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GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 529 
tation makes its appearance at Rhodes and Jaffa, which becomes 
closely connected with that of Eg 
The vegetation of the Mediterranean often presents itself with 
a smiling and agreeable aspect. Clumps of odorous Myrtles and 
Arbutus, the aromatic Charte-tree, frequently occur on its shores ; 
magnificent Rose Laurels, whose praises have been sung by the 
poets, occupy the edges of the brooks. In Italy, Sicily, and Spain, 
the Orange trees form almost one mass of flowers and fruit. The 
Prickly Pear (Opuntia vulgaris), the African species of Agave, 
become here indigenous, forming impenetrable hedges in the 
southern parts of these countries, to which they give a marked 
and very characteristic landscape. The forests consist essentially 
of the Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex), whose persistent leaves 
remain until after their third year, and whose acorns, which have 
a very agreeable taste, form a considerable portion of the people’s 
food. The Cork-tree (Quercus suber), mixed with other charac- 
teristic trees and shrubs, such as Erica arborea, with numerous 
species of -Cistus, with ephermal flowers, often large and of dazzling 
brilliance, mingling with the fragrant Geneta, or Broom, form the 
ordinary vegetation. 
Among the other species characteristic of the vegetable world 
| of these happy regions we may cite the Cypress (Cupressus), the 
Aleppo Pine (Pinus lariceo), some Plantains, the Olive, which 
we scarcely meet with elsewhere; Mastic-tree (Pistachio seritiscus), 
and the Pomegranate. 
Over a great part of the south coast of Sicily, a Palm, the 
Chamerops humilis, with fan-like foliage, waves beside the Date, 
sometimes from the bosom of a clump of Oranges and Citrons, its 
tall stipe crowned with an elegant panicle of drooping and feather- 
like leaves. 
AsIA. 
It would require a volume to give even an idea of the rich and 
varied vegetation of Asia. We must limit ourselves to a rapid 
glance of the features most characteristic of its northern, central, 
and southern divisions. 
The Northern region, of which Siberia is a part, forms 
_ @ botanical region in close connection with the hyperborean 
MM 
