Some Habitat and Distribution Terms Used 1129 



below water. The slope may be interrupted by narrow level areas (benches) or by 

 wide level areas (alluvial flood plains or overflow banks). The top and slope of the 

 i Id channel above flood stage of the present channel I call terrace hank. 



Bluff. Sometimes the meander of a stream encountered high land and by under- 

 cutting the slope becomes very steep. If the slope is clay it will usually be 

 devoid of vegetation. If it is mostly rock, the slope will usually consist of one 

 or a series of cliffs of varying height. I have arbitrarily called the steep bank 

 of a stream a bluff when the top of the bank is moi-e than 15 feet above high 

 water mark. Rocky bluffs often have a peculiar flora. 

 Cliff. A cliff is a perpendicular exposure of rock. I have arbitrarily placed the 

 minimum height at 10 feet and the maximum height in Indiana may not exceed 

 150 feet. The banks of the Ohio River are up to 250 feet high or higher and 

 may consist of one slope or of a series of cliffs and slopes. In the crevices and 

 solution holes on the face of the cliffs are found plants peculiar to them, such 

 as Asplenium pinnatifidum, Lycopodium Selago var. patens, and Sedum 

 telephioides. 

 Strip mine pit. Depression made in the process of surface mining of coal and a failure 

 to leave the surface in a level condition. These depressions are usually a series of 

 longitudinal v-shaped channels. The area at any one place will vary from a few 

 acres to 40 or more. These I have not studied, but I recall that many of the older 

 ones were full of cattails. 

 Swale. I am not able to distinguish between swale and marsh. L. M. Umbach, who 

 did much collecting among the dunes, refers to the troughs between the dunes that 

 were wet and filled mostly with sedges and grasses as swales. I have accepted his 

 name for this type of habitat and restricted its use to the dune area. 

 Swamp. A depression in the surface of the earth where water accumulates and is 

 retained for weeks or months is a swamp. These are usually in woodland because 

 those occurring in cultivated lands generally have been drained, but if not extinct 

 they will have a different flora in and about them. The character of the soil and 

 subsoil determines in part the length of time the water will be retained. Swamps 

 usually become dry in late spring or early summer because of evaporation. The 

 part of a swamp that does not become diy is a pond. A pond and the deeper parts 

 of a swamp are devoid of tree growth, but are fringed by buttonbush or willows. 

 The vegetation on the wet border of a swamp is usually distinctive, and that oc- 

 curring in the zone formerly covered by water differs from that on the border. 

 Swamps in cultivated land are little more than mud basins and when they become 

 dry the weed seeds blown and washed into the basin germinate and in due time 

 weeds form a cover. 

 Terrace bank. See streams. 

 Thick ivoods. See woods. 

 Truck garden. See gardens. 

 Waste place. Term applied to non-cultivated areas, usually about habitations or 



within a city or town limit, such as town lots and unimproved streets. 

 Woods. A woods is a term used to designate all areas covered with tree growth. The 

 species and growth vary greatly according to the soils, topography, and cutting of 

 the trees. A dense ivoods is one with a dense and high canopy, usually made by 

 large trees. A thick woods is one thickly set with medium to small size trees. 

 A thicket is an area devoid of large trees and densely set with very small 

 trees or shrubs. It is also applied to clearings that have grown up with a 

 thick stand of Crataegus and dense stands of blackberries or roses. A clearing is a 

 woods that has had all or nearly all the trees removed, making the area ready for 

 farming or grazing. If the final steps are delayed, as they often are, the area will 

 grow up and become a thicket. Woods are often designated by the dominant species, 

 as sugar maple woods, beech woods, and oak-hickory woods. 

 Woodland pasture. See pastures. 



