DISTRIBUTION OF CONIFEROUS PLANTS. 39 



feet j on the Sudetic chain, at 5,000 feet ; and " on the Alps of 

 Switzerland and the Tyrol, at 6,000 feet. The limit of Pinus montana, 

 which grows at a higher elevation than any other European Conifer, 

 is about 7,500 feet on the Alps and 6,000 on the Carpathians. The 

 Juniper is frequent on the higher grounds and open downs of Europe 

 and throughout Siberia. The Tew is common in Western Europe, 

 especially in the British Isles. In the Mantschuria district, in the 

 extreme east of Asia, the Siberian Conifers are confined to the 

 mountains.* 



It is worthy of note that there is probably no country in the world 

 of the same limited extent as England in which so many exotic 

 species of Conifers thrive and so few are indigenous. The only native 

 existing species are Pinus sylvestris, Juniperus communis, and Taxue 

 baccata. 



In the Mediterranean region the Coniferse form a much smaller 

 proportion of the entire vegetation than in the Europeo- Siberian 

 region, but there are more genera and species. On the borders of 

 the Atlantic Ocean, and in the low lands on the east side of the 

 Bay of Biscay, Pinus Pinaster is common. Throughout the region 

 the Fir and Pine tribe is confined chiefly to the mountain slopes 

 at considerable elevations, at places forming extensive forests. The 

 Cedar occurs on Mount Atlas, in Algeria; also on Taurus and 

 Lebanon in "Western Asia. In the extreme east, in Armenia and 

 in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea, there are extensive forests 

 of Abies orientals. The Junipers are represented everywhere 

 throughout the region by numerous species ; the evergreen Cypress 

 is common, and in Morocco and other parts of North Africa an 

 allied species, Oallitris quadrivalvis, is frequent. 



Perhaps no country in Europe has more native species than Italy, as 

 many as twenty being included in its Flora. But although Italy contains 

 so many species and Europe north of the Alps has but six, the number 

 of individual trees is by no means apportioned in the same way. The 

 Conifers in the north of Europe form immense forests, and consequently 

 play an important part in .. the general aspect of the country. In 

 Italy, on the contrary, with the exception of the Alps, where they 

 form by their quantity, a region at the mean height, these trees con- 

 stitute but small scattered woods, which give no important feature to 

 the landscape. 



* Thome's Structural Botany, p. 439; 



