Some Habitat and Distribution Terms Used 1125 



some habitat and distribution terms used 



These terms are defined and discussed in the sense they are used in the flora. Many 



terms have been omitted from this list because their meaning seems obvious. 



Abandoned fields. See fields. 



Alluvial banks. See streams. 



Ballast. See railroads. 



Banks of streams. See streams. 



Barrens. It is my opinion that this term was used by early authors and pioneers to 

 designate remnant prairies. I have heard it applied to a relict prairie in Noble 

 County, and to the black and scarlet oak areas of Floyd and Harrison Counties. 



The subject seems to be of sufficient importance to warrant a few notations. The 

 old buffalo trail passed through the last named barrens, crossed the Ohio River at 

 the Ohio Falls and continued southward into Kentucky to the salt springs and big 

 barrens near Bowling Green. 



The Kentucky barrens were described in 1802 by Michaux. J. M. Coulter (Bot. 

 Gaz. 2: 145-146. 1877) wrote of the "barrens" of southern Indiana and located them 

 in the corners of Clark, Floyd, Harrison, and Washington Counties. In the same 

 article he lists 22 species of plants which he collected in this area, and these are all 

 essentially prairie plants. About 1920 I studied the region more critically. Three 

 very old men who were born and had spent all of their lives in the neighborhood of 

 the barrens said that when they were boys the barrens were covered with "scrub 

 oak" and a few hickory trees and that thickets of hazel and wild plum fringed the 

 sinkholes. They said the "scrub oak" were not tall enough to hide a man on horse- 

 back. They also directed me to a small area along the roadside about five miles 

 southeast of Corydon which, in their unanimous opinion, had never been plowed. 

 Here I found Andropogon furcatus and Sorghastrum nutans, typical prairie grasses. 

 Prof. Fred Breeze accompanied me on a trip over this area and the big barrens near 

 Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was of the opinion that the geological formations in 

 both areas were similar. 



Bayou lake. See slough. 



Bluffs. See streams. 



Bog. The terms bog and boggy places have been so widely and loosely applied that their 

 meaning is not specific. I am restricting the term bog to areas where the surface 

 soil is organic (peat) and the soil water is acid in contrast to habitats that have a 

 mineral soil. Its application in the flora can be best understood when its formation 

 and growth are given. A bog has its beginning when such vegetation as sedges and 

 riparian aquatics begin to invade any body of water and form a mat over it. This 

 is the first stage of the quaking bog. The mat stage of a bog is soon followed by 

 the establishment of sphagnum, perennials, shrubs such as cranberries, swamp 

 loosestrife, willows, dogwoods, highbush blueberry, alders, poison sumac, and lastly 

 of tree species such as tamarack which is the principal tree in Indiana bogs. In 

 Indiana, arborvitae, white pine, and Chamaedaphne are rarely the dominant woody 

 species. In due time the surface of a bog builds up and becomes dry when the tama- 

 rack species begins to wane- and low ground broadleaf species such as soft maples, 

 yellow birch, white elm, and others take possession. These soon build up on top of 

 the peat soil a muck soil which displaces the bog botanical area. Bogs are usually 

 designated by the dominant species growing in them, such as sphagnum, tamarack, 

 arborvitae, white pine, and Chamaedaphne bogs. Indiana bogs are mostly about 

 lakes and along streams and have their water table at or near the surface. This is 

 usually the level of the water in the adjacent lake or stream. 



Branch. See streams. 



Clearings. See woods. 



Cliffs. See streams. 



Common. See distribution. 



Creeks. See streams. 



Cultivated fields. See fields. 

 Dense woods. See woods. 



