LIFE IN THE FOREST AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 289 



Wright Pierce 



The "Elfin forest" or chaparral. Notice the zone of larger trees higher up on 



the slopes of the mountain. How do these western mountains differ from those 



in the East (see page 234) ? 



Zones of Life in the Mountains. Any one familiar 

 with the mountains of southern California knows that 

 they rise up out of the desert and that the lower slopes 

 are covered with chaparral, the " Elfin forest/' made up 

 almost entirely of tough shrubby growth that can exist 

 without much water. This growth is of great use, be- 

 cause it helps to hold in the soil the small amount of rain 

 that falls there. Further up these mountains we come to 

 another zone of life, big pine trees appear, and at an alti- 

 tude of from 6000 to 8000 feet we have forests. Still 

 higher the trees become more sparse and stunted until at 

 about 10,000 feet we come to a zone of dwarfed growth 

 almost like that of northern Canada. Taking the train 

 inland from Veracruz to Mexico City, we can pick wild 

 bananas at the coast and wild strawberries the same day 



H. & W. SCI. I 20 



