258 EUROPE 



and southern or Mediterranean regions, they are still 

 more apparent in the deciduous zone of central Europe. 

 Such distinctions are, of necessity, more subtle than 

 between the latitudinal belts of vegetation. They do 

 not materially affect the general aspect and composition 

 of the large masses of forests, but show themselves in the 

 comparative abundance of certain growth-forms and 

 plant formations, or again in the varied forms, vegeta- 

 tive habits, and modes of life of the same plant species 

 in the various districts. 



In the west, the mild winters allow plants to retain 

 their foliage longer than in the east; the periodic phe- 

 nomena of plant life are not so regular nor so sudden. 

 Life is perhaps less exuberant in summer, but the period 

 of rest is not so complete and universal. As the advent 

 of autumn is more gradual and slow, so the spring re- 

 awakening, as a whole, takes place earlier. With the 

 weakening of the seasonal rhythm, there is a tendency 

 to a prolonged, if less active, growth period, to a sort of 

 tender-leaf evergreen of the cool temperate type. In 

 this respect western Europe bears some relation to such 

 cool-temperate evergreen regions as southern Chile or 

 south-western New Zealand and Tasmania. This is 

 especially the case for the oceanic fringe of coasts and 

 headlands, from Ireland to Spain, where evergreens of 

 more or less thin foliage, like the strawberry-tree, the 

 cherry laurel, the Portugal laurel, the holly and the 

 yew, develop best. In addition, a large number of 

 mediterranean leathery- leaf evergreens survive the 

 winter and are extensively planted, and there is a marked 

 tendency to the evergreen habit in certain shrubs which, 

 in the east, are frankly deciduous. 



The contrast between the east and the west is more 

 striking in the grass formations than in the forests and 



