110 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



There are several other varieties of the muskmelon, the better 

 known being the cantaloupe (var. Cantaloupensis) , the nutmeg 

 melon (var. reUculatum) , and the winter or casaba melon (var. 

 inodorus). How this tiny hard-skinned melon came to be 

 named for Queen Anne is hard to say. In any event, her royal 

 highness seems tO' have a better taste in choosing fruits than 

 she does in choosing laces if the farmer is any judge of values. 



Types of Vegetation. — To the casual observer, the wild 

 plants seem tO' grow without definite order almost anywhere, 

 but the botanist knows that it is not mere chance that deter- 

 mines the location of flowering plants. Occasion specimens, 

 it is true, may flourish out of their natural habitat for a time, 

 but a patch or colony of one species is almost certain to be 

 found in localities tO' which it is best suited. The division of 

 all vegetation into drouth plants or xerophytes, water plants 

 or hydrophytes, and middle-ground plants or mesophytes is a 

 recognition of the important part played by moisture in deter- 

 mining habitat. After moisture, the character of the soil has 

 much to do in limiting the range of plants and in forming 

 restricted areas in which only certain types of vegetation can 

 grow. To name but a few of these, there are the bogs, marshes, 

 ponds, dunes, heaths, fields, woods, thickets, pastures, cliffs, 

 meadows and cultivated grounds. Certain plants are typical 

 of each of these regions and are often so related to the habitat 

 as toi be unable tO' thrive in any other.* One has only to con- 

 sider the water lily, pitcher plant, walking fern or cat-tail to 

 realize the force of this. As a matter of fact, one can make 

 pretty clean-cut lists of the plants of each region. It is only 

 the weeds that can grow in a variety of situations, and this 

 ability accounts largely for their being weeds. Those who 

 have pretty well exhausted the resources of their home flora 

 may find a new interest in listing the plants according to their 

 habitats. It is best to begin with plants of very definite areas 

 such as ponds, dunes, or bogs. After the typical plants have 



