408 BOTANICAL SURVEY OF DISMAL SWAMP REGION. 



grows closely other vegetation is almost entirely excluded. The sand 

 blackberry (Rubus cwieifolius) is one of the most characteristic, plants 

 of similar situations ami is likewise obviously xerophytic in its organi- 

 zation. Other woody species of sandy roadsides are Crataegus inn- 

 flora, and, with stems prostrate, Rubus trivialis and Gelsemium. With 

 these are usually associated herbaceous plants— llnidbu nju rin/itt- 

 wwiawith its showy purple flowers, Stylosanthes biflora and 8. riparia, 

 Galactia volubilis, various Compositae, Monarda pwictata, Q-ymno- 

 pogon ambiguus, Festuca octoflora, etc. 



Along roadside ditches, especially near (lie sea, Baccharis halittn'folia 

 (sometimes 2\ meters, 8 feet, high) and Rosa Carolina are commonly 

 associated. 



HERBACEOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 



Often entering into the above-described associations of shrubby 

 plants, but more frequently forming more or less nearly pure herba- 

 ceous assemblages in old iields and roadsides where woody plants 

 play a subordinate role, are various species, notably of Compositae 

 and grasses. One of the most abundant of these is the broom sedge 

 (Andropogon virginicus), which frequently forms a close covering in 

 abandoned fields. With it are generally mingled small scattered 

 shrubs ami, notably, seedling pines (see above, p. :>'.'7). 



Senecio tomentosus is, in spring, one of the most common and showy 

 plants of the region. If is pari icularly abundant in low, rather moist 

 ground, in fields and on waysides. Its lufts of white tomentous leaves 

 are hardly less conspicuous in contrast with the surrounding vegetation 

 than are its golden-yellow heads. In moist sandy soil, especially near 

 the sea, a characteristic species is Cardites spinosisshnus, a vernal 

 flowering thistle with low, stout stems and large heads of pah; yellow 

 flowers. Exceedingly abundant at the same time of the year, but 

 preferring the driest sand, is a small winter annual, Zdnaria cana- 

 densis. The brighl blue flowers of this plant are conspicuous, not- 

 withstanding their small size. Another vernal [lowering species, 

 bluets {Houstonia aoerulea), is commonly associated with the Linaria. 

 Two annual grasses, Festuca myurus and F. octoflora, and the small 

 yellow clover, Trifolium dubiurn, are abundant in places. In late 

 spring and early summer the sulphur-yellow heads of a ciehoriaceous 

 plant, SitUias (Pyrrhopappus) earoliniana, are locally conspicuous at 

 waysides. The Japan clover ( Lespedeza striata) is another very abun- 

 dant plant in such places; and likewise, in early summer, Daucus 

 carota and Achillea millefolium. 



In late summer and autumn large Compositae are the predominant 

 herbs in fields and roadsides. The most characteristic and perhaps 

 the most abundant, herbaceous plant of the region is the hog weed or 

 dog fennel (Eupatorium capdlifolium) (fig. 70). Even in May the 

 bright green, finely divided, Anthemis-like root leaves of this plant 



