A CHAT ABOUT PLANTS. 147 



book of Nature. Almost every kind of soil has its own 

 peculiar plants ; some prosper only on limestone, others 

 on granite, and a few are, as Evelyn quaintly says, " faith- 

 ful lovers of watery and boggie places." But the dis- 

 tribution of plants shows itself mainly, when viewed in 

 larger masses and groups. As winter is cold and silent, 

 but summer all radiant with forms of life and beauty, 

 so differ Pole and Equator. Near the former vegetable 

 life is nearly impossible ; around the other we behold the 

 grandest display of nature's most gorgeous gifts. The 

 glorious tapestry of the earth, we are told by a master of 

 the science, is not woven alike every where, nor is the 

 rich and variegated carpet, with which plants cover the 

 nakedness of the rock, pieced together, without plan or 

 rule, of separate patches. It is, rather, like an embroider- 

 ing of skilful hands, worked from a grand and beautiful 

 design. 



For heat and moisture are the two great requisites of 

 plants : without them no vegetation is possible heat, espe- 

 cially, is of all their necessaries of life the most important : 

 it is the iron sceptre which rules the vegetable kingdom, 

 whether the plant hang in the air, be half buried in the 

 ground, or for its lifetime covered with water. The same 

 degree of heat produces every where the same union of 

 kindred plants ; hence the arrangement of all vegetables 

 according to zones on our globe. The Arctic, nearest to 

 the poles, where lichens still support the reindeer, and 

 cheerful mosses cover the bare rock, is destitute of trees 

 but it has dwarfish perennial plants, with large flowers, 

 often of beautiful colors ; it has its gentle smiling meadows 



