Aspects of plant life; with special reference to the British flora — John Shaqi
Aspects of plant life; with special reference to the British floraPraeger, R. Lloyd (Robert Lloyd)
Science
Aspects of plant life; with special reference to the British flora
Praeger, R. Lloyd (Robert Lloyd)
Plants -- Great Britain
Clambering through a wilderness of stony screes we emerge at length on a
bare grey tableland on which, in contrast to the rich country below,
vegetation is strangely sparse, and bare rock is everywhere in evidence.
If we let the eye sweep round the horizon, we note a similar contrast
displayed on broader lines. On the one hand is the mountain-land, with
its carpet of grass and heather extending to the very summits; on the
other hand the broad expanses of bare sand and mud fringing Morecambe
Bay, apparently devoid of any vegetation. And it occurs to us that,
before we ponder over the variety and distribution of plant life on this
world, we are faced at once with a more profound problem. On this breezy
summit, with our minds expanded and stimulated by the sunlight and the
breeze, and the broad and beautiful panorama spread around, we must for
a moment try to take a wider outlook than
Him that vexed his brains, and theories built
Of gossamer upon the brittle winds,
Perplexed exceedingly why plants were found
Upon the mountain-tops, but wondering not
Why plants were found at all, more wondrous still!
I trust the paraphrase may be pardoned. Why, indeed, should there be
plants at all? This great globe, with its whole land surface covered,
save at the Poles and in desert regions, with green plants in ten
thousand forms, is indeed something to be wondered at. One fascinating
question that arises is this: How far is our “lukewarm bullet” unique in
its possession of a green plant mantle? Have we any evidence for the
supposition that plants exist on the Moon, or on any planets of the
solar system other than the Earth?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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