98 PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



undergrowth of the deciduous forests comprises shrubs, 

 such as Hazel, Blackthorn, Hawthorn, and Holly; some 

 woody climbers, such as Ivy and Honeysuckle ; but no 

 true lianes or epiphytic flowering-plants; Ferns, never 

 arborescent, occasionally growing on the trees, as do 

 many Lichens, Mosses, and Algae; Grasses and many 

 spring-flowering herbaceous perennials, such as our 

 Primroses, Wild Hyacinths, Wood Anemones, etc. 



Immense areas in some parts of this sub-zone are 

 covered by heaths, where a few species, such as Calluna 

 vulgaris Salis., Erica, and V actinium, predominate. 

 Natural turf or meadow, composed mainly of perennial 

 shallow-rooted Grasses, which die down in winter, but 

 comprising also Sedges in wetter ground, and members 

 of many other Orders, and alder-fens are also striking 

 features of the Europaeo-Siberian Region. In the park- 

 like regions of Kamtchatka, Heracleum, Angelica, and 

 other herbaceous UmbellifercB reach a gigantic size. 



The flora of the United States has been analysed into 

 three components, endemic, European, and Asiatic, its 

 distribution being mainly meridional. While the Euro- 

 pean components are most numerous in the east, those 

 from Asia are also more numerous on that side than on 

 that nearer to Asia, several Japanese genera, especially 

 the Magnoliacece, being represented in the Eastern 

 States. The mountains of north-east Asia seem to have 

 escaped glaciation and to have served as a centre of 

 radiation both in this direction and into Europe. 



CHINO-JAPANESE REGION. Much of Japan and north- 

 eastern China, having an equable rainfall, should 

 probably be classed in this sub-zone; but its forests 

 have been destroyed and the character of much of the 

 country altered by irrigation, so that wild plants exist 

 only in the mountains. Among the most interesting 

 endemic forms are the coniferous Cryplomeria and that 

 remarkable ancient and now isolated Gymnosperm 

 Ginkgo biloba L. 



The main Chino- Japanese Region, however, with a 

 monsoon climate giving a rainy spring, is remarkable for 

 its well-marked flora, distinct from that of the Steppe 

 Region, continuing westward into the Eastern Himalayas, 

 and presenting the interesting affinity with that of the 

 Eastern United States already mentioned. It contains 

 no Cistus, only one species of Ferula, the comparatively 



