemorating a visit to the area by [[John F. Kennedy]], when he stayed with Macmillan), Millennium Clump and Friends Clump, planted in 1973 to mark the Year of the Tree.
<!-- The commonest trees in the wetter areas are alder, downy birch and the shrub alder-buckthorn. There is some sessile oak. -->