474 



ZONES AND REGIONS [Pt. Ill, Sect. II 



one, S. Palmetto, attains medium height (Fig. 342) ; epiphytes consist of 

 only a few herbaceous forms, one of which, Tillandsia usneoides (Figs. 48, 

 240), frequently dominates the landscape, and is also generally distributed 

 over the tropics and over the north temperate zones of America. The 

 broad-leaved forest, however, is very feebly represented in the warm humid 

 districts of North America, because edaphic influences determine the ap- 

 pearance of coniferous forest (Pinus on sandy soils (Fig. 244), Taxodium 

 distichum in swamps (Fig. 48) 1 ). 



Fig. 241. Subtropical rain-forest (oak-forest) in Louisiana. Quercus virens. 

 On the left : Arundinaria macrosperma. From a photograph. 



I found the subtropical rain-forest in North and Central Florida chiefly character- 

 ized by the evergreen oak, Quercus virens, to which species the tallest trees belong ; 

 by Magnolia grandiflora, which resembles many tropical fig-trees owing to its large 

 shining leaves, but in April is adorned with huge white flowers ; also by Sabal 

 Palmetto, Lodd., a small but slender fan-palm ; and, last but not least, by Tillandsia 

 usneoides, which spreads a grey veil over the forest. The richly developed under- 

 wood frequently consists only of dwarf palms (Sabal Adansonii, S. serrulata), other- 

 wise of very heterogeneous shrubs, which occasionally recall the shrubs of the tropical 

 rain-forest by the size of their leaves no less than by their systematic position (for 

 instance Styrax grandifolium, Ait.). The woody lianes are less varied ; the most 



1 See Ch. VIII of this Section. 



