1818.] Mr. Winch on the Geography of Plants. 45 



Article III. 



On the Geography of Plants. By N. I. Winch, Esq. 

 (To the Editors of the Annals of Philosophy.) 



GENTLEMEN, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, May 4, 1818. 



In January last I did myself the honour of transmitting to you 

 a paper on the distribution of vegetables indigenous in the north 

 of England ; I now continue those observations by some 

 remarks on the growth of native and exotic forest trees and 

 shrubs ; and hope next morfth to conclude this slight essay on 

 the geography of plants in our parallel of latitude, with a concise 

 account of the fruits that ripen, and species of grain which come 

 to perfection, at different heights in 55° North. By these data 

 the temperature of the climate and the nature of the soils may, 

 in some measure, be elucidated ; but several meteorological 

 facts must be deferred till I have leisure and opportunities to 

 revise and correct my notes, which are not at present sufficiently 

 complete to lay before your scientific readers. 



Of forest trees, the oak first claims our attention. In the 

 sheltered vales of Tyne, Derwent, and Tees, it attains to a 

 large size, and may be considered truly indigenous ; for enormous 

 trunks and branches are dug out of all the peat mosses which 

 are not situated at a very considerable elevation above the levels 

 of the rivers ; and this phenomenon occurs even among the 

 recesses of the Cheviot mountains, a district which is now des- 

 titute of oaks. In Weardale and Teesdale, trees of a stunted 

 growth may be traced to the elevation of 1,600 or 1,700 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The river Dal, in Sweden, in lat. 

 60° 30' North, and Christiana, in Norway, in 59° 56', appear to be 

 the northern limits of this valuable timber ; but the oaks which 

 I have noticed on the banks of the Gotha, in lat. 58°, were of 

 very diminutive size. 



The common elm of the southern counties of England 

 (Ulmus campestris) is certainly not indigenous north of the 

 Tees ; and, of course, I cannot help suspecting that the elm 

 mentioned by Von Buch as growing in the vicinity of Christiana, 

 and by Wahlenberg to the north of the Lake Venner, in Verm- 

 land, will prove to be the Wych elm (Ulmus montana), or 

 possibly the smooth-leaved elm (Ulmus glabra of Eng. Bot.). 

 Even in sheltered plantations, the common elm does not attain 

 to a considerable size ; but the Wych elm is abundant in every 

 hedge, and, together with the smooth-leaved elm, skirts our 

 moors at the height of 2,000 feet. 



The beech (Fagus sylvestris) and aspen (Populus tremula) are 

 truly natives; but the former does not climb the hills to the same 

 height as the oak, but flourishes beautifully in the vales. Von 



