192 THE NATURE AND WORE OF PLANTS 



spoken of as a farming community, a mining camp 

 or town, a manufacturing town or city, a fishing 

 village or shipping town, according to the kind of 

 work most prominent in its affairs. 



231. Plant societies. — The plants of different 

 areas on the earth's surface are unlike in general 

 form, are made up of different species, and secure 

 the things essential to life in very different manners, 

 and constitute a comrriunity. The principal commu- 

 nities in northern United States are forests, mead- 

 ows, sivamj:) societies, j^otid societies, heach marshes, 

 thickets, heaths, moors, sand, and rock societies, beside 

 many others of more or less frequent occurrence. 

 The general aspect of a society in the landscape is 

 determined by its largest or most prominent member. 

 Thus, for instance, if the chief member is a tree, the 

 community will be a forest. Further, the forest goes 

 by the name of the most abundant tree, and there 

 are oak forests, beech, maple, and pine forests or 

 communities. In many cases communities have 

 taken on the names of the place in which they live, 

 as in swamp, rock, beach, and sand societies. 



232. Foundations of society. — The things which 

 determine the character of any plant community 



