The area sits on an alluvial plain with sandy and limy soils. In light beech and oak forests with limy subsoil is found the martagon lily. This layer contains fossil shells and limy sands. A prograding shoreline laid down muddy delta sediments which mixed with limy marine deposits. It prefers limy soils and bare stony ground. It prefers to grow in well drained, sandy, or rocky, and limy soils. Its dolomitic valleys are located between limy hills and mild calcareous slopes rich in caves. The Limy Water is a minor river in Lancashire, England. The overlying Southerndown Beds are blue/grey conglomeratic limestones and limy sandstones with thin shale partings. Other parts of the formation contain yellow-green limy shales and grey sandy limestones. The limy plates are thick and sculptured and are in close contact with each other. It does not do well in limy or saline soils and prefers a sunny situation.