NABOTE 
49 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1903. 
VEGETATION IN HERCYNIA. 
Die Vegetation der Erde. vi. Der Hercynische 
Florenbezirk. Von Dr. Oscar Drude. Pp. xix + 
671; mit 5 Vollbildern, 16 Textfiguren, und 1 Karte. 
(Leipzig: W. Engelmann.) Price 30 marks; Sub- 
scription price 20 marks. 
HIS work is an elaborate monograph on the dis- 
tribution of the vegetation in the Hercynian dis- 
trict of Germany, and forms the sixth volume in Drs. 
Engler and Drude’s series ‘‘ Die Vegetation der 
Erde.’’ Dr. Oscar Drude, the author, the professor 
of botany at Dresden, has long been an accepted 
authority onthe various problems connected with 
plant geography. In _ his ‘‘ Deutschlands Pflanzen- 
geographie,’? published in 1895, he defined seven 
regions of vegetation in the German flora, and in the 
present work he deals much more exhaustively with the 
mountainous and hilly country which stretches from 
the Hartz to the Rhén, reaching to Lausitz on the east 
and to the Bohmer Walde. The botanical literature 
of the area with which he deals is extensive, as it has 
been known to botanists ever since the time of 
Valerius Cordus, who was born in 1515. In 1588 
Johann Thal wrote his ‘‘ Sylva Hercynia,’’ which was 
a catalogue of the plants growing in that district, and 
in the same year Joachim Camerarius published a 
work containing some curious coloured figures of some 
of the plants. 
Dr. Drude divides the various Hercynian ‘‘ Form- 
ationen ”’ or plant habitats into ten main groups; these 
he again subdivides, making in all thirty-two. He 
carefully traces the absence or presence of these 
through the fifteen subdivisions of his geographical 
area. It may be well to indicate briefly the character 
of these ten groups (with one or two examples of the 
predominant vegetation of each), as their discussion 
occupies much of the volume. 
Group i.—Woods of the low country and hills reach- 
ing 500 metres. Predominant vegetation :—Fagus, 
Quercus, Carpinus. Accessory :—Ulmus, Tilia, &c. 
The first subdivision of this group contains many 
shrubs, Cornus, Caprifoliaceze and Rosacez, and is 
specially prevalent in Hesse and South Hanover, 
Thuringia, and parts of Upper Saxony. 
ii.—Woods within the inundation area of rivers, &c., 
upper limit about 500 metres. Alnus, Betula, Populus 
tremula, &c., while Fagus is absent. The first sub- 
division of this group is almost absent in the 
Hereynian highlands proper. 
ili.Woods from 1100-1360 metres. Fagus, Acer 
Pseudo-platanus, Picea excelsa, Abies pectinata, the 
latter species wanting in certain districts. This 
group, in all its subdivisions, predominates in the 
Hercynian highlands proper. 
iv.—Sandy plains and heaths. Calluna, Vaccinium 
Myrtillus, and V. Vitis Idaea. Predominates in 
Hesse and South Hanover, Thuringia and Upper 
Saxony, but present to a very small extent in the 
Hercynian highlands. 
NO. 1777, VOL. 69] 
v.—Sunny hill formation. Carpinus, Tilia, and 
Quercus sessiliflora, species of Teucrium, Thymus, 
Helianthemum, and Dianthus. The first three sub- 
divisions of this group predominate in Hesse, South 
Hanover, Thuringia, and Upper Saxony, but with 
slight exception are absent in the Hercynian high- 
lands. 
vi.—Wet meadows, &c. 
acee, and Juncacez. 
The first subdivision of this group contains Dactylis, 
Phleum, Avena elatior, Festuca elatioy and arund- 
inacea, and occurs in all the subdivisions of the geo- 
graphical area with the exception of the Bohemian 
forests. 
vii.—Turf moors. Hydrocotyle, Rhynchospora, 
and Gentiana Pneumonanthe. Hill turf moors 
absent in Thuringia and Upper Saxony. 
viii.—Subalpine Hercynian hill formation, 900-1450 
metres. Lycopodium alpinum and L. Selago, also 
Empetrum nigrum. The two subdivisions of this 
group predominate in the Hartz Mountains, in the 
Erz, and in the Bohemian Forest. 
ix.—Inland watery situations. Nymphaea, Hydro- 
charis, Typha, Heleocharis, and Littorella. The first 
three subdivisions of this group predominate in Hesse, 
South Hanover, Upper Saxony, and to some extent 
are present in the Hercynian highlands. The last 
subdivision of the group, saltmarshes, &c., of which 
the characteristic vegetation is Aster Tripolium, Tri- 
glochin maritimum, Salicornia, Obione pedunculata, 
&c., is present in Hesse, South Hanover, Thuringia, 
but absent in Upper Saxony and the Hercynian high- 
lands. 
x.—Cultivated ground. Chenopodiacez, Solanacez, 
Centaurea Cyanus, Agrostemma Githago, and Neslia 
paniculata. Present in all the subdivisions of the area 
except the Bohemian forest. 
The flora of Hercynia does not differ very materially 
from that of Britain, and nearly all the plants are lound 
in similar situations in this country, so the volume is 
well worth the attention of our own local ecologists. 
Fifteen chapters of the book are devoted to various 
pertions of the geographical area, as, for instance, 
Das Weser Bergland, Das Braunschweiger Hiigel- 
land, and Hiigelland der Werra and Fulda mit der 
Rhén, &c., and under each are discussed their 
crographic and geognostic character—the formations 
that occur in the area and the topography. Perhaps 
one of the most interesting of these chapters is that 
on the Hartz Mountains. 
The Hartz is a detached chain, flat on the top, 2000 
feet above the sea, with a number of peaks rising out 
of this, among which the Brocken, 3733 feet above the 
sea, is the highest. Its geological composition is 
granite. On p. 497 we have a figure showing the 
character of the vegetation surrounding the summit. 
The Weser Mountains are lower, averaging not more 
than 600 feet, the highest point being 1500 feet. The 
Rhongebirge and several basaltic ridges are also low. 
Many years ago it was pointed out that the Hartz 
Mountains present some curious peculiarities in their 
vegetation which deserve especial notice. In order to 
comprehend them in their true independence, we must 
D 
Hydrophilous, Poz, Cyper- 
are 
