FLORA OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 77 
In the brooks where during its lowest stage the water becomes stag- 
nant, a large Fontinalis, 1 lescur?/, is found. Mymenocallis ocerden- 
fulis occurs in deep clefts of rocks barely rising above the water. 
Sagittaria latifolia, and S. longirostris australis are found on the miry 
banks of Ryans Creek, Cullman County, with /’/tandra virginica. 
Orontinm aquaticum is common in the streams of the wider valleys 
not above 1,000 feet. On the loose stones in the swiftly running 
brooks and shallow streams Podostemon abrotanoides, a type of the 
southern Alleghenies, is not rare on the Warrior table-land, and 7? 
ceratophyllum of northern distribution is known in the State, but only 
from the vicinity of Auburn, 
Vegetation of Lookout Mountain.—Near the northern frontier of the 
State the most easterly of the spurs of the Appalachian ranges belong- 
ing to this subdivision rises abruptly at Valley Head to an elevation 
fully 800 feet above Little Wills Valley, with its floor at this point 
1,150 feet above tide water. 
The summit of Lookout Mountain spreads out to a wide table-land 
of the same character as the plateau of the Warrior coal field, and ter- 
minutes suddenly in the precipitous escarpment abutting upon the 
Tennessee River known as the most prominent landmark in the Ten- 
nessee basin. Near Mentone, Little River, a pretty stream which 
follows the southern extension of this table-land, lcaps over a ledge 
into its narrow channel, some 125 feet below. By reason of a rainfall 
more copious than in other sections of the mountain region (64.4 inches), 
and toward its northern extremity of a generally deeper and fresher 
soil, this mountain was recently covered with a fine hard-wood forest, 
chiefly of oaks, and was noted for the abundance of white oak timber 
(Quercus alba) and tan-bark oak; but this timber wealth is now almost 
exhausted. On its flanks the black locust (Robinia pseudacacia) is 
found, one of the few localities in Alabama where it ean be considered 
to be indigenous. The short-leaf pine is rarely met with on these 
heights. The scrub pine is more frequent, reaching its best develop- 
ment on rocky benches and declivities with a scanty covering of soil. 
On the brow of this mountain, and particularly along the low, damp 
banks of Little River, there occurs a strong mingling of types that 
are at home in the Alleghenian area of the adjoining States and of 
North Carolina with plants of the lower ranges within the Carolinian 
area, giving rise to a varied flora, the like of which has not been 
observed in any other part of the mountain region of Alabama. When 
the low elevation of this extremely limited spot is considered (not 
quite 2,000 feet above the sea), the suffusion of types from different 
life zones admits of no explanation on the ground of clitnate or local 
influences controlling plant distribution, but points clearly to a disjunc- 
tion of floral conditions due to geological changes. Among the woody 
plants peculiar to the Alleghenian area, Rhododendron catawhiense 
