GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 65 



natives of the Spice Islands, the clove and nut- 

 meg trees, pepper and mace. Cinnamon bushes 

 clothe the surface of Ceylon ;* the odoriferous 

 sandal wood, the ebony tree, the teak tree, the 

 banyan, grow in the East Indies. In the same 

 latitudes in Arabia the Happy we find balm, 

 frankincense, and myrrh, the coffee tree, and the 

 tamarind. But in these countries, at least in the 

 plains, the trees and shrubs which decorate our 

 more northerly climes are wanting. And as we 

 go northwards, at every step we change the vege- 

 table group, both by addition and by subtraction. 

 In the thickets to the west of the Caspian Sea 

 we have the apricot, citron, peach, walnut. In 

 the same latitude in Spain, Sicily, and Italy, 

 we find the dwarf palm, the cypress, the chestnut, 

 the cork tree : the orange and lemon tree per- 

 fume the air with their blossoms ; the myrtle 

 and pomegranate grow wild among the rocks. 

 We cross the Alps, and we find the vegetation 

 which belongs to northern Europe, of which 

 England affords an instance. The oak, the 

 beech, and the elm are natives of Great Britain : 

 the elm tree seen in Scotland, and in the north 

 of England, is the wych elm. As we travel still 

 further to the north the forests again change 

 their character. In the northern provinces of 

 the Russian empire are found forests of the va- 



* Barton, Geography of Plants. 

 F 



