Broad-leaved Forests in Mountainsides

A Red Panda(by Yang Yichou)

An Ocelot(by Yang Yichou)

A macaque with the taxus chinensis （ by Li Bosheng）

　　If one goes downward further, the evergreen or half evergreen broad-leaved forests of the mountain area will meet his eyes. In different elevations, the trees often grow into round or ball-shaped tops and people will feel their vigor, their richness and their stubborn vitality. Half evergreen broad-leaved forest zones can also be found here and this is a new type of plant in geological distribution. Oriental white oaks are the hegemony in the half broad-leaved forests. Their round tops stop the penetration of sunlight into the depth of the forest. It is quite dark in the forest and adnascent plants are well developed there. People will feel strange to see that several different kinds of leaves are growing on the same tree and they cannot see the leaves of the tree itself at all. Climbing plants and vines, such as dialolo, grow prosperously in this part. Ferns are also growing very fast and are trying to occupy all possible space. Mosses grow more quickly here and they occupy each and every inch of the ground surface and tree trunks. All the trees are wrapped with a thick layer of mosses as well as thin and transparent membrane ferns. Some people call this kind of forests "moss forests" or "fog forests". The leaves of the upper layer arbors in the forests will fall and change into new leaves at the end of the dry season and in the beginning of the rainy season. This is also a rarely seen natural miracle. The half evergreen forest gets its name from such phenomena. After entering into the evergreen broad-leaved forests, people will find that katus are the hegemony there. The canopy closure of katus forest is very high and the outer appearance of such forests remains the same all the year round. Luculia intermedia, Ardisia arborescents and other bushes grow under the katus. Even during wintertime, people can also see the cloves in their full bloom. Its small and whitish red flowers stud on the branches. It's a very good kind of flower plants during the winter and its planting can be popularized. By the way, in the mingled forests of the needle-leaved and broad-leaved forests in the sub-high mountain and mid-high mountain areas, the climate is quite similar with that of the region of Chengdu, China. People can also find some villages or dry farming fields scattering on the terrace along the river valleys. The activities of mankind are relatively frequent. Animals such as the oxen and water buffaloes are all distributed in this part, also bears, macaques and takin; plants such as corns and potatoes can also grow here.