THE PAGE OF NATURE. 95 



the higher branches. The vast dreary pine-forests of 

 Lapland possess a character which is peculiarly their 

 own, and are perhaps more singular in the eyes of the 

 traveller than any other feature in the landscapes of that 

 remote and desolate region. This character they owe to 

 the immense number of lichens with which they abound. 

 The ground, instead of grass, is carpeted with dense 

 tufts of the reindeer moss, white as a shower of new- 

 fallen snow ; while the trunks and branches of the trees 



Fio. 11. ALECTOHIA JDBATA. 

 (a) Enlarged portion. 



are swollen far beyond their natural dimensions with 

 huge, dusky, funereal bunches of the rock-hair, hanging 

 down in masses, exhaling a damp earthy smell, like an 

 old cellar, or stretching from tree to tree, in long 

 festoons, waving with every breath of wind, and creating 

 a perpetual melancholy twilight around. 



Another beard-like lichen ( Usnea florida, Fig. 1 2), 

 often growing along with the rock-hair, is gathered in 

 great quantities in North America, from the pine-forests, 

 and stored up as winter fodder for cattle in inclement 



