FLORA OF THE MOUNTAIN. 215 



sity of phytological life. There is, in this region, the combi- 

 nation of two zones of plants just described, namely, the Tere- 

 binthinate trees, (coniferae,) or those possessing slender stems, 

 of great height, and needle-shaped leaves which are evergreen, 

 with the exception of a few species, and the zone of amenta- 

 ceous trees, which are plants with spreading branches and 

 diffuse spray, bearing wide, tender, and membranous leaves, 

 which drop every year and leave the stems and branches bare 

 through the frost months. The mingling of these two belts, 

 which are representative worlds, and unite widely- separated 

 chapters of the history of the planet, with laws of media, 

 soil, and climate, distinct and peculiar, gives a special charm 

 and interest to the forests of the Alleghany. 



A notice of some of the most striking trees composing 

 these forests may not be found uninteresting. This reci- 

 tation need not be made in the strictly scientific order of 

 the botanist, but in the natural succession in which they 

 might be supposed to attract the attention of the traveler. 

 A catalogue of the most commonly observed and extensively 

 distributed plants of the mountain, including the several de- 

 partments of botany, will be appended to this chapter. The 

 object of this must be obvious, especially to the physician, 

 to whom the great laws of " Habitats," and the dread neces- 

 sities which superintend the devevelopment and perpetuation 

 of Life in all its forms, reveal themselves in the character, 

 qualities, entire nature of the proper legitimate earth-chil- 

 dren rooted in and united by bonds of parental affinity to 

 special localities and in special media. 



The trees and woods of this range of mountains have 

 some distinguishing features, all of which will be apparent 

 after a special portraiture of them shall have been made. 



The mountain is clothed with an extensive and beautiful 

 variety of trees. In their distribution upon the surface, 

 these trees seek the most congenial localities, affecting the 

 soil and exposure made healthful and agreeable by oldest 

 affinities and home sympathies. Rocky height or rugged 

 ravine, alpine table-land or sloping mountain vale, have each 



