Chap. IV] MOUNTAIN REGIONS IN TEMPERATE ZONES 779 



Alpine Region. 



Elfin-wood (Pinus parvifolia) and shrub (birch, alder, rhododen- Meters. 



dron, and others) up to 6,150 



Dwarf-shrubs and perennial herbs „ 9,200 



(summit; 

 In his book on Japan, Rein distinguishes (the numbers chiefly hold good for 

 Central Japan) the following belts of vegetation : — 



1. Zone of pine-forest and of juniper up to 400 meters. 



2. Zone of Cryptomeria, cypress, and yew, 400-1,000 meters. The district of lower 

 summer-green forest with chestnut, laurel, Magnoliaceae. 



3. Zone of Abies firma and of intermediate broad-leaved forest, 1,000-1,500 meters. 



Evergreen forest with oak, beech, maple. 



4. Zone of silver-fir and larch, 1,500-2,000 meters, and upper broad-leaved forest 

 with birch and alder. 



5. Zone of elfin-wood, of dwarf-shrubs and alpine herbs, above 2,000 meters. 



There are no descriptions of plant formations on the North American 

 mountains. The alpine region in the Rocky Mountains on account of the 

 height of the forest-limit is for the most part poorly represented, and 

 appears to be chiefly occupied by tracts of rock and scree, so that there 

 is no development of alpine grassland, at any rate on a large scale. The 

 following two tabular statements are given by Grisebach 1 ; I know of no 

 more recent data : — 



REGIONS ON THE WHITE MOUNTAINS (44°N.) 2 . 



Basal and Montane Region. jr eet 



Oaks up to 800 



Broad-leaved and coniferous forest 800-1,950 



Coniferous forest (Pinus alba and P. balsamea) 1,950-4,500 



Alpine Region 4,500-5,850 (Mt. Washington) 



REGIONS ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS (MIDDLE PARK, 40 N.). 



Basal and Montane Region. F eet 



Prairie up to 3,700 (6,570) 



Coniferous forest ,, 11,000 



Alpine Region ,, 13,350 



For the southern cold temperate zone we possess some data of Dusen's 

 regarding the vegetation of the mountains of Tierra del Fuego, which are 

 only about 1000 meters in height. The beech-forest ascends to about 

 300 meters ; as a dwarf-tree Fagus antarctica in places ascends to 400 

 meters, and as a small shrub creeping on the ground, even to 600 meters. 

 What the formations are like between the forest-limit and the lower limit 

 of perpetual snow, at about 700 meters, does not appear from Dusen's 

 description. Above 500 meters the vegetation is apparently extremely 

 poor ; above the snow-limit, according to Dusen, there are only a few 

 cushions of Hepaticae. 



1 Grisebach, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 381. 2 Agassiz, op. cit. 



