HERBACEOUS FLORA OF THE DRY FORESTS. 61 
The chestnut, originally one of the most frequent trees of these for- 
ests, is at present rarely found in perfection. The older trees mostly 
show signs of decay, and the seedlings, as well as the coppice growth 
proceeding from the stump, are more or less stunted. It is asserted by 
the old settlers that this tree is dying out all over the mountain region, 
where at the beginning of the second half of the century it was still 
found abundant and in perfection. Wild cherry (runs serotina) is 
only found here and there in the richest spots, and red plum (Prunus 
americana) varely along the banks of streams. In the mesophile for- 
ests of the bottom lands, as elsewhere north of the maritime belt, cow 
oak (Quercus michauci), Texas oak (Quercus texana), willow oak (Quer- 
cus phellos), and hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) prevail. Mountain 
silverbell (ALohrodendron carolinum), redbud (Cereis canadens?s), hard 
maple (Acer saccharum barbatum), catalpa (Catalpa catalpa), and dog- 
wood (Cornus florida) follow the rich slopes fronting the streams; 
rater oak (Quercus nigra L(Y. aquatica Walt.)) ascends to the upper 
ralley of Talladega Creek in Clay County (1,000 feet); various haw- 
thorns (Cratuegus flava, C. coccinea, and CL erus-gall/) and Southern 
crabapple (Pyrus angustifolia) frequent the openings and borders of 
the woodlands, and swamp dogwood (Corns sp.) the wet margins of 
streams. Rosa carolina was found on the Delta divide near the Idaho 
gold mine, in Clay County, the only locality for this rose known in the 
State. The American hazelnut (Corylus americana) in the forests of 
mountains in Clay and Cleburne counties frequently forms the dense 
brushy undergrowth. The frost grape (V7t/s cordifolia), the most 
frequent of grapevines in this division, along the water courses covers 
shrub and tree with its festoons. 
ANerophile herbaceous associations. —The flora of the pine-clad moun- 
tain slopes and the pine forests of the lower arid hills is decidedly of 
a xerophile character, denoting a sterile if not barren soil. Coarse 
grasses (ladropoyon furcatus, A. scoparius, and Erianthus alopecu- 
roides) cover sparingly the steep declines with an association of numer- 
ous plants of the pea family and Compositae, all more or less in 
common with other parts of the mountain region. On a visit to the 
Chehawhaw Mountain, the Blue Mountains, and the Alpine Moun- 
tains, in Talladega County, in the latter part of September there were 
observed of Viciaceae and Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae): 
Methomia rugosa, Lespedeza frutescens, 
Meihomia marylandica, Lespedeza. virginica, 
Meibomia obtusa, Lespedeza hirta, 
Meibomia rigida. Lespedeza capitata, 
Meibomia laevigata (rare), Amorpha virgata. 
Meibomia glabella, Cracea virginiana. 
Meibomia michaucti. Phaseolus polystachyus, 
Meibomia arenicola., Cassia chamaecrista, 
Lespedeza nutaltii. 
