96 GRE&ABIOUSNESS AND SOCIABILITY OF SPECIES. 



and right up to these limits it generally not only flourishes in all 

 its vigour but is also gregarious for various reasons, the principal 

 of which are enumerated below. These reasons are so powerful, 

 that a few of them alone would suffice to give it an easy predomi- 

 nance over its companions. They are 



(a) The unaccommodating nature of the tree, owing to which it 

 generally either flourishes in all its vigour or is completely absent. 



(7>) Its profuse and all but annual seeding. 



(c) The fall of its seed at the end of the season of forest fires, 

 and at the beginning of the season of vegetation. 



(d) The almost immediate germination of its seed. 



(e) The immediate appearance and remarkable vitality of the 

 collum-buds, which give its seedlings great tenacity. 



(/) The great length and strength of the taproot developed by 

 its seedling. 



(<f) The ability of its young plants to persist under, and even 

 push up through, fairly dense cover, the latter faculty being consi- 

 derably strengthened by their long narrow crown. 



(//) The persistence of its foliage during at least eleven months 

 of the year. 



(/) The production of more than a single flush of leaves each 

 year. 



(j) The early formation of a thick, sap-gorged secondary bark, 

 which protects the cambium and dormant buds from external 

 injuries. 



(/o) The almost universal aversion of cattle for its leaves, a 

 circumstance that saves its seedlings from being browsed down and 

 its larger individuals from being lopped for fodder. 



(/) The great powers of recovery of the species. 



(111) Its relatively great rapidity of growth from the time a cer- 

 tain age has been reached right up to its attaining its full height. 



() The very remarkable facility with which a new leader is 

 formed on the death or disappearance of the original one. 



(o) The great facility with which it grows up again from the 

 stool. 



(_/>) Its loftier stature as compared with most of its companions. 



(q) Its ability to form by itself a complete leaf-canopy. 



(V) Its great longevity, exceeding that of nearly all its com- 

 panions. 



(s) The enormous depth (down to 60 feet and more) to which its 

 roots can penetrate, whereby it can flourish on the driest soils, resist 

 violent winds, and escape strangulation during its infancy and 



