268 EUROPE 



alders may occur in river thickets. Under the heavy 

 canopy of dense spruce forests, the persistent semi-dark- 

 ness tolerates on the mat of dead needles but occasional 

 carpets of mosses and lichens, while the lighter cover 

 of the pines and larches admits of the existence of a 

 uniform brush of low woody and straggling bushes with 

 inconspicuous flowers and small, leathery leaves, and of 

 low, herbaceous ferns. There are no lianas ; even 

 climbers are rare and small, and epiphytes are reduced 

 to mosses, lichens, and an occasional fern. 



Though forests occupy the largest portion of the land, 

 especially in Russia, a considerable space is claimed by 

 other forms of vegetation ; on the margins of the rivers 

 are different kinds of meadows and moors ; on alluvial 

 silt flats, reed-, sedge- and rush-marshes ; on wet grounds, 

 thickets of willows, alders, &c. Depressions and badly 

 drained areas are the seat of extensive peat-bogs or high 

 moors : indeed, it is in damp and cool northern Europe 

 that the greatest accumulations of peat are found. Not 

 infrequently, waste lands, either natural or artificial, are 

 covered by moors of low shrubs, similar to our heather- 

 moors, with an abundance of berry bushes, heather, and 

 bracken. 



Only a very few kinds of small -leaved trees, and those 

 extremely hardy, represent the deciduous components of 

 such forests. Fair-sized willows are chiefly restricted to 

 damp and sheltered situations : those growing in the 

 open are stunted and often straggling. Large-leaved 

 herbs are limited to meadows and are chiefly perennial, 

 probably by reason of the shortness of the growing 

 period : annuals are rather scarce and small : tubers and 

 bulbs are rare. The food resources of the forests, moors, 

 and morasses are limited to a few berries and roots ; 

 large fruits cannot withstand the raw and chilly climate, 



