THE NORTH TEMPERATE ZONE 81 



the great golden-banded lily {Lilium auratum), growing on the em- 

 bankment. This magnificent flower, one of the most prized of gar- 

 den plants, is common in the country near Yokohama. One of the 

 writer's most vivid recollections of Japan is that of thousands of 

 these splendid lilies adorning the steep sides of a gorge, on the road 

 to the well-known resort Miyanoshita, in the Hakone mountains. 



The principal cities of Japan are in the southern part of the main 

 island, in about the latitude of the Carolinas. The summer is hot 

 and rainy, with a correspondingly luxuriant vegetation. The 

 winters are comparatively mild, so that bamboos, hardy palms, 

 oleanders, Gardenia and bananas grow freely in the open, and rice 

 is the staple crop. 



The Japanese are world-famous as horticulturists, and their 

 gardens are marvels of landscape art. The beauty of the flowering 

 cherries and wistaria in the spring; the iris, lotus and morning 

 glories of the summer; the exhibition of chrysanthemums in 

 autumn have been the admiration of thousands of visitors to this 

 beautiful land. 



Along the roadsides and about the temples and parks, the most 

 abundant tree is a pine (P. densiflora), whose picture one sees in 

 nearly every landscape adorning screen or fan. The Ginkgo, from 

 China, already referred to, is often planted about the Japanese 

 temples, where there are gigantic specimens many centuries old. 



To see the native vegetation in perfection one must visit the 

 mountains, which are only thinly populated. Nikko, the famous 

 resort some hundred miles from Tokyo, affords a convenient base 

 from which to study the lower mountain vegetation. The magnifi- 

 cent tombs and shrines for which Nikko is celebrated are in a 

 grove of giant cedars (Cryptomeria) which strongly suggest the 

 Californian redwoods. The rainfall is very heavy — about 150 

 inches annually, and the region is heavily forested with mostly 

 deciduous trees, and abounds in beautiful flowering shrubs and 

 herbaceous plants. 



A walk through this forest to Chuzengi some 2,000 feet above 

 Nikko, gives a good idea of the general character of the vegetation 

 of this part of Japan. There are some evergreens, pines and firs, 

 but deciduous trees predominate. Maples are especially abundant 

 and beautiful, and beeches and oaks are common. Among the 

 showy flowering shrubs and small trees, are dogwood (Benthamia), 



