Section I Introduction.- I. Introduction.- Section II Geology.- II. Serpentine and the geology of serpentinized rocks.- Section III North America.- III. Plant life of western North American ultramafics.- IV. Ecology of serpentinized areas, Newfoundland, Canada.- V. A phyto-ecological investigation of the Mount Albert serpentinized plateau.- Section IV Europe.- VI. Chemical and ecological studies on the vegetation of ultramafic sites in Britain.- VII. The ecology of serpentinized areas of north-east Portugal.- VIII. Distribution of serpentinized massives on the Balkan peninsulas and their ecology.- IX. The distribution and ecology of the vegetation of ultramafic soils in Italy.- Section V Far East and Japan.- X. The vegetation over ultramafic rocks in the tropical Far East.- XI. The distribution and extent of serpentinized areas in Japan.- Section VI Africa.- XII. The ecology of ultramafic areas in Zimbabwe.- XIII. The vegetation over mafic and ultramafic rocks in the Transvaal Lowveld, South Africa.- Section VII Australasia.- XIV. The vegetation of the greenstone belts of Western Australia.- XV. The serpentinized areas of New Zealand, their structure and ecology.- Section VIII.- XVI. Concluding remarks.