296 EUROPE 



the autumnal rest, as well as the reawakening in spring, 

 are spread over longer periods; the leafy stage is also 

 somewhat prolonged. Hence, the whole plant world 

 gives an impression of evergreenness, and in many cases 

 there is a real tendency thereto. This is especially 

 noticeable with the lawns and pastures, which preserve 

 throughout the winter an ever- fresh appearance, but 

 it is not lacking among the shrubs of the undergrowth, 

 such as the privet. 



The same mildness of winter accounts for the luxuri- 

 ant growth and abundance of such native evergreens 

 as the holly, the strawberry tree, and the yew, with 

 their comparatively tender leaves. It also explains 

 the enormous development of such imported evergreens 

 as the cherry laurel and Portugal laurel, the rhododen- 

 drons, ancubas, privets, euonymus, and even camellias and 

 aralias, while in sheltered corners it permits the exis- 

 tence in the open of some of the hardier palms. At the 

 same time a large number of hard-leaf evergreens of the 

 Mediterranean are able to vegetate throughout the 

 winter, assuming, in most cases, the broader and thinner 

 foliage and the general aspect of tender-leaved evergreens. 

 Among those which are most commonly seen in our 

 gardens may be mentioned the laurel, the holm oak, and 

 the laurustinus. Southern conifers may be thoroughly 

 acclimatized in favourable spots : even such plants 

 as the fuchsias, camellias, and some profuse types of 

 delicate magnolias, intimately associated with thoroughly 

 temperate climates, display the same exuberance of foli- 

 age and blossom as in their native homes. 



As regards plant societies, the oceanic fringe of Europe 

 has developed few characteristics of its own and does 

 not differ from western Europe. It is important also to 

 mention that, strange as it may appear in view of the 



