458 Harper : Collection of Plants in Georgia 



of the existing vegetation there. The very important relations be- 

 tween these two superficial formations and the present flora seem 

 to have been almost entirely overlooked by botanists. The Lafay- 

 ette is briefly mentioned by Dr. Mohr in his " Timber Pines of the 

 Southern States/' and by Dr. Gattinger in his " Tennessee Flora" (in 

 the latter under its former name of Orange Sand), but I find no 

 mention of the Columbia in any botanical work published previous 

 to my trip. 



While in Sumter county (together with a trip to Dooly county 

 on September 3, when I crossed the Flint River), I collected plants 

 numbered 402 to 657. 



A friend in Douglas, the county seat of Coffee county, having 

 invited me to spend a few days with him, I now availed myself of an 

 opportunity to visit a part of the State botanically and geologically 

 unexplored, and on September 19th left Leslie and started for 

 Douglas, by way of Cordele, Tifton and Waycross. 



Between Cordele and Tifton a change in the topography and 

 flora of the country I was passing through became apparent. I 

 passed from a comparatively level region, with the water mostly in 

 ponds and swamps occupying shallow basin-like depressions, to a 

 slightly rolling region, with valleys occupied by sluggish streams. 

 Here I saw Sarracenia flava in Georgia for the first time, and in 

 considerable abundance. Finns hcteropliylla began to appear, re- 

 placing P. palustris, and Taxodium disticlinm imbricanum be- 

 came common in all the little valleys, instead of only occupying 

 isolated depressions, as in Sumter county. I also saw many plants 

 new to me, which the rapid motion of the train would not permit 

 me to identify. 



This change in the topography and flora is probably caused by 

 a double change in the geological formations. Between Cordele 

 and Tifton the Middle Eocene strata are replaced by Upper Eocene, 

 and somewhere near the same place the overlying Lafayette be- 

 comes in turn overlaid by the Columbia. The Lafayette is cov- 

 ered in this way throughout most of southeast Georgia. The 

 underlying formations no doubt influence the topography, and 

 thereby indirectly the flora, while the superficial formations have 

 a direct influence on the character of the flora. 



At Tifton, which is in the northwestern corner of Berrien county 



