280 M.E. P. Fries on the Geographical 
The latter is richer in species than the former, because, as is 
well known, fir-trees flourish in more fertile and moister soils. 
Whether, with respect to the south of Europe, other subdivisions 
into regions are required, we know not ; still less are we able to 
decide on the like question in reference to the countries beyond 
Europe. 
We will now point out in a few words the great differences 
which prevail between alpine regions of the temperate zone and 
those of the tropical zone in relation to the distribution of 
Fungi. In Lapland, according to Wahlenberg (‘ Flora Lappo- 
nica’) and other travellers, the higher forms of Fungi are ex- 
cessively scarce. Here and there, and only in the forests, some 
of the lower Fungi or rare Agarici are scattered. The cause of 
this circumstance is readily understood when we reflect that the 
summer is hot and of very brief duration, and that the autumn 
is exceedingly short, and, moreover, accompanied almost daily 
with severe frosts. In the districts of Nordlanden and of Fin- 
mark, which border on the sea, and enjoy by that position a 
milder climate, the Fungi are more plentiful, “ob rorem mari- 
num ibi frequentissimum,” as Wahlenberg remarks. In the 
marshes and on the borders of the lakes of Lapland several 
Fungi grow, such as Mitrula paludosa, Spathulea flavida, Can- 
tharellus lobatus, &c.; but, from all that we know, the Alpine 
region of Lapland is the poorest of all in species of Fungi. 
‘Wahlenberg remarks that,in the case of the subalpine forests of 
the Carpathians, the number of Fungi is rather considerable, 
which shows that in the latitude of this chain of mountains they 
are more abundant than amid the frosts of Lapland. But if we 
turn towards the alpine regions of tropical countries, we en- 
counter an entirely opposite state of things; for it is among 
them that the fuhgaceous vegetation is most rich in forms and 
most luxuriant, in situations where the elevation above the sea- 
level secures a temperate climate. Thus, Junghyhn (‘ Preemissa 
in Floram cryptogamicam Javee insulz’), during his stay in Java, 
discovered that Fungi grew especially at an altitude of from 
three to five thousand feet above the sea, and that their abun- 
dance decreased above as well as below that zone; moreover 
the vegetation of the Fungi proceeded unimpeded during the 
whole year, notwithstanding the variation of the seasons. The 
same thing has been observed in other tropical countries, as, for 
instance, in Central America and in the Hast Indies. In the 
alpine regions of Upper Asia, Dr. Hooker (see Berkeley, ‘Decades 
of Fungi,’ Dec. xxxii.; xxxiii.) has remarked that Fungi were 
most abundant at an elevation of seven or eight thousand feet 
above the sea, and were at the same time very scarce in the 
plains, 
