50 THE MODERN PERIOD. 



slmibs, which, if it be fertile and not of very great extent, may nearly 

 cover its surface in the summer succeeding the fire. This first growth 

 may comprise a considerable variety of species, which we may divide 

 into three groups. The first of these consists of herbaceous plants, 

 wliich have their roots so deeply buried in the soil as to escape the 

 effects of the fire. Of this kind are the various species of Trillium, 

 whose tubers are deeply embedded in the black mould of the woods, 

 and whose flowers may sometimes be seen thickly sprinkled over the 

 black surface of woodland very recently burned. Some species of 

 ferns also, in this way, occasionally survive forest fires. A second 

 group is composed of plants whose seeds are readily transported by 

 the wind. Pre-eminent among these is the species of Epilobium 

 known in Nova Scotia as the fire-weed or French willow [E. angusti- 

 folium), whose feathered seeds are admirably adapted for flying to 

 great distances, and which often covers large tracts of burned ground 

 so completely, that its purple flowers communicate their own colour to 

 the whole surface, when viewed from a distance. This plant appears 

 to prefer the less fertile soils, and the name of fire- weed has been given 

 to it in consequence of its occupying these when their wood has been 

 destroyed by fire. Various species of Senecio, Solldago, and Aster, 

 and Equiseta, Fenis, and Mosses, are also among the first occupants 

 of bunied ground ; and their presence may be explained in the same 

 way with that of the Epilobium, their seeds and spores being easily 

 scattered over the surface of the barren by wind. A third group of 

 species, found abundantly on burned ground, consists of plants bearing 

 edible fruits. The seeds of these are scattered over the baiTcn by 

 birds which feed on the fruits, and, finding a rich and congenial soil, 

 soon bear abundantly and attract more birds, bringing with them the 

 seeds of other species. In this way, it sometimes happens that a patch 

 of burned ground, only a few acres in extent, may, in a few years, 

 contain specimens of nearly all the fruit-bearing shrubs and herbs 

 indigenous in the country. Among the most common plants which 

 overspread the burned ground in this manner, are the raspberry, which, 

 in good soils. Is one of the first to make its appearance ; the species 

 of Vaccinice, or whortle-berries and blueberries; the tea-berry or 

 wintergreen {Gaultheria procumbens) ; the pigeon-berry [Cornus cana- 

 densis) ; and the wild strawberry. It is not denied that some plants 

 may be found in recently burned districts whose presence may not be 

 explicable in the above modes ; but no person acquainted w-ith the facts 

 can deny that nearly all the plants which appear in any considerable 

 quantity within a few years after the occurrence of a fire, may readily 

 be included in the groups which have been mentioned. By the 



