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When GAZ3 was made, they had created the forested hills hex, but evergreen forest hexes weren't invented until a few years later. GAZ6 Rockhome, GAZ7 The Northern Reaches, GAZ11 Darokin and the Dawn of the Emperors boxed set all also suffered from this, as did the Hollow World set. It seems that HWR3 The Milenian Empire was probably the first appearance of evergreen forest hexes. This leaves the question of exactly which forests in these countries/locations are evergreen, and which are deciduous.

We can derive some answers to this question from the books themselves, which sometimes talk about forests in their "Geography of" sections.

Wrath of the Immortals dealt with this to some extent with its 24 miles per hex map, showing us that the forests of the Northern Reaches, Heldann and Wendar are fully evergreen. It also shows the northern Darokin forest (next to the Broken Lands) as well as Glantri's forests (what little show up on a 24 mile per hex map, that is) as evergreen. Rockhomes forests are too small to show up on the map. Lastly, the forests of the main Alphatian continent are entirely evergreen.

Champions of Mystara continues this by showing the edge of Hule's Darkwood as being (mostly) evergreen.

Finally, Poor Wizard's Almanacs I and III show us the divide between deciduous and evergreen on the Isle of Dawn, Bellissaria and Western Skothar. Poor Wizard's Almanac II shows us Hule's Darkwood and the Isle of Dawn again, while leaving the Northern Reaches with deciduous trees - presumably a mapping error.

Conclusions:

Glantri
Page 7 of GAZ3 explains in detail the types of trees that grow in Glantri. Basically, the trees of Erewan and Belcadiz are oak, while the rest are mostly a mix of evergreen trees. Combined with the information from the Wrath of the Immortals map, we can safely say that aside from the Elven oaks, all of the forests marked on Glantri's 8 mile per hex map are evergreen.

Rockhome
Page 47 of GAZ6 tells us about Rockhome's trees, but it is somewhat ambiguous. It says that Rockhome's mountains are heavily forested, mostly with pines, but for the lowlands it fails to mention the type of tree. Considering Rockhome's latitude, it could go either way, but it seems that it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that most of Rockhome's forests are evergreen, and to mark Rockhome's forest hexes as such.

The Northern Reaches
Page 8 of GAZ7 suggests that the slopes of the Makkres and Hardanger Mountains are covered in conifers, while the rest of the forests are mixed conifer-broadleaf forests. It sounds like these forests could be marked as either deciduous or evergreen - it could go either way. Wrath of the Immortals marked them as evergreen.

Darokin
I couldn't find any information in the Darokin Gazetteer about forest types. If we are to take Wrath's map at face value, then it would appear that the Broken Lands' Black Hills, and adjoining hills in Darokin, are coniferous forested hills.

Alphatia
I couldn't find any evidence in Dawn of the Emperors about forest types, though I may have missed something as there is a lot to look through. The altitude would seem to support most of the continent's forests being evergreen, as the Wrath of the Immortals map suggests.

The Hollow World
The only Hollow World map with evergreen forests marked on is HWR3 The Milenian Empire. In the far south of Milenia, forests change to predominantly conifers. The altitude of this area, a little north of the city of Laroun, would imply that the lands southwest of Lake Agrisa and all the lands on the south Sea of Yr have coniferous forests. Also the forested area enclosed by mountains southeast of Hapta in the Nithian Empire is likely evergreen, though the climate of south Nithia probably means that the forests around Lake Thufu are deciduous. It's important to remember that with the Hollow World, though, that climate and seasons are far less related to latitude than on the Outer World; it seems often cultures have had their climate "localised" specially in order to suit their original Outer World conditions.

In the north, the Antalian Wastes, the Beastmen Wastes and all the lands north of the Azcan Empire probably have coniferous forests. But this is just a guess based on those cultures and the latitude.

Inconsistencies
Wrath of the Immortals' 48 mile per hex map incorrectly places an evergreen forest southwest of Akesoli, bordering the Atruaghin plateau. Firstly, there is not much of a forest here according to the other sources we have for this area - including Wrath's own 24 mile per hex map! Secondly, it seems marginally too far south, going by the evergreen-deciduous separation line as it seems to apply to the rest of the Known World.

