Humboldt assigns to the forests of the Ural the vegetation characteristic of a park. “They present,” he says, “an alternation consisting of a mixture of needle-leaved and round-leaved trees, and lawns; an assemblage which is completed by masses of brushwood, formed by wild roses, honeysuckles, and junipers, while _Hesperis_, _Polemonium_, _Cortusa_, _Mathioli_, magnificent primroses, and larkspurs form a perfect carpet of flowers; while the water buckbean, with white blossoms, is the grace of the marshes.” He saw also “on the banks of the Irtisch great spaces entirely colored red by _Epilobium_, with which were associated tall-stemmed larkspurs (_Delphinium_), with blue flowers, and the fiery-scarlet _Lychnis chalcedonica_.” The Central region consists of northern China and Japan. The magnolias--those grand-leaved trees, with magnificent flowers and delicate aroma, which give such an attractive feature to gardens where they can be cultivated--are natives of this vast region. So is the camellia, which has been, as it were, naturalized in the greenhouses of Europe, whose evergreen, glossy, and persistent foliage is the admiration of travelers, and of which we may reckon upward of 700 varieties; and the tea-plant (_Camellia Thea_), of whose leaves so many millions of pounds are annually imported into Europe. Also the _Aucuba_, with coriaceous leaves and clustered flowers, so ornamental in our gardens and shrubberies; _Celastrus_, hollies, spindle-tree, _Lagerströmia_, _Spiræa_, _Elæagnus_, etc. The most remarkable trees and shrubs besides these are the palm, _Raphis flabelliformis_; the paper mulberry (_Broussonetia papyrifera_); _Osmanthus_, whose flowers are employed to give flavor to tea leaves; the ebony-tree (_Diospyros Kaki_), with white flowers, and berries of a cherry-red, and of a delicious flavor; the loquat (_Eriobotrya japonica_); _Salisburia adiantifolia_, which is planted round the temples; yews (_Taxus nucifera_ and _verticillata_); cypress (_Cupressus japonica_); junipers, thujas, oaks (_Quercus glabra_ and _glauca_); _Alnus japonica_, _Juglans nigra_, and several species of laurels and maples. Among the cultivated plants we find rice, wheat, barley, oats, _Sorghum vulgare_, Sago (_Cycas revoluta_), taro (_Caladium esculentum_), _Convolvulus Batatas_, apple, pear, quince, plum, apricot, peach, orange, radish, cucumber, gourds, watermelons, anise (_Pimpinella Anisum_), peas, beans, hemp, and cotton (_Gossypium herbaceum_)--a remarkable mingling of vegetable productions, which transports us at one moment from Asia to Europe, and at the next from America to Asia. We might dwell upon a crowd of ornamental plants, many of which are now well known in Europe, as the _Glycine_, the lily of Japan, tiger lily, and Chinese primrose.