20 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I 



and mountains, for supplying timber for building and other pur- 

 poses. The larch was a favourite tree among them ; and instances 

 are given by Pliny of the enormous size which it attained, of its 

 durability, and its resistance to fire. The positive knowledge of 

 the Romans, with respect to trees, may be found in Pliny's Natural 

 History; and an enumeration of the species which that work 

 contains, as far as they can be guessed at by modern botanists, 

 is given by Sprengel in his Historia Rei Herbaria, vol. i. It 

 contains so few, in addition to those known to Theophrastus, that 

 it seems unnecessary to introduce it here. 



CHAP. II. 



OF THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE TREES AND SHRUBS 

 NOW IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



THE trees and shrubs now indigenous to, or cultivated in, the 

 British Islands, including Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the 

 other adjacent isles, naturally form two divisions ; viz., those 

 which are of spontaneous growth, and those which have been 

 introduced or originated by the art and industry of man. In 

 order to convey distinct ideas respecting the number and nature 

 of the native woody plants which may be considered as abori- 

 ginal and permanent inhabitants of this country, we shall give 

 an enumeration of them, arranged according to the natural 

 orders to which they belong ; and, in order to show the progress 

 of the introduction of foreign species, the number introduced, 

 and the individuals to whom we are indebted for such intro- 

 ductions, we shall treat of the native and foreign plants 

 separately. 



SECT. I. Of the Native Trees and Shrubs of the British Isles. 



THE native plants of any island may generally be considered 

 as the same as those of the continent to which that island belongs ; 

 and hence we find that there are very few trees and shrubs which 

 are indigenous to the north of France, Belgium, and the north 

 of Germany, which are not also natives of Britain. In countries 

 which have been long civilised, it appears difficult to determine 

 what trees or plants are aboriginal, and what have been intro- 

 duced ; .and even in wild countries, the same difficulties may be 

 said to occur, since the seeds of the plants of one country may 

 be, and undoubtedly are, carried to another country by birds and 

 other animals, and may spring up there, mature themselves, and 

 continue their species like aboriginal plants. It is probable that 

 this process has gone on more or less in every country from its 



