436 CAUSES LIMITING PROPAGATION. CHAP. X. 



SECTION IV. 



General Remarks. 



Habitatin- THE habit of vegetables is sometimes affected by 

 habiT" 5 *e habitat, so as to give to plants of different coun- 

 tries, though of the same genus, a sort of charac- 

 teristic feature by which their country may often 

 be discovered, in the same manner as the national 

 distinctions which are observable in the looks and 

 colour of mankind, and which are effected chiefly 

 by climate. On this subject botanists have made 

 Ascxcm- the following remarks : Asiatic plants are remark- 

 5!iSric| n able for their su P erior beauty ; African plants for 

 European, their thick and succulent leaves, as in the case of 

 and Ame- the Cacti ; and American plants for the length 

 plants. a "d smoothness of their leaves, and for a sort of 

 singularity in the shape of the flower and fruit. 

 The flowers of European plants are but rarely beau- 

 tiful, a great proportion of them being amenta- 

 ceous. Plants indigenous to polar and mountainous 

 regions are generally low, with small compressed 

 leaves ; but with flowers large in proportion. Plants 

 indigenous to New Holland are distinguishable for 

 small and dry leaves that have often a shrivelled 

 appearance. In Arabia they are low and dwarfish ; 

 in the Archipelago they are generally shrubby and 

 furnished with prickles; while in the Canary Islands 

 many plants, which in other countries are merely 

 herbs, assume the port of shrubs and trees. 



