CHAPTEU XIV 



MESOPHYTE SOCIETIES 



145. General characters. — Mesophytes miike up tlie coni- 

 jnon vegetal iiiii of t(.'injieiate regions, the vegetation iiKj.st 

 comiuonly met and studied, 'idie eoiiditions of moisture 

 are medium. })reripitati(iii is in general eveidy distriljuted, 

 aud the soil is rieli in humus. Tlie conditions are not ex- 

 trenu'. a,ud lluu-id'ore special a(lai)tatioiis, sueli as a.re neces- 

 sary for xei-ujilivte or hydi'oi)liyte coiulitions, (h.) not appear. 

 This may he rega.i'ded a.s the normal plant condition. It 

 is certainly the aralile condition, and most adapted to the 

 plants which men seek to cultivate. W hen fcjr ]>urposes 

 of cidtivation xemphvte areas are ii'i'igated, or hydrophyte 

 areas are drained, it is sim})lv to hring them into mesopliyte 

 condit ions. 



In hioking (jver a mesoplivie area, ami contra.sting it 

 with a xerophvte area, oiu; of tlii' iirst things evident is that 

 the foi'mer is far riclier in leaf forms. It is in tlie meso- 

 phvte conditions that foliage leaves show tlu'ir renuirkaltlc 

 diversitv. In liyih'ophyte and xeroj)]iyte areas they are apt 

 to he more (U' less monotonous in form. Aimther contrast 

 is found in tlie dense growth over mesopliyte areas, nuicli 

 more so tluui in xerophyte regions, and even more dense 

 than in liydi'ojihyte areas. 



Among the mesopliyte societies must !)e included not 



merely the natural ones, hut tliose new societies Avliich 



have lieen formed undei' the intlnence of man, and wlii(di 



do not appear among xerophyte and hydrophyte societies. 



314 



