Resources THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF P. E. [GLAND

* ” The sandstone swells of Prince Edward Island are every- where clothed with a rich and varied vegetation. Its Flora is much the same as spreads over the rest of Eastern Canada, but its dry and fertile soil produces a greater abundance of deciduous forest trees and the flowering plants which usually accompany them.

Flora

On the rolling districts, affording the best agricultural soils, Beech, Yellow Birch, Maple, Oak. and White Pine flourish. with an undergrowth of Mountain Maple, Rowan, Hazel, Elder, and thick tangled brambles. Grasses carpet the soil, jewelled with roses, convolvuli, and sweet—scented violets. These plants belong to the Central Canadian Flora.

On the cold soils of the swamps and barrens, a different class of vegetation abounds. Spruces and sparse-foliaged Larches, Poplars, Birches, Aspens, and moss—grown Firs form the timber growth ; while a thick. shrubby carpet of Andromeda, Ledum, Whortle-berries, and prostrate Arbutus spreads at their feet. These are members of the Sub-Arctic Flora, inhabiting the far north of Canada and penetrating even within the Arctic Circle. Thus two distinct floras occupy the two distinct classes of soil, common on the Island.

Other peculiarities are noticeable The Cedar is confined to Prince County, and we never saw the Arum, the Calapogon, or the grand— flowered Habinaria in other parts of the Island. The Hemlock is not found east of St. Peter’s. The assemblage of plants on the Triassic hills is something different from that on Permian districts. The sand dunes have a flora peculiar to themselves And amid the surf-lashed skerries of our rocky coasts, the lover ofnature will find a distinct field of study in the Algae, Fucoids, and Corrallins of marine growth. "

The Fauna of Prince Edward Island is numerous and varied. A few larger animals, as the Moose, the Caribou, the Wolf, the Raccoon, and the Wolverine, which roam over the continental lands, are excluded from the Island by its insular position. But this is much more than compensated by the numerous marine animals which inhabit our coasts, and which afford some of the most interesting studies of animal life. "

Fauna

Of swimming, wading, singing and other birds there are the genera common to most countries. Rabbits and squirrels are very numerous. The beaver, formerly met with is now unknown. Black bears and foxes, (particularly the silver-gray and black varieties) are rare, and the wild—cat

[83] * Bnin‘s Natumuflniéiflry uf P. E. Island,1890.