BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 173 



MOTHER. 



You will find, as you advance, that what relates 

 to the various situations in which vegetables grow, 

 and their distribution in different countries, is very 

 interesting. Some species, for instance, are con- 

 fined to exceedingly narrow limits, while others 

 are diffused, almost universally, over the world. A 

 species of marjoram, Orig'anum Tournefor / tii, a 

 plant of the class Didynamia, was discovered by 

 Tournefort, a celebrated French botanist, in the 

 year 1700, upon one rock only in the little island 

 of Amorgos, in the Archipelago. It was found 

 eighty years afterwards, by Sibthorpe, another 

 botanist, on the same island, and even upon the 

 very same rock ; but no one has ever yet observed 

 it anywhere else. 



Some plants grow wild on mountains only, and 

 are called Alpine, from the word Alps, which sig- 

 nifies very high mountains ; some grow in valleys 

 only, others nowhere but on plains; and some 

 which are entirely confined to water, are called 

 Aquatic. Some require the hottest climates, some 

 temperate ones, while others thrive only in the 

 midst of ice. Asiatic plants are remarkable for 

 their beauty ; those of Africa for their thick and 

 succulent leaves : and of America for the length 

 and smoothness of their leaves, with some pecu- 

 liarity in the shape of the flower and fruit. The 

 flowers of Europe are seldom very beautiful. 



