THE FORMATION 13 



frondosis, bumo laxa, frondibus per hyemem tecta, aestate 

 foliis obumbrata. Plantae fragiles, florentes vere ante 

 frondescentiam. " Finally, tbe species of the Swedisb flora 

 are grouped under their proper stations. 



Humboldt (J807:I7) recognized formations only in- 

 cidentally, as in the following: "Les bruyferes, cette 

 association de I'erica vulgaris, de I'erica tetralix, des lichen 

 iomadophila et haematomma se r^pandent depuis I'^xtremit^ 

 la plus septentrionale du Jutland, par le Holstein et le Lune- 

 bourg jusqu'au 52 degre de latitude." Mirbel (1815:583) 

 in his monumental Terminologie Methodique, characterised 

 briefly forty-two stations, indicating a few typical species in 

 each, and grouped them as follows : Terrestres, arenariae, 

 saxatiles, ruderales, argillosae, cretaceae, graniticae. 

 oleraceae, hortenses, vineales, agrestes, arvenses, pratenses, 

 sylvaticae, umbrosae, campestres, coUinae, montanae 

 (alpestres, alpinae), glaciales, hyperboreae, salinae, littor- 

 ales, maritimae; Aquaticae, marinae, lacustres, fontinales, 

 fluviatiles, submersae, emersae, fluitantes, natantes. pal- 

 ustres, uliginosae, torfaceae; Amphibiae; Bpiphytae; Para- 

 siticae, epirhizae, corticales, epixyloneae, epiphyllae; Sub- 

 terraneae, interraneae, cavertiariae. That De CandoIIe (1820: 

 25, 29) clearly understood the importance of stations is 

 shown by his statement: "L'^tude des stations est, pour 

 ainsi dire, la topographie. et celle des habitations la g^o- 

 graphie botanique," and also by his classes of stations. 

 Schouw (1824:153) proposed an arrangement of stations that 

 was far in advance of his time, and exhibits much of funda- 

 mental value at the present time. He was the first to dis- 

 tinguish clearly a number of formations {Best'unde), and to 

 apply definite names to them, such as ericetum, rhododen- 

 dretum, coryletum, pineticm, palmetum, etc. Meyen (1836) 

 merely adopted Schouw's system, without adding anything 

 of especial importance to it. Grisebach's recognition of 

 the station as a biological unit, the formation, made a per- 

 manent place for this concept in phytogeography, and the 

 study of vegetation with reference to its constituent for- 

 mations became more and more freauent. A. DeCandoIIe 



