10 BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 



flora nor on the other hand is the warmth and general char- 

 acter of the lowlands sufficient to bring many of the plants 

 of the middle temperate region thus far up the coast of 

 Maine. The flora then may be said to be essentially Cana- 

 dian, having close relations with the very similar flora of 

 New Brunswick. It also shows, apart from its maritime char- 

 acter, many points of resemblance to the general flora of the 

 White Mountain region. It is in its special problems how- 

 ever, that plant distribution becomes of great interest at 

 Mount Desert." 



Prof. M. L. Fernald,^ in referring to the diversity of the 

 island flora, says: ''The flora of the Mount Desert region is 

 not by any means entirely arctic or subarctic. There we 

 find essentially all of the common plants of the Canadian zone 

 and mingling with them in sheltered nooks and meadows or 

 on warm slopes, many scores of plants which reach their 

 extreme northern or northeastern limit on Mount Desert or 

 the immediate coast — such plants as the Pitch Pine, Piniis 

 rigida; the Bear Oak, Quercus ilicifolia; the Sweet Pepper- 

 bush, Clethra alnifolia; the Swamp Loosestrife, Decodon ver- 

 ticillatus; the Meadow Beauty, Rhexia virginica, and the 

 maple-leaved Viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium. This extraor- 

 dinary accumulation within one small area of the typical 

 plants of the arctic realm, of the Canadian zone and in many 

 cases of the southern coastal plain, cannot be duplicated at 

 any point known to the writer." Mount Desert is — 



"An island full of hills and dells, 

 All rumpled and uneven 

 With green recesses, sudden swells, 



And odorous valleys driven 

 So deep and straight, that always there 

 The wind is cradled to soft air. ' ' 



This diversity and the temperature of the Island are aptly 

 pointed out by Mr. Barrington Moore, "* editor of Ecology, 

 who says: ''From the forestry point of view I can state that 



'"An Acadian plant sanctuary." Sieur de Monts Publication, vol. 5, p. 6. 

 '"Scientific aspects of Mt. Desert Island." The Maine Naturalist, vol. 1, p. 

 100, 1921. 