A Final Note
During my research for this article, I had to take a closer look at some tree related words that it turns out I really didn't know half as well as I thought I did. My father set me straight, as follows:

- Deciduous trees are those which lose their leaves every year in autumn.
- Evergreen trees are those which have green leaves all year round. They do lose their leaves, and they get replaced by new ones, but it's not a yearly thing.
- Coniferous trees, or conifers, are those which grow cones for seed distribution.

In other words, deciduous and evergreen are effectively opposites, while either can be coniferous. Thus, for example, a quick check of my Oxford Dictionary tells me that larches are deciduous coniferous trees. (That example was the source of my initial confusion.)

In fact, most conifers are evergreen, and that's why they are sometimes used as synonyms. However, it's more correct to talk about evergreens and deciduous trees.

That's all for now. I intended to get this posted hours ago, but the research combined with some distractions made it take far longer.

So - any comments, corrections or suggestions?

Yep, it certainly seems that way. Probably they were so happy with their new toy that they just had to plaster it in as many places as they could.

Overall I think they did a good job. The Atruaghin plateau/Darokin/Sind border bit is the only area I don't really like. But it's certainly far from being out of the question - altitude-wise it's only marginally lower than the other marked evergreens. I'd be interested to hear what Andrew, champion of the clans if I recall, has to say about the possibility of some evergreen hexes at the northern tip of the plateau.

As for the dominant type, I agree entirely. The problem is that marking hexes one way or another gives a very strong mental image, I think. In the future, perhaps it would behove mappers to write short terrain descriptions to go with their legend/key...

Glad I could teach you a new word by the way, Håvard. Teaching English to non-native speakers is, in fact, my current profession. Hehe, ufortunately I don't have any students as good as some of you guys here, though. :D

Hello,

I'm a long time player and lurker on these boards but finally decided to add something.

The Mystara map is based upon ancient earth, and the Known World is set in what would be North America. Roughly, Thyatis and Karameikos would be set in the areas or Florida and Mississippi. I used to live in Mississippi and the forests are mostly evergreens, lots of pines. And further west into Texas where I grew up is mostly pine with some oaks. I currently live in the midwest, very roughly where Darokin would be set and there is a great mix of trees. In my back yard there are more cedars and pines than oaks.

Granted the geography of the KW is very different from modern North America, but it could help.

In my game, the forests of Karameikos and Darokin and mostly evergreens with a good healthy mix of deciduous and conifers. When making a map I use the evergreen symbols, but during play I try to describe a mix.

Thanks

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'd like to say that I understand better now, but I don't think that's the case! :P

It does seem that the two hex types are really only a guide. In practice most forests are going to have a mix of trees, and the hexes should be used just to show the predominant type - though the predominance may be minor or major, depending on latitude, climate, region, etc.

In the end, I think the best thing to do would be to note these points along with our maps.

Talking of which...

:D

*Sneaks back into the shadows*

I dredged this thread up from the vaults (as opposed to the Vaults )...

I've just been having a look at the Alphatian Empire, and what evidence there is for types of forest there.

Alphatia
As noted above, Alphatia's forests are apparently entirely evergreen. It seems to fit with the latitude. Any thoughts?

Alatian Islands
According to all the official maps, these islands are deciduous forest. However, Dawn of the Emperors Book I, page 61: "All are hilly islands with poor soil and tough, durable tracts of pine forest." Hmmm... These islands are situated around the 30 degrees North line, mostly further south than Ierendi and Minrothad. That should make them rather warm. Added to that, the islands are not particularly high. It seems much more likely their forests would be deciduous.

The Poor Wizard's Almanac actually confirms this, noting that the Alatians have "some tropical trees for shade and fruit".

Bellissaria
The Wrath of the Immortals map shows all the forests as deciduous, but only shows the western part of the continent. Poor Wizard's Almanac I has just two 72 mile hexes of forests in northern Notrion evergreen, and the rest deciduous. It sounds reasonable given the latitude.

Esterhold
The Poor Wizard's Almanac shows the whole peninsula with evergreen forests. Poor Wizard's Almanac III extends this to the adjacent area on Skothar, north of the Steppes of Jen, with the area south of the steppes decidous.

Isle of Dawn
Wrath of the Immortals shows us that the forests from Newkirk north are all evergreen, and the Almanacs seem to agree. The latitude coincides with the Northern Reaches and Alphatia, so I suppose it should be about right.

Right then, I have some editing to do.