490 



JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTTCULTURATj ROCTETY. 



maps of this complex region, where most ordinary atlases are quite 

 inadequate. Four coloured maps on a larger scale show the distribu- 

 tion of vegetation on the Eila Planina, and other mountain groups. The 

 memoir is also well illustrated with about seventy excellent reproduc- 

 tions from photographs, which show typical plant habitats. 



The memoir (565 pp.) is divided into four sections: — physical 

 geography, the vegetation and its formations, the present distribution 

 of the flora, and its development since past times. 



The Balkan-lands are much cut up by mountains which enclose 

 greater or less expanses of plain, and these physical features bear 

 directly on the present distribution of the vegetation. The Tran- 

 sylvanian Alps of the Carpathian system cross the Danube at the Iron 

 Gate, and become part of the complex mountain system of Servia, 

 which is intersected by the valleys of the Drina, the Morava, and 

 numerous branches extending far south into the Dinaric Alps. From 

 this mountain complex the Balkans and Ehodope Mountains ultimately 

 emerge as parallel ranges to the east. The Balkans form the southern 

 boundary of the great Danube plain, and gradually descend from 6600 

 feet on the Stara Planina between Servia and Bulgaria, to low hills near 

 the Black Sea. The Ehodope Mountains include in the west the Eila 

 Planina, the most imposing mountain group of the Balkan Peninsula, 

 with Mt. Muss Alia rising to 10,000 feet; they form the boundary 

 between Bulgaria and the countries to the south, and continue east- 

 wards towards Adrianople, being still represented in a hilly country 

 extending to the Black Sea. The larger river-valleys include a number 

 of plains, the Danube series ending in the great Danube plain which 

 extends from the Timok to the Black Sea. Between the Balkans and 

 the Ehodope Mountains there is another large system of somewhat 

 undulating plains, including those round Sofia and Philippopolis, and 

 those along the Maritza and Tundza, famous as the chief centre for 

 "attar of roses." Other smaller but warm and fertile plains lie m ^ 

 the valleys of the Struma and other rivers which flow southwards from I 

 the Ehodope Mountains. { 



The climate of these Balkan-lands is referable to three distinct j 

 European types. The West Moesiac zone, covering most of Servia, isi 

 distinguished by northerly and easterly winds, January and February 

 being the coldest months, but frost occurs on more than one hundred 

 days per annum; the spring is cool and moist, the summer is hot with 

 an average of 65 days over 75° F., the autumiU is long and warm during 

 the day, but night-frosts occur in September. The East Moesiac zone 

 coincides with the plain south of the Danube ; east winds predominate 

 and bring a climate like Southern Eussia ; the winter is shorter than in 

 the western zone, but is intensely cold (January +5° F. to -5° F.), 

 and the Danube freezes about once in three years ; the summer is dry 

 and hot, temperatures of 104° F. being attained. The South Moesiac 

 zone witli a Mediterranean cliTnatp is most typically represented ir 

 Eastern Eounielia, but it penetrates into many of tlie valleys; summei 

 conditions last from jMay to October, and the lower temperatures rarely 



