THE WILDWOODS 35 



and ice are hardly known and where a frost is a general 

 calamity, we are struck with the radical change in the 

 appearance of the forest. It is still a forest of hard- 

 woods, there are live oak, red and white oaks, ash, and 

 gum, but among them is that peculiar tree of the torrid 

 lands, the palm tree. And to have a few of these palms 

 to each acre is enough to alter entirely the aspect of the 

 forest. Usually this hummock land has some cypress 

 and red cedar with a few scattering pine ; and everywhere 

 the yucca and dwarf palms are conspicuous among the 

 undergrowth. Our forest has changed, and changed 

 radically; it possesses an entirely new form, a new 

 order of trees. 



Let iis review our trip. In the icy Lake Superior 

 region the forest is made of few kinds; the conifers 

 are an important mixture and the hardwood trees are 

 stunted. In mild Indiana it is composed of hardwoods 

 alone ; the variety is great ; the trees are large. In the 

 warm districts of the southern Alleghenies the variety 

 is still* greater; size and quality are equally fine, and 

 conifers, reappear ; while in the hot climate of Florida 

 the variety is still greater, and the forest takes on a 

 subtropical aspect by adding the palm. 



If our comparison had been for the sand lands or the 

 swamps, the difference would have been much less ; 

 the pinery of Florida is as monotonous as that of 

 Minnesota. 



