Vol. 27 



BULLETIN 



Q No. 8 



OF THE 



TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 



AUGUST 1900 



Notes on the Flora of South Georgia 



Roland M. Harper 



During the summers of 1895, 1896 and 1897 I devoted most 



1 



of my time to botanizing in and around Americus, the county seat 

 of Sumter County, Georgia, which was my home at that time. 

 As this region is almost unknown to botanists, I had excellent 

 opportunity to observe many little -known or otherwise interesting 

 plants, some of them far out of their accredited ranges. 



Sumter County is situated in the western part of that section 

 known as South Georgia, which includes about 64 counties, with 

 an area of 35,000 square miles, or over half the area of the State. 

 South Georgia is sharply defined both geologically and topo- 

 graphically from the older sections of the State, especially from 

 Middle Georgia, which adjoins it on the northwest. It varies in 

 elevation from sea-level to about 600 feet, and contains three dis- 

 tinct geological formations. Of these, the Cretaceous is repre- 



sented by a narrow wedge-shaped area in the northwestern portion, 

 and the Quaternary by a narrow strip along the coast and larger 

 rivers, while the remainder belongs to the Tertiary formation. 



Sumter County, as far as known, lies entirely in the Tertiary, 

 though its northwestern corner approaches within a short distance 

 of the Cretaceous. The predominating soil in Sumter County, as 

 throughout South Georgia, is sand, generally mixed with more or 

 less clay, organic matter, or marl ; the latter being principally 

 confined to the vicinity of the Flint River, on the eastern border of 

 the county. 



[Sept. 6, 1900.] 



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