a soil that develops in temperate to cold moist climates under coniferous or heath vegetation; an organic mat over a gray leached layer

Acid soil with an organic layer over a highly leached mineral layer

(soil): A soil in which the minerals (especially iron), clay and organic matter, have been leached out, giving rise to a white middle layer (an E horizon). This typically occurs in soils derived from quartzitic sands under acidic conditions. It is the characteristic soil type under heath, Fynbos and coniferous vegetation.

a soil community found under coniferous forests which tends to consist of poorly decomposed organic layers with some organic matter in the sub-soil.

The grey layer of soil underlying acidic humus and largely devoid of minerals due to the leaching from the soil above. From the Russion, podzol, "wood ash."