PINE BARRENS. 405 



and lilgnonia crueigera. Mitchella repens and Rubus hispidus creep over the sur- 

 face of the "round. 



7. Near Edenton. south of the Dismal Swamp, near the edge of a tract of wood- 

 land. Soil sandy, and comparatively dry, with but slight content of humus. 

 Trees, a few small scattered pines, with Liriodendron, Quercus digitata, and alow, 

 open shrubby growth of Diospyros, Rhus copallina, Liquidambar, Oxydendrum, 

 Aralia spinosa , Gelsumium, etc. Herbaceous growth abundant, of grasses (chiefly 

 Andropogon scoparius); Compositae (Ktipatorium spp., Elephantoptts nudatus, 

 Chrysopsis graminifolia, etc.); and, particularly conspicuous, various Legumi- 

 nosae (Cracca spicata, Bradburya, Stylosanthes biflora, Chamaecrista nictitans, 

 Qalactia volubilis, species of Meibomia and of Lespedeza, Crotaluria purshii, etc. 



8. Near Suffolk, west of the Dismal Swamp, top of a bluff about 9 meters (30 

 feet) high, on Cohoons Creek. Top soil to a depth of 15 centimeters (fi inches), a 

 sandy, grayish-brown loam. Subsoil, for 71 decimeters (30 inches), a fluffy, yel- 

 lowish, sandy loam. Woodland open, the trees mostly 9 to 15 meters (30 to 50 

 feet) high, but some of the pines and white oaks attaining a height of 18 to 20 

 meters (60 to 70 feet). About half of the trees are Pinus taeda, the rest Quercus 

 minor, giving place some little distance back from the stream to (J. alba, with 

 Q. velutina, Q. laurifolia, Q. nigra, Juniperus virginiaita, Cornus fiorida, Castanea 

 pumila (9 meters, 80 feet, high), Sassafras (about 6 meters, 20 feet, high), Vac- 

 cinium arboreum (about 4 A meters, 15 feet, high). Symplocos tinctoria (one speci- 

 men, 4-J meters, 15 feet, high), Hicoria villosa, Fagus amcricana. All these plants 

 are treelike in habit. Woody undergrowth is scanty, and in places the ground is 

 quite bare between the trees. Hmall patches of Opuntia opuntia (vulgaris) and 

 scattered plants of Jatropha stimulosa, Stylosanthes riparia, Ruellia ciliosa, 

 Asariim virginicnm, Aristolochia serpentaria, etc., also occur. Altogether the 

 association is much like that upon the wooded bluffs along Lynnhaveu Bay. 



PINE BARRENS. 



This formation, so characteristic of the Austroriparian area of the 

 Lower Austral life zone in North America, is not present in its typical 

 form in the region east, west, or north of the Dismal Swamp, but is 

 first encountered along Albemarle Sound, e. g., near Edenton, N. C. 

 There occur open pine forests, with comparatively little woody under- 

 growth, but with a more or less close carpet of grasses and other 

 herbaceous plants covering the ground. 



Where the soil, always sandy and comparatively poor in organic 

 matter, is dry, grasses such as species of Andropogon, Panicum, and 

 Danthonia prevail, mingled with forms belonging to numerous other 

 families, particularly Leguminosae and Compositae. Worthy of men- 

 tion are Stylosanthes biflora, Psoralen pedunculata, Meibomia striata, 

 Elephantopus nudatus, Eupatorium linearifolium, Aster gracilis, 

 Poly<jala mariana, Koellia hyssopifolia, Gratiola pilosa, Linum 

 medium, etc. 



In somewhat moister but otherwise very similar soil sedges (species 

 of Rynchospora), Eupatorium rotundifolium, Rhexia mariana, Ascy- 

 rum starts, Bartonia virginica, Spiraea tomentosa, Ilysanthes gratio- 

 loides, Monniera acuminata, etc., are characteristic. In small depres- 

 sions, along streams, diminutive marshes are frequent, and here 

 grasses give place almost entirely to sedges— Rynchospora inexpansa, 



