584 A TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY [Ch. XIV 



of countries as far apart and different in flora as New England 

 and New Zealand, or the tropics of Brazil and Borneo, are 

 substantially alike, the same formations being found in both. 

 Indeed, to general view, and as shown in the best photo- 

 graphs, the vegetation of these contrasted regions is indis- 

 tinguishable, though nearer examination shows them to be 

 made up of very different species. 



The limitations of this book forbid description of even the 

 principal plant formations of the world, and permit only the 

 following list. The interested student who would follow the 

 subject farther should turn to the fine books of Schimper and 

 of Warming. 



The Forest Formations. The Tropical Rain Forest, 

 composed wholly of mesophytes, is the most highly devel- 

 oped, and exhibits the most luxuriant vegetation of the world. 

 The always-green canopy, formed by the several great domi- 

 nant trees, is pierced here and there by columnar palms, while 

 beneath is an undergrowth of tall shrubs and tree ferns, a 

 lower growth of giant herbs, and a ground layer of creepers, 

 Moss plants and Algae; and rampant in all the interstices 

 are climbers, epiphytes, parasites, and saprophytes. The 

 Deciduous Forest of warm temperate regions, composed 

 chiefly of tropophytes, has a canopy of deciduous foliage, 

 with undergrowth of tall shrubs, a lower growth of tall herbs, 

 and a ground layer of carpet herbs, Algae, and Moss plants. 

 Climbers occur, but few true epiphytes, aside from xerophytic 

 Mosses, Lichens, and adherent Algae, because they cannot 

 endure the long dry period of winter. The Mixed Forest 

 of cool temperate regions, composed of tropophytes inter- 

 mingled with evergreen xerophytes, has a canopy of deciduous 

 foliage pierced by the taller cone-shaped spires of the excur- 

 rent evergreens, while the undergrowth likewise consists of 

 deciduous and evergreen shrubs and herbs. The Evergreen 

 Forest, of more northern regions and of mountains, com- 

 posed chiefly of xerophytic excurrent evergreens, forms often 

 great growths of one dominant, — Pine, Spruce, Fir, with 



