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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



waters are of considerable commercial 

 importance, and the usual shore-birds 

 are present. 



*Petit Bois Island, a narrow barrier- 

 beach island about ten mi. long, lying 

 largely in Ala. with west end extend- 

 ing into Miss, a few miles off shore 

 in Gulf of Mexico. A bird reservation, 

 with interesting dune and marsh 

 vegetation. 



Reached (c) from Bayou la Batre, 

 Ala., or Pascagoula, Miss. The former 

 place is nearest, but latter is larger 

 and has better railroad service. — R. M. 

 H. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Harper, R. M. 1913 Economic Botany 

 of Alabama. Part I. Geographical 

 Report on Forests. Geol. Surv. Ala- 

 bama, Monograph 8. 



Howell, A. H. 1921 Biological Survey 

 of Alabama. Part I. Physiography 

 and Life Zones. Part II. The Mam- 

 mals. North American Fauna, No. 45. 



Loding, H. P. 1922 Preliminary Cat- 

 alogue of Alabama Amphibians and 

 Reptiles. Geol. Surv. Alabama, Mu- 

 seum Paper, No. 5. 



Mohr, Charles. 1901 Plant Life of 

 Alabama. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 

 Vol. VI. 



10. MISSISSIPPI 



By Gladys Hoke 



i. general conditions 



The state lies within the coastal 

 plain with the exception of the hills in 

 the northeastern corner. This fact, 

 a difference in minimum and maximum 

 altitude of only 800 ft., an average rain- 

 fall approximately uniform for all 

 sections, together with the fact that 

 the state lies within a natural forest 

 area would indicate that little diversity 

 would be found either in the soil, the 

 topography or the biota. Although this 

 is necessarily true to a certain extent 

 there are natural distributional features 

 of the biota which are strikingly shown 

 in the northeastern hill section with its 

 many characteristic Appalachian spe- 

 cies and in the coastal pine barrens 

 with a biota that resembles that of the 

 bogs of northern glaciated regions. 



Climate 



The summers are hot, the winters mild. 

 The mean July temperature is about 

 80° with a mean maximum seldom above 

 93, though temperatures of 100° or over 

 occasionally occur. The mean tem- 

 perature for January is about 47° with 

 a mean minimum temperature 10° 

 lower. Temperatures as low as 10° 

 are uncommon though zero temperatures 

 and lower have been recorded almost 

 throughout the state. The average 

 growing season is seven months. Along 

 the coast it is nine months. Rainfall 

 is heavy in midwinter and midsummer, 

 lighter in October and November. The 

 average annual precipitation is about 

 50 in. except on the coast where it is 60 

 in. Some snow usually falls every 

 winter though it remains on the ground 

 but a short time. 



The sketch map shows the state 

 divided into ten regions based on the 

 topographical and geological and on 

 the fioristic regions which conform in a 

 general way. 



1. Tennessee River Hills. Topogra- 

 phy. This region represents a tran- 

 sition from the Appalachian region to 

 the coastal plain. It is the oldest 

 section of the state and shows outcrops 

 of Paleozoic origin. This area, orig- 

 inally a plateau, is a region of high 

 abrupt hills. Limestone, sandstone and 

 chert are the chief formations. 



Original biota. Hardwood forest. 

 This region was covered with a forest of 

 large timber. Common on the hills 

 and slopes were upland oaks, butternut, 

 magnolia, and hickory with such shrubs 

 as deerberry, huckleberry, hazelnut 

 (Corylus americana), and mountain 

 laurel. Some of the herbaceous species 

 were bittercress {Cardamine pennsylva- 

 nica), alum root {Heuchera sp.), and 

 violets. Birds once common but now 

 rare or exterminated were: wood duckf,^ 

 passenger pigeon*, wild turkey t, Caro- 

 lina paroquet*, pileated woodpeckerf, 

 and bald eagle f. The following mam- 



' The symbols * and t indicate extermination and 

 rare, respectively. 



