PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
and Bamboos, Elms and Laurels grew side by 
side. The Palms reached as far north as 
Bohemia, Switzerland and Belgium. Marles, 
Lindens, Planes, Spruces, Magnolias, Persim- 
mons and Pines flourished in Greenland. The 
Silver Fir and the Southern Cypress advanced 
to within two hundred leagues of the North 
Pole. The California Redwoods and Sequoias 
are survivors of a race which flourished in this 
age. 
Man came very late in the earth’s evolution, 
but he has had a profound effect upon the plant 
world. His most noteworthy feat has been to 
take comparatively weak plants like the grains 
and, for his own purposes, give them large areas 
in which to grow. Wheat, Maize, Yams and 
Tobacco became widely diffused as cultivated 
plants before the historic era. It is probable that 
Rice and the Legumes were first domesticated 
in Asia; Barley and Wheat in Egypt; and 
Maize, Potatoes, Yams and Manico in America. 
The origin and development of plants is a 
fascinating study. So authentic are the records 
which they have left in the eternal rocks that we 
have little difficulty in reconstructing their 
entire race history. 
[26] 
