20 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



tainous and the scenery is for the most part pretty and picturesque. 

 In the central parts of the main island (Hondo) are ranges of high 

 mountains — volcanic and granitic — and the scenery there is bold 

 and rugged. The sublime Fuji with its symmetrical cone, snow- 

 capped for the greater part of the year, is 12,390 feet high and is 

 the highest mountain in Japan. 



Since the country is so broken a very considerable portion of it 

 is not amenable to agriculture. The steep mountain-slopes are 

 well covered with trees and shrubs and large areas are extensively 

 forested. Also, and more especially in the central and northern 

 parts of Hondo, there is much moorland clothed with coarse grasses 

 and shrubs in variety. Coniferous, including Taxaceous trees 

 abound from the extreme south to the extreme north, and, indeed, 

 Japan with its sixteen genera of these plants is richer than any 

 other land. From about the latitude of Tokyo southward the 

 woods and forests contain a high percentage of broad-leaved ever- 

 green trees and these together with the Conifers give to the country 

 a very green appearance at all seasons of the year. North of Tokyo 

 broad-leaved evergreens decrease in number rapidly and from 

 Nikko northward the forests are very similar in aspect to those of 

 New England. On the island of Yakushima, which marks the 

 southern limits not only of Japan but also of its flora. Tree Ferns, 

 Bananas, and Wild Figs are common constituents of the flora at 

 sea-level. In the extreme north of Hokkaido and in Japanese 

 Saghalien on the shores of the Okhotsk Sea, dwarf Pine, Juniper, 

 Larch, and the Crowberry (Empctnim nigrum) descend to sea- 

 level. Almost everywhere in Japan dwarf Bamboos form a dense 

 undergrowth in the forests. 



Some writers on the natural history of Japan have stated that 

 the Straits of Tsugaru which separate northern Hondo and Hok- 

 kaido form a well-marked phyto-geographical boundary. This, 

 however, is not true and the difference between the floras of the 

 two regions is merely one of degree and not of kind. The warm 

 current previously referred to, exercises a tremendous influence 

 on the climate and on the vegetation and is responsible for the 

 great difference between the floras of southern and northern Japan. 

 Whilst no very hard and fast phyto-geographical line exists it may 

 be laid down as about Lat. 36° N. 



