OCR Text |
Show 2i0 CLIMAT AL FOREST::;. •" • Those p~ne f-creBts, tbOlliTh tre spec~~~ are nr 0h)c same ft"~'lo'w tl1eE11£s'-:>f'f'the rhountalf'5 to near Yd t"n e southe' rt·1\ bo' l.'H . 'ld, arJ ' "{__ fu t , ?.0'lle. an c:J f' b1€ t~ . pera ~ · · ' met there are some lofty situations where pl~e:har~ther with within the tropics. But oak, an. . e f the deciduous trees, form the chief ~haractenstic~~x and forests in the temperate countnes; and thlbout the holly a_re fouhnd_ amon8 ~~ ~;~~;~~~~ie are found same t1me t. e 1vy an . the regions of the native; and m proceedm~dfro~ as the first plants snow they may be consl ere trees The which hang their festoons upon othe~arasit~ . and honeysuckle is not, _however, a o tree;, it is although the ivy ce~tamly do;s ~~str ofher means; more by strangulatw~ than Y ,t ·{ "th the ground for when the roots w~Ich connec 1 Wl are divided, it soon t~;tre~~~r to the southward new As we advance s 1 ar d ive a new char-trees make their appe~r~nce't~~ co~1tinents become acter to the scenery ; u da; ach other by the more and more ~eparat~tab~~m r~ductions become great ocean, ther ~~ilar Tl1e pines of Siberht, more and more ;:~-Bru.nswick, are not quite the and ~ 0~~~h~:~~: the junipers and other evergreens ~~m;:~re humble growth ; but still they hadve a co~~ bl But when we a vance ~~~~f~~~ \~~ft~~e a~~~ he Me~iterranean r:s~ fi~a~~: more dissimilarity._ T~e decidu?ust. cyap tree \n the . d. t. h ) whiCh IS so maJes lC . dwm ts tc a ' M. . · · · 8 not fonnd either m lower valley o~ the _Itshsiss~psp~hiere in America any E rope or Asia. nm er I d ~ . u bl" the cork oak of Portugal an ~pam, plant resem mg h L t nor the cyhpressbor ~et~r sof~e epar~~fe~ ~e meet with Somew ere a ou . ments at de- J:~~~~~~;~d "fo~t;!~~ !ft~~~t ~~~~~is~~In~ef~[;~ connexwn between tlat~Itude, h~~h is predominant. else, and the vege a wn w ANOMALIES. 271 'J'hus, Japan is a temperate and in some places ev~n a cold country; and some of the plants which ha,re been introduced into Britain from Japan stand the winter not only better than the plants of southern Europe, but better even than some of the native plants which are found on the bleakest places. The AuC'uba Japonica, which makes the shrubbery so gay with its large and handsome leaves mottled with green and gold, actually bears the rigour of an English winter much better than a furze bush on the common; and of a vanety of evergreens, many of them reckoned of the most hardy kind, that were exposed to a snow-storm in the winter of 1826, a Camellia Japonica, was the only one that survived. There is therefore very little doubt that by due care the camellia might be made a common shrubbery plant in all the warmer parts of the country, and might flower there to greater perfection than it does in the conservatory. The Dahlia never came to its full beauty till it was cultivated and allowed to flower in the open air. When we recollect that the colours of flowers, and indeed of all plants, are chiefly owing to the light of the sun, and that the light never comes through glass entire, unless when it falls on the surface at right angles, which can only be for a very little while of the day through the same piece of glass, we may have at least some notion of the fact that plants in a situation so contrary to their natural habits must fall off. There are, indeed, not a few of the vegetable productions of the tropical countries which naturally inhabit places not very unlike our hot-houses : they are surrounded by thick trees, so that the wiod does not blow upon them, and when they get,raM they get it in torrents. Another singular anomaly.:.._if it is to be supposed Lhat the characters of the vegetable tribes are to follow the latitude, or even the latitude and ele· vation~is to ~e fo~nd in the Himalaya Mountains, and the1r contmuatwn to the west. At their lower |