LIMESTONE HEATHS 205 



From the point of view of Plant Associations, heaths may be 

 classified as follows : 



1. The Nardus heath, in well-drained situations. 



2. The Molinia heath in wet situations. 



3. The Alpine Grass heath, generally above 2000 feet. 



4. The Limestone heath, in which heath plants are found side 

 by side with the herbs characteristic of natural pasture. 



The grass lands of our islands are insignificant compared with 

 those of the Continent and of America, namely, the steppes of 

 Russia, the prairies of North and the pampas of South America. 

 The chief grasses forming the primeval steppes in the district 

 of the Black Sea are two species of Stipa. One of them, Stipa 

 pennata, is grown in our nursery gardens and is very well known 

 in this country. The grain bears a long and beautiful feather, 

 more than a foot in length, by which it is dispersed. In Schimper's 

 Plant Geography (p. 598) it is thus described : " When observed 

 from a distance, many places covered with the Stipa formation 

 resemble sandy hills ; on near approach the sandy grey tint is 

 converted into silvery white, and the appearance of this restless, 

 ceaselessly swaying grass land reminds one vividly of rippling 

 water, and, in spite of its entire monotony, gives one a subdued 

 and pleasing impression/' The plants found in association with 

 the Stipa formation are comparatively few, and belong to sandy 

 soil. The American prairie is also of the nature of a steppe ; the 

 land is nearly flat, but here and there interrupted by river-beds, 

 along which there is considerable vegetation. The dominant Grass 

 is known as Buffalo-grass. The pampas in the north of S. America 

 are less monotonous than the prairies, owing to the greater vege- 

 tations. In the province of Buenos Ayres, however, the grass 

 lands extend for hundreds of miles without any rising ground, 

 and dull monotony is as characteristic here as it is of the prairie. 

 Our islands are, it is true, small ; but it would be difficult to find 

 a greater variety of scenery than they contain, and at any rate it 

 is hardly possible to complain of monotony even in the dullest 

 county ! A few miles by train can take one away from the barest 

 landscape to hills, or streams, or wooded dells 



