Flora OrientaUs 121 



very small ones, GeraniaceEe, Malvaceae, and Violacese, are almost 

 on an equality in Europe and the East. Hypericacese are fewer 

 in the East than in Europe; Cistacese still more decidedly so. 

 The orders where the East has a decided advantage are Zygo- 

 phyllaceae, 42 species in the East against 5 in Europe ; Rutacese, 

 53 species against 16; Tamariscacese, 50 species against 8; 

 Capparides, 27 species against 8; Papaveraceae, 59 against 25. The 

 only orders added in the East are Sterculiaceae and Simarubaceae, 

 represented, the former by 4, and the latter by i species. 



Of what M. Boissier says about the botanical regions in which 

 the East is divisible, we can give here only a very brief abstract, 

 and must refer our readers for fuller detail to the work itself. He 

 adopts four principal divisions, which are as follows : — 



I. Region of Central Europe. — Characterized climatically by rain 

 spread throughout the year, summers of moderate heat, and winters 

 in which the thermometer sinks below freezing point ; the bulk of 

 the Flora composed of plants diffused throughout Central Europe, 

 and forests often occurring composed of deciduous-leaved trees 

 and Coniferae. To this belong the upper valleys and plateau of the 

 interior of European Turkey, the northern slope of the Caucasus, 

 and the northern shores of Asia Minor. In Armenia the winds 

 which sweep across the Black Sea encounter the high chain of 

 mountains which rises almost from the shore, and give out the 

 vapour they hold in suspension. Thus, in the lower levels the 

 summer is very wet, and in the middle region of the mountains 

 there is a perpetual fog, but upon the summits these have dis- 

 appeared completely, and on the southern slope we have a serene 

 sky and a continental climate. From this state of things we obtain 

 in the low ground near the shore a Flora where many of the plants 

 of temperate Europe mix with citron and orange trees, and higher 

 up amongst the hills an abundance of rhododendrons, azaleas, 

 vacciniums, and other plants which require a humid and temperate 

 climate. On the southern shores of the Caspian the state of things 

 is very similar, but here the winter is colder and the summer ex- 

 tremely warm and humid. In this tract most of our common fruit 

 trees grow wild, with several trees and shrubs which are peculiar to 

 it, and interlaced by ivy ; vine and smilax form almost impenetrable 

 forests. The common herbaceous plants are those of Central 

 Europe. A little higher, we meet with forests of oaks, elms, ma- 

 ples, ash, and lime trees ; and higher still, in a less humid zone, the 

 olive, myrtle, paliurus, and other bushes of the south of Europe. 



TRAVFX. I 



