Figure 33. The sweetgum is a long-lived component of virgin alluvial bottomland 

 forests throughout the Southeast. These giants in the Congaree Swamp National Monument 

 (CSNM) occupy the higher portions of Zone IV floodplain. Lower Zone IV areas may lack 

 the larger trees. The CSNM contains a number of national and state record trees. 



Figure 34. Many Zone IV bottomland hardwoods on Coastal Plain alluvial river flood- 

 plains (Ocumulgee River, GA) have an understory of Sabal minor , a dwarf palm confined 

 to Zone IV floodplains. The similar but rarer needle palm ( Rhapidophyllum hystrix ) 

 also occurs here. 



61 



