150 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



Birch (Betida lenta et excelsa). Beech, Maple, and other forest 

 trees of the interior are seldom or never seen. Beneath the 

 shade of the evergreen growth on the clay flats we find the Tway 

 blade (Listera Cordata), the Mitrewort {MltelJa Niida), the 

 Rattlesnake plantain (^Goodi/era reprns), the Dwarf orchis 

 (^Platanthera ohtusafa), the one-flDwered Pyrola {^Moneses 

 unijiora), and other shade-loving plants. 



We have seen that the prevalence of a moist climate and im- 

 pervious soil, coupled with a low temperature, give rise to thick 

 evergreen forests, peat-bogs and swamps saturated with moisture ; 

 and while producing, even during clear weather, great radiation 

 of heat and moisture, these causes have contributed to encourage 

 the growth of such northern plants as those above mentioned on 

 the maritime slopes of our southern hills. 



On the declension of this hill-country toward the plains of the 

 interior, however, another set of agencies comes into play. It 

 has been already intimated that the summer skies of the central 

 districts are clearer than those of the coast, and the precipitation 

 of moisture less profuse. In the valleys, among the more 

 northerly ranges of the southern hills, nmch of the soil is loamy, 

 and naturally well drained, as well as fertile. These rich loams 

 are co-extensive with the lower coal formation in New Bruns- 

 wick. They border the Lower Plain throughout, fill the valleys 

 of the Kennebackasis and Petticodiac Rivers, form islands on it 

 along its N. W. side, and re-appear in the valley of the Tobique 

 among the northern hills. The fertility of other loams, such as 

 those of the internal lands on the St. John River, and the upland 

 tracts around Houlton and Woodstock on the Upper Plain, is 

 evidenced by the growth of such species of plants as the Dwarf 

 Ginseng or Ground Nut (^Aralla tn'/oJia), Closed Gentian (G%n- 

 tiani Andrewsii), Showy Orchis (0/-cA is Speciabi/is), Bass Wood 

 (Tilia Americana)^ Desmodiinn Canadmse, the two Osmorrhizas, 

 Wild Ginger (^Asarum Canadense), and Butternut (Juglans 

 cinerea,) 



Immediately north of us, but, as regards its flora, about 1,000 

 feet below, is the elevated plain of the Kennebackasis Bay, 

 beyond which we may look down another 1000 feet, into the 

 sunny valleys of Kings County. Over the Nerepis hills the 

 great plain which occupies the central part of Acadia is visible, 

 and far beyond it the plateau of Northern Acadia stretches away 

 to its junction with the Notre Dame mountains ; while to the 



