TYPES OF VEGETATION 23 
4. Grassland (steppes or prairies).—This is charac- 
teristic of the continental type of climate, where the air 
is dry, and wide* extremes of temperature occur. In 
winter the steppes are swept with storms of wind and 
snow ; in spring, when the snow has melted and the soil 
is moist, a rich mantle of grass spreads over the plains, 
but in summer this is all dried up, and the steppes become 
dusty wildernesses. In the damper parts the grassland 
passes into deciduous woodland, park-land representing 
an intermediate stage in the transition. 
5. The Mediterranean Region.—This is a dry sunny 
subtropical region in which most rain falls in winter. 
The winters are mild, and, except on the uplands, frost 
is almost unknown. Through the dryness of the atmo- 
sphere, the summers are very hot, but the nights, if clear, 
are cold. Forests are few, except in the mountainous 
districts, where, by reason of the greater rainfall, deciduous 
forests occur (e.g., chestnuts). The characteristic vegeta- 
tion of the lowland is evergreen—e.g., the evergreen oak, 
orange, olive, arbutus, laurel, and myrtle. One palm— 
Chamerops humilis—reaches as far as Europe, where 
it occurs on the Riviera. 
[6. Tropical Rain-Forests.—These do not occur in 
Europe, but they form a remarkable feature of the 
wettest parts of the Tropics. There is no interruption 
of the vegetation by cold, and the heat is intense, especi- 
ally at midday. The rainfall is very great—at least 
70 inches annually—and this, in conjunction with the 
great heat, encourages a development of the vegetation 
which is unparalleled in other parts of the world—e.g., 
the evergreen rain-forests of the Amazon, the West 
Coast of Africa, the Congo, and the Malay. ] 
