LICHEN of ATLANTIC HAZELWOODS
When you enter an Atlantic Hazelwood in summer it is like tunnelling into a green cave. It is dark, cool and moist and on a still day a mass of midges. Everything is covered in a blanket of green cryptograms, carpeted in mosses, ferns,liverworts and lichens. The occasional bigger tree (mainly sessile oak) creates an oasis of light, provides habitats for different species and for first time visitors provides an anchor point for navigation . In winter the gnarled branches and twisted multi stemmed trunks are just as atmospheric, the lichens are easier to spot and there are hardly any midges!