CHAPTER IV 



THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE— (Continued) 



ATLANTIC AND CENTRAL UNITED STATES AND 



CANADA 



The temperate regions of North America are very extensive, 

 comprising southern Canada, southeastern Alaska, and all the 

 United States except southern Florida. 



This vast area is extremely diversified as to topography, and 

 this together with great differences in climate, results in a very 

 rich and varied flora. This territory lies, foi* the most part between 

 latitude 50° and 30°, and extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 a distance of over 3,000 miles. 



Nearly parallel with the Atlantic Coast is the Appalachian moun- 

 tain system extending from Canada to Georgia. In its northern 

 portion it approaches the coast, and the coastal belt is more or 

 less broken by lower hills; but southward from New Jersey there 

 is a more or less pronounced coastal plain which broadens toward 

 the south and is coextensive with the flat lands of the northern 

 shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 



The Appalachians are nowhere of great height, the loftiest 

 peaks, like Mt. Washington in New Hampshire and Mt. Mitchell 

 in North Carolina, being less than 7,000 feet elevation, and too 

 low to possess a true alpine flora; nor are they of sufficient height 

 to act as an efficient barrier between the coastal plain, and the 

 regions to the west. 



Between the Appalachians and the Rocky mountains is the 

 great plain drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, and 

 destitute of any mountain ranges of importance. To the north 

 is the region of the Great Lakes, draining into the Atlantic through 

 the St. Lawrence. 



This vast region has no barriers to plant migration, beyond cli- 

 matic ones. From the Mississippi to the Atlantic coast is a region 

 of ample rainfall, and the country originally was almost entirely 



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