REGIONS. 183 



pitcher plant, rhododendrons, shrubby ferns, 

 and orchis plants. 



4. Region of the evergreen dicotyledonous 

 trees, from 5,700 to 7,600 feet, corresponding 

 to the warmer temperate zone. On the moun- 

 tains of Java the laurel forests ascend to 7,000 

 feet ; above this they diminish in size and 

 beauty. Here, too, the evergreen oaks occur, 

 I he olive, and the beautiful tree heath, (Erica 

 arborea.) At this altitude, on the Himalaya 

 Mountains, scarlet and other rhododendrons 

 grow luxuriantly ; walnuts, and at least twenty- 

 five species of oak abound, one of which (Quer- 

 cus semi car pi folia) has a clear trunk eighty to 

 one hundred feet high. 



5. Region of dicotyledonous trees, from 

 7,600 to 9,500 feet, (corresponding to the colder 

 temperate zone,) where majestic oaks and 

 beeches are the ornaments of the forests. These 

 trees are often wanting on the mountain 

 heights, and, instead of them, this region is 

 sometimes barren. Some of the fir tribe 

 appear on the mountains in this region, but are 

 more abundant in the 



6. Region of Abietince, (firs and pines,) ex- 

 tending from 9,500 to 11,500 feet. The occi- 

 dental pine, which forms large forests, abounds 

 in this region, on the mountains of Mexico ; 

 and the yucca, or Adam's needle, forms whole 

 woods in the same parts of that country, single 

 plants rising to the height of thirty feet. Agaves 

 and some species of cactus also abound, with 

 oaks, and some species of arbutus, (strawberry 



