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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



Southern Arkansas still has much 

 valuable pine timber. Cypress swamps 

 are also found in the lowlands of eastern 

 and southern Arkansas along the slug- 

 gish streams and bayous. 



Prairies 



Grand Prairie should be mentioned 

 as much the largest prairie area in the 

 state. It occupies the greater part of 

 three counties in eastern Arkansas, 

 about 1500 sq. mi., land now largely 

 given over to rice growing. A number 

 of small prairies very similar to Grand 

 Prairie are found in most of the counties 

 of eastern Arkansas. 



In the western part of Benton County 

 (the extreme northwest corner) several 

 areas of the Oklahoma prairies extend 

 into the state. Other prairies are found 

 in several scattered areas in the Arkan- 

 sas river valley, located in the region 

 southeast of Fort Smith overlying the 

 Carboniferous coal beds. Southwestern 

 Arkansas has small patches of the Black 

 Cretaceous Prairie resembling the Cre- 

 taceous Prairie regions of Texas. Small 

 prairie openings in glades are scattered 

 throughout the forested hills of the 

 Ozarks. 



II. FLORA AND FAUNA 



AS a whole Arkansas offers a very 

 rich and diverse flora and also a varied 

 fauna. The extremes of topography 

 and abundance of forests support a rich 

 fauna of breeding birds, and, being in 

 the heart of the Mississippi valley, it 

 forms a part of the great path of migra- 

 tion. It also affords a winter resort 

 for many water fowl and land birds. 



The principal hardwood forests of 

 the uplands are oak savannas. Lum- 

 bering is an important industry while 

 farming is very diversified. Fruits of 

 many kinds are successfully grown, such 

 as apples, grapes, peaches, strawberries 

 and other small fruits. The region is 

 also very well adapted to poultry raising 

 and dairying. The northwestern coun- 

 ties of the state grow much wheat, while 

 corn and oats are important farm crops 

 over the entire state. Cotton is grown 



in some of the valleys of the upland 

 region, on hill land bordering the low- 

 land country, as well as over the entire 

 coastal plain region. 



The following species are more or 

 less characteristic of the mixed hard- 

 wood forest area (Carolinian) : black 

 oak {Quercus velutina), common chest- 

 nut oak (Q. muhlenbergii), shingle oak 

 {Q. imbricaria), Ohio buckeye {Aesculus 

 glabra), serviceberry {Amelanchier cana- 

 densis), and red cedar {Juniperus 

 virginiana). 



Among the mammals of this belt the 

 woodchuck {Marmota monax), Attwater 

 cliff-mouse {Peromyscus boylii attwateri), 

 weasel {Mustela sp.), and spotted skunk 

 (Spilogale sp.) have been listed by 

 Howell. The breeding birds of this 

 zone are Chuck-will's-widow, whippoor- 

 will (rare), phoebe, goldfinch, towhee, 

 oven-bird, brown thrasher, robin, blue- 

 grosbeak, prairie horned lark and 

 scissor-tailed flycatcher. 



Other larger mammals of the state 

 include the black bear {Ursus america- 

 nus), raccoon (Procyon lotor), wolf 

 {Canis sp.), red fox {Vulpes sp.), gray 

 fox {Urocyon cinereoargenteus) , opossum 

 (Didelphis virginiana), fox squirrel 

 {Sciurus niger rufiventer), gray squirrel 

 (Sciurus carolinensis), and flying-squir- 

 rel {Glaucomys volans), chipmunk {Ta- 

 mias striatus venustus), muskrat (Onda- 

 tra zibethica), striped skunk (Spilogale 

 sp.) etc. Virginia deer (Odocoileus 

 virginianus) are still found in the low- 

 lands of the Mississippi and Arkansas 

 river bottoms. 



In the Southern mixed coniferous and 

 hardwood area (Lower Austral Zone) 

 of Arkansas cotton and corn are the 

 principle crops, while rice is grown in 

 the Grand Prairie. Lumbering is an 

 important industry, especially in the 

 pine belt of south Arkansas. Important 

 fruits of this Zone are peaches, straw- 

 berries, pecans, etc. 



Characteristic plants of this area 

 are: black cypress (Taxodium disti- 

 chum), tupelo gum (Nyssa aquatica), 

 palmetto (Sabal glabra), loblolly pine 

 (Pinus taeda), water oak (Quercus 



