78 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



roses, the Banksia, Cherokee, and Fortune's yellow are of Chinese 

 origin. Peonies, Dicentra, lilies, among herbaceous plants, Wis- 

 taria, lilacs, Deutzia, Spiraeas of several species, azaleas, Daphne, 

 flowering plums and crab-apples and peaches are a few of the 

 contributions of China to our gardens. 



Japan 



The chain of islands forming Japan extends for about fifteen 

 degrees of latitude 30°-45°, corresponding therefore to the At- 

 lantic States between Maine and northern Florida, and show- 

 ing much the same range of climate. However, due to insular 

 conditions, the Japanese climate is somewhat more uniform, 

 and very decidedly milder than the adjacent coast of the Asiatic 

 mainland in the same latitudes. 



The influence of the sea is also shown in a more abundant 

 and better distributed rainfall, Japan being quite destitute of any 

 arid regions, the country naturally being well wooded through- 

 out. In spite of the dense population of the lowlands, there is 

 everywhere an abundance of trees, probably planted in most 

 cases, but the Japanese are such skilful landscape artists that 

 it is quite impossible to tell where nature leaves off and art begins. 



The Japanese love of beautiful scenery has made all the most 

 attractive parts of the country readily accessible, and it is easy 

 to get into the mountains where the interesting native vegeta- 

 tion may be seen in all its wild luxuriance. 



In southern Japan there is an admixture of Malayan types 

 like bamboos, Cycas, palms and others; but the flora as a whole 

 is a temperate one and has much in common with the eastern 

 United States. In the northern island, Hokkaido, which is 

 much less densely populated, there is still a good deal of low- 

 land forest, which is entirely boreal in its constituents. 



The southernmost island, Kiushiu * shows the largest per- 

 centage of Malayan types. The forest is made up almost entirely 

 of broad-leaved evergreens, of which the most abundant are 

 several species of evergreen oaks. Another characteristic tree 

 is the camphor {Cinnamomum camphora), and other members 

 of the laurel family. Camellias and others of the tea family 



1 Schimper, A. F. W., Pflanzengeographic, pp. 516-518, 1898. 





