THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 383 



A map has been prepared, illustrating this distribution in the case of 

 some of our forest trees. The lines there drawn will be seen to agree 

 nearly with contour lines having the altitudes which are mentioned in 

 our further notice of these species. Thus the greater altitude of the 

 highlands in the southern part of the state, between the Merrimack and 

 Connecticut, excludes chestnut and white oak, and gives to that section 

 a flora like that of the southern part of the Canadian division. 



FOREST TREES. 



Among the twenty-seven natural orders which make up the greater 

 part of the flora of New Hampshire, we find the pine family the most 

 important, either as a prominent feature of the landscape, or as contrib- 

 uting to the wealth of the state. First in this family is the white pine, 

 which has been the most valued of our forest trees ever since the ser- 

 vants of King George roused the indignation of the pioneers by placing 

 their "broad arrow" on the best mast trees of the Merrimack valley. 

 When the country was covered by the primeval forest, this tree filled all 

 the river valleys with a stately growth, extending along that of the Con- 

 necticut to the northern boundary. At the present day this growth has 

 nearly disappeared before the lumberman's axe, but the great abundance 

 of saplings in the southern part of the state shows that this species is 

 still the principal conifer of that section. Passing northward into Coos 

 county, we find the white pine much restricted in area, occurring mostly 

 at the head waters of the streams, and mainly confined to first growth 

 specimens, saplings being of rare occurrence, even where the land is 

 allowed to return to forest after clearing. 



The pitch and red pines are much more limited in range than the fore- 

 going. The pitch pine finds its most congenial soil along the sandy 

 plains and drift knolls of the river valleys, scarcely growing on hills that 

 attain much elevation above the sea level. It is found most abundantly 

 in the south-eastern part of the state, in the Merrimack valley, and 

 around Lakes Winnipiseogee and Ossipee, extending northward as far as 

 North Conway. In the valley of the Connecticut it appears less abun- 

 dantly. The red pine, often wrongly called " Norway pine," is the most 

 social of the pine genus found with us, occurring in groups of from a few 

 individuals to groves containing several acres. Although much less 



