Tundra vegetation grows to the northern limits of plant growth, above the Arctic Circle, in Canada. The flora consists of only about six hundred plant species. In contrast, tropical regions that are smaller in area support tens of thousands of plant species. Arctic tundra is dominated by grasses, sedges, mosses, and lichens. Some shrubby plants […]

Herb or Spice? Herbs and spices are both used in cooking to modify the taste and smell of food. A clear distinction between herbs and spices is difficult to draw, but there are some broad differences that are useful to know. Plants referred to as herbs, such as basil (Ocimum basilicum) or rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), […]

Both humans and animals depend on forests for food, shelter, and other resources. Forests once covered much of the world and are still found from the equator to the Arctic regions. A forest may vary in size from only a few acres to thousands of square miles, but generally any natural area in which trees […]

One important European tree that has had a large impact on the United States is the apple. The apple tree that produces the familiar fruit appears to have originated in southern Russia and made its way throughout Europe. Many apple varieties were cultivated by the Romans. The English and other European settlers of North America, […]

Ever since the first agricultural revolution, ten thousand years ago, humans have adapted plants to their needs. This is especially true for the grains, most of which originated in the Middle East. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, and others that could become food for humans were altered from their original form by careful plant breeding. This […]

The Federated States of Micronesia consist mainly of small atolls. Coral atolls are found only in tropical latitudes because coral (small, colonial animals) grow only in warm water. Coral reefs support a tremendous variety of fish, crabs, and mollusks. Atolls tend to have porous, infertile soil and to be very low in elevation. The inhabited […]

The subtropical deserts of Africa seem, at first, to be nearly devoid of plants. While this is true for some parts of the Sahara and Namib Deserts that are dominated by sand dunes or bare, rocky outcrops, much of the desert has a noticeable amount of plant cover. The Sahara is characterized by widely distributed […]

The southeastern United States, excluding the peninsula of Florida, once supported open stands of pine and also mixed evergreen and deciduous forest. The mixed forest included a variety of pines, evergreen oaks, and deciduous trees. In much of Florida, the native vegetation is a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees that are subtropical rather than […]

Forest is the native vegetation of almost half of mainland Canada and the United States. Before European settlement, forestlands dominated the eastern, and much of the northern, part of the continent. Grasses covered a large part of the continental interior. Desert vegetation is native in the Southwest, tundra in the far north. Over much of […]

Just south of the Arctic tundra in North America is a broad belt of boreal, coniferous, evergreen forest. It is often called taiga, the Russian name for similar coniferous forests growing in northern Eurasia. However, in large areas of northeastern Siberia, the dominant tree is larch, which is deciduous, whereas the North American taiga is […]

The Antarctic continent has never had a native or permanent population of humans. In 1998 the United States, Russia, Belgium, Australia, and several other countries signed one of an ongoing series of treaties to preserve Antarctica. The continent is used for peaceful international endeavors such as scientific research and ecotourism. Terrestrial Flora There are only […]

Most of Europe’s trees are similar to those in North America, but these are related by genus and are not members of the same species. This is true of oaks, maples, ashes, elms, birches, beeches, chestnuts, walnuts, apples, and hornbeams as well as conifers. Some of the native tree species of Europe have been brought […]

The tropical rain forest is discussed in depth elsewhere. In brief, it is a forest consisting of a dizzying variety of trees, shrubs, and other plants that remain green year-round. The growth is lush and usually includes both a dense canopy formed by the crowns of the largest trees and a thick understory of smaller […]

The Fiji Islands are mostly volcanic in origin and lie in the South Pacific Ocean between longitudes 175 degrees east and 178 degrees west and 15 degrees and 22 degrees south latitudes, about 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) north of Auckland, New Zealand. Some parts of the islands receive up to 13 feet (4 meters) of […]