When European settlers first arrived in North America, one of the first things they noticed was the vegetation.
In the east, forests were everywhere. The trees provided wood that settlers used to build houses, to cook, and to keep warm. The American Indians who lived in eastern forests farmed in small clearings. But early settlers cut down whole forests to grow crops in the European way.
An area’s natural vegetation is the plants that grow naturally there. Those plants reflect the landscape, soils, and climate of that area.
