CURRENT LITERATURE 
BOOK REVIEWS 
British vegetation 
In two respects, at least, the appearance of Types of British vegetation 
marks an epoch in the development of plant geography.t In the first place, 
the publication of the volume at this time is due to the organization of an 
International Phytogeographic Excursion in the British Isles during the summer 
of IgIt. e volume was prepared in anticipation of this excursion, and 
advance copies were presented to the members of the party. The chief 
_ result of this excursion has been to internationalize for all time the subject of 
plant geography, and to divest it of the provincialism which has hitherto too 
greatly characterized it. Besides marking the initiation of internationalism 
g 
study of vegetation by an organization rather than by an individual. While 
edited by Tanstey, the volume was gotten together by the “Central Com- 
mittee for the survey and study of British vegetation,” more popularly known 
as the “British vegetation committee.” It is not so long ago that the study 
of vegetation played an insignificant part in British botany. Through the 
work of their vegetation committee, the British not only have caught up with 
their American and continental brethren, but, in organization at least, they 
have forged ahead. ; 
The introduction deals with the units of vegetation, following the general 
lines marked out previously by Moss.?_ While all plant geographers seem to 
believe in the reality of the terms formation and association, and to believe 
that the formation should be used as the larger unit, including various smaller 
units or associations, it is evident from this book, as from the discussions of 
the ror excursion, that the British plant geographers differ radically from all 
others in the practical application of these terms. For example, calcareous 
soils are regarded as having a single formation, which includes such diverse 
things as limestone-pavement associations with almost bare rock surface, lime- 
stone grassland, limestone scrub, chalk heath, yew woods, ash woods, and 
- beech woods. Similarly the sand-dune formation is composed of strand 
associations, morrain-grass and couch-grass associations, dune grassland, dune 
scrub with willows, and dune marshes. The reviewer has shown that on the 
sand dunes of Lake Michigan there is to be found nearly every kind of plant 
formation characteristic of the region, from the xerophytic vegetation of the 
* TAN A. with various collaborators, Types of British vegetation. 
pp. ae me 36. oe 21. Cambridge: — Press. 1911. 
2See Bor. Gaz. ae Igit. 
348 
