Soil indicator plants

Trees and shrubs

Alder	*Wet, usually beside a stream or river. Indicates land liable to flood
Beech	Well-drained; often suffers from die-back on poorly-drained soils
Bilberry	*Acid, *poor
Bramble	Well-drained but moist
Bog-myrtle	*Wet, acid
Broom	Acid, sandy
Chestnut, sweet	Acid, sandy, but often planted on other soils
Elder	Rich, usually alkaline
Elm, suckering	Very typical of clay, but in some areas also on sandy, gravelly soil
Elm, wych	Alkaline, often on a clay over limestone
Gorse, common	Well drained usually sandy, poor; but increasingly found on a wider range of soils
Gorse, dwarf and western	Acid, not necessarily well drained
Guelder rose	Moist to wet, usually alkaline
Heath, cross leaved	*Acid, poor, wet
Heather, bell	*Acid, poor, dry
Heather, common or ling	*Acid, poor, moist
Old man’s beard or wild clematis	*Alkaline
Rhododendron	*Acid
Rowan	Typical of light acid soils but also very occasionally on limestone
Scots pine	Acid, but often planted on other soils
Spindle	Alkaline
Wayfaring tree	*Alkaline
Whitebeam	Well drained, limestone or light sands
Willows, except goat willow	Wet
Yew	Especially common on chalk but also on other well-drained soils

Herbaceous

Agrimony	Well drained
Birdsfoot trefoil	Low nitrogen
Bog asphodel	Wet, *acid, *poor
Bracken	*Well-drained, usually acid, usually sandy when abundant
Buttercup, bulbous	Well-drained
Buttercup, creeping	Moist, compacted or heavy
Buttercup, meadow	Moist
Chickweed	Rich
Coltsfoot	Heavy
Cow wheat, common and small	Acid
Corn spurrey	Poor, acid
Cuckoo flower or Lady’s smock	Moist
Dead nettle, white and red	Rich
Dock, broad leaved	*Rich
Fat hen	Rich
Fleabane	Damp
Foxglove	Acid
Goosegrass or cleavers	Rich
Harebell	Well-drained
Heath bedstraw	Acid
Hemp agrimony	Damp to wet
Horseshoe vetch	*Alkaline, * dry; limestone or chalk
Horsetail	Wet subsoil
Kidney vetch	Well drained, usually alkaline
Marjoram	Well drained, usually alkaline
Meadowsweet	Moist to wet
Nettle, annual or small	Rich
Nettle, stinging	*Rich, especially in phosphorus
Opium poppy	Rich
Orache	Rich
Pineapple weed	Compacted
Plantain, greater	Compacted
Pyramidal orchid	Alkaline
Ragged robin	Wet, not very acid
Reed	Usually on soil flooded for at least part of the year
Rush, hard	*Wet, alkaline
Rush, soft	*Wet, acid
Salad burnett	Alkaline, dry
Sheep’s sorrel	*Acid, dry
Silverweed	*Compacted or damp
Sorrel, common	Poor
Stinking iris	Alkaline
Thistle, creeping	Often compacted subsoil, fairly rich
Thyme	Dry, usually alkaline
Tormentil, common	Acid, poor
Willowherb, great hairy	Damp
Wood sorrel	Usually acid