l] WHAT IS PLANT (JEOGRAPHY ? 17 



not characterize areas to the same extent, and for our present purpose 

 seem best considered as a mere factor of the environment. 



This recognition of the more fundamental role of plants does 

 not seem to be weakened by the realization that, often, plants and 

 animals have evolved together and are necessary for one another's 

 existence. For even in the case of flesh-eating animals, sooner or 

 later, as we trace back the food-chain, we come to the ultimate point 

 of dependence upon green plants. Furthermore, the animal geo- 

 grapher is not necessarily of much help to us, for the areas and 

 boundaries which he recognizes {e.g. Fig. 2, A) are often very different 

 from ours {e.g. Fig. 2, B), and he is prone to take for granted that 

 the vegetation (which he considers simply as part of the environ- 

 ment) is a mere response to local conditions. Yet a plant community, 

 quite apart from its historical implications, gives us many clues to 

 the nature of the environment because its component members 

 exhibit recognizable responses to physical features. No such general 

 virtue is displayed by animal communities, if indeed these can be 

 satisfactorily recognized. 



Recent books on animal geography, with useful bibliographies 

 suggesting further reading, include R. Hesse, W. C. Allee, & K. P. 

 Schmidt's Ecological Animal Geography, second edition (Wilev, 

 New York, pp. xiii + 715, 195 1), F. L. de Beaufort's Zoogeography 

 of the Land and Inland Waters (Sidgwick & Jackson, London, pp. 

 viii -f 208, 1951), Sven Ekman's Zoogeography of the Sea, translated 

 by Elizabeth Palmer (Sidgwick & Jackson, London, pp. xiv + 417, 

 1953), and Philip J. Darlington's Zoogeography : the Geographical 

 Distribution of Animals (Wiley, New York, pp. xiii -f- 675, 1957). 



Some Earlier Works on Plant Geography 



In English : 



Anonymous and other early works include The Geography of Plants (The 

 Religious Tract Society, London, pp. vi + 7-192, undated), J. 

 Barton's A Lecture on the Geography of Plants (Harvey & Darton, 

 London, pp. 1-94 and index, etc., 1827), and R. B. Hinds's The 

 Regions of Vegetation ; being an analysis of the distribution of vegetable 

 forms over the surface of the globe in connection zcith climate and 

 physical agents (Palmer, London, pp. 1-140, 1843). 



Meyen, F. J. F. (1846) : Outlines of the Geography of Plants : zcith 

 particular enquiries concer?iing the native country, the culture, and the 

 uses of the principal cultivated plants on zchich the prosperity of nations 



