ZONES OF VEGETATIOX. 47 



tree, the plantain, tlie sugar-cane, the Indian-fig, the chap, ul 

 arum colocasia, the olive, the fruit-trees of Europe, the — 

 vine, and wheat. 



2. The Region of Laurels is that which forms the Laurels. 

 woody part of Tencriffe, where the surface of the ground 



is always verdant, being plentifully watered by springs. 

 Four kinds of laurel, an oak, a wild olive, two species of 

 iron-tree, the arbutus callicarpa, and other evergreens, 

 adorn this zone. The trunks ai-e covered by the ivy of 

 the Canaries and various twining shrubs, and the woods 

 are filled with numerous species of fern. The hyperi- 

 cum, and other showy plants, enrich with their beautiful 

 flowers the verdant carpet of moss and grass. 



3. The Region of Pines, which commences at the pines 

 height of 1920 yards, and has a breadth of 850, is 

 characterized by a vast forest of trees, resembling the 

 Scotch fir, intermixed with juniper. 



4. The fourth zone is remarkable chiefly for the pro- 

 fusion of retaina, a species of broom, which forms oases 

 in the midst of a wiile sea of ashes. It grows to the 

 height of nine or ten feet, is ornamented with fragrant 

 flowers, and furnishes food to the goats, which have run 

 wild on the Peak from time immemorial. 



5. The fifth zone is the Region of the Grasses, in cras-cK. 

 which some species of these supply a scanty covering to 



the heaps of pumice, obsidian, and lava. A few crypto- 

 gamic plants are observed higher; but the summit is 

 entirely destitute of vegetation.* 



* Tde above is the account of tlie Peak of Teneriffe given in 

 his text, by Humboldt after M. Brou.s.sonnet ; but in a later por- 

 tion of liis work he substitutes the foliowint;' divisions of M. Von 

 Bucii, wliich he considers as more correct : — Tliis illusti ious geologist 

 distinguishes, 1st, The Region of African forms — 41d yartis; 

 2d, The Region of Vines and Cereal Plants 416 — 916 yards; 3d, 

 The Region of Laurels 916 — 1450 yards ; 4th, The Region of Pines 

 1450-2090 yards ; 5th, The Region of the Retama 2090— 36f!7 

 yards. This last plant is onlj* (bund in Tenerift'e, none of the 

 mountains in the other islands rising within its inferior limit (2130 

 yards) e.\cepling Palma, and the summit of its Peak is only barren 

 and naked rocks. The gramiueou)' plants are very rare, and do not 

 form a particular zone. 



