[Contents.] [List of Illustrations]
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Desert Types.

(For names of species, [see page 7.])

NATURE LOVER’S SERIES

ASPECTS OF
P L A N T L I F E

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THE BRITISH FLORA
BY
ROBERT LLOYD PRAEGER
AUTHOR OF
“OPEN-AIR STUDIES IN BOTANY,” “IRISH TOPOGRAPHICAL BOTANY,”
“A TOURIST’S FLORA OF THE WEST OF IRELAND,”
“WEEDS,” ETC.
WITH COLOURED FRONTISPIECE AND NUMEROUS
BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921

PREFACE

In the following chapters an attempt is made to deal, in a quite elementary way, with some of the wider aspects of plant life—to discuss questions which arise in the mind from a contemplation of the vegetation which clothes with a green mantle the surface of our own country. No essay is made to enumerate or define the plants to be met with in the different types of ground, or in the different geographical areas, which go to make up the British Isles: there are already plenty of excellent handbooks and local floras in which that aspect of native plant life is treated. The vegetation is taken rather as a whole, and its whence, and when, and how are considered with as little of technical phraseology as the subject allows. The influence on plants of their physical environment, and the intimate inter-relations of the vegetable kingdom with the other great manifestation of organic life, the animal kingdom, are briefly considered, as is also the unique relation existing between the plant world and the human race.

These chapters are intended to be used in conjunction with simple observations in the field, such as any person of enquiring mind, unversed in science, may be tempted to make during idle hours on a summer holiday.

To Professor G. H. Carpenter and Mr. W. B. Wright I am indebted for suggestions and emendations where I have trespassed on the domains of zoology and geology respectively.

R. Ll. P.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
[PREFACE][3]
[I.][ON FARLETON FELL][9]
[II.][PLANT ASSOCIATIONS][30]
[III.][PLANT MIGRATION][48]
[IV.][SOME INTER-RELATIONS OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS][75]
[V.][PLANT STRUCTURES][98]
[VI.][PLANTS AND MAN][135]
[VII.][PAST AND PRESENT][155]
[VIII.][SOME INTERESTING BRITISH PLANT GROUPS][180]
[INDEX][208]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[Frontispiece].—Desert types:
1, Rhipsalis pachyptera. 2, Haworthia Chalwinii. 3, Cereuscelsianus. 4, Cereus nigricans. 5, Aloe Davyana.6, Cotyledon undulata. 7, Haworthia tesselata.8, Crassula columnaris. 9, Mammillaria plumosa.10, M. obcordellum. 11, Mesembryanthemum Pearsoni.12, M. Lesliei. 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, from SouthAfrica. 1, 3, 4, 9, from Central and South America.
FIG. PAGE
[1.][A Burrowing Lichen, Verrucaria calciseda][17]
[2.][The Glasswort, Salicornia europæa][18]
[3.][Mesembryanthemum Bolusii and M. Lesliei][21]
[5.][Inrolled Leaf of Crowberry, Empetrum nigrum][39]
[6.][Succession of Vegetation in Lakes: a, Marsh Zone.b, Reed Zone. c, Zone of Floating Vegetad, Zone of Submerged Vegetation (diagrammatic)][43]
[7.][Coral Root, Dentaria bulbifera][54]
[8.][Fruit of Giant Bell-flower, Campanula latifolia][56]
[9.][Fruit of Geranium][58]
[10.][Fruit of Viola][59]
[11.][Fruit of Erodium][60]
[12.][Diagram illustrating Fall of Seeds][64]
[13.][Wing-seeds and Plume-seeds][68]
[14.][Flower of Erodium][85]
[15.][Flower-head of Astrantia][86]
[16.][Dwarf Cornel, Cornus suecica][88]
[17.][Japanese Wineberry, Rubus phœnicolasius][90]
[18.][Flower and Fruit of Purple Toad-flax, Linaria purpurea][93]
[19.][Stem and Root Structure][112]
[20.][Genista sagittalis][118]
[21.][Leaf-mosaic in Azara microphylla][121]
[22.][Leaf of Weinmannia trichosperma][122]
[23.][Leaf-development of Arrow-head, Sagittaria sagittifolia][125]
[24.][Fruit of Coriaria japonica][128]
[25.][Wild Cabbage, Brassica oleracea][150]
[26.][A Myxomycete, Comatricha typhoides][158]
[27.][Leaf of Maidenhair-tree, Ginkgo biloba][163]
[28.][Great Butterwort, Pinguicula grandiflora ][To face 173]
[29.][Strawberry-tree (Arbutus Unedo) at Killarney ][To face 174]
[30.][Spiranthes Romanzoffiana ][To face 174]
[31.][Bird’s-nest Orchis, Neottia Nidus-avis][182]
[32.][Alpine Plant-boss ][To face 191]
[33.][Sedum primuloides][192]
[34.][New Zealand Veronicas][194]
[35.][Mountain Avens, Dryas octopetala][195]