88 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



young state, the varying colours of the under and upper 

 surfaces of their foliage and the delicate tints of the new 

 growth in summer, being especially remarkable. Their 

 different rates of growth would soon cause some species to 

 tower above others, and thus produce that charm of 

 variety which is wanting where large areas are planted 

 with trees which all grow at about the same rate. 



The next forest type of which we should have an 

 example, is that of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, 

 containing all those interesting trees of the European 

 forest region which are not natives of our own country. 

 Here we should grow the various European pines and firs, 

 including the symmetrical pinsapo of Spain, the well- 

 known silver fir of the Alps, and the allied but more beau- 

 tiful Nordman's fir of Russia. Here, too, we should have 

 the nettle-tree, the Judas-tree, the flowering ash, the wild 

 olive, the hop-hornbeam, the almost evergreen Neapolitan 

 alder, and our old favourites the plane, the walnut, the 

 laburnum, and the Portugal laurel. Along with these we 

 should plant the many beautiful and often sweet-scented 

 shrubs of the same districts — laurestinus, myrtles, Spanish 

 broom, coronillas, cistuses, Mediterranean heaths, the 

 favourite lilac, and the luscious Philadelphus, or syringa. 

 A smaller space would serve to exhibit these trees and 

 shrubs in forest growth, as they are less numerous and 

 generally not of large size ; but as they comprise so many 

 of our garden favourites, the forest of Eastern Europe 

 would certainly be very attractive. 



We now come to the most remarkable of all the forest 

 regions of the temperate zone — that of Eastern Asia and 

 Japan. This forest is even richer than that of Eastern 

 America in deciduous trees, and at the same time richer 

 than that of Western America in conifers ; ^ and, as it is 

 only partially explored, while the others are well known, 

 its comparative richness will certainly increase as future 

 discoveries are made. We find here a number of the 

 deciduous trees of Eastern America represented by closely 

 allied species, and, in addition, a number of altogether 

 peculiar types. Among these are the well-known ailanthus, 



1 Deciduous trees, 123 species ; conifers, 45 species. 



