BOTANICAL SURVEY— SUGAR GROVE REGION 295 



The Sycamore (Plata nus) often appears at this stage and grows 

 vigorously even on land entirely denuded of its soil and exposed to 

 extreme drouth. At the same time its absence from the undisturbed 

 bottom land associations, such as the swamp and the birch bottom land, 

 is not less noteworthy than its presence here. The explanation is to be 

 found in the fact that the sycamore is not, as commonly supposed, a 

 water-loving tree, but rather requires a large amount of light. In the 

 primeval forest sufficient light was to be obtained only along the larger 

 water courses, and for this reason, rather than because of a need of a 

 large amount of water, the sycamore was found only along the streams. 

 In many places, especially where washing has been severe, the oUl 

 field association develops only fragmentarily and the i>ines, which take 

 some time to get started, are the first woody plants to occupy the land, 

 so that reforestation begins without the intermediate steps more usually 

 found. But in any ease the pine forest comes to occupy most of the 

 old fields, while on the ground, in more or less profusion, depending 

 on the density of the shade, are most of the plants of the preceding 

 thicket formation, together with Chimaphihi macuJata and the sapro- 

 phytic Coralorhiza odontorrliiza. 



Although the soil of such forests would appear to be very poor, 

 it is interesting to note that occasional specimens of Liriodendron are 

 often found among the pines and appear to thrive. None of the tulip 

 trees observed in such situations had reached a very great age, and 

 most were broad topped, not slender like the trees of the coves. But 

 their thrifty appearance would suggest the feasibility of seeding down 

 such land with Liriodendron, which is at once a more rapid grower 

 and a more valuable timber tree than the pines which it w^ould replace. 

 While one would not care to recommend this practice widely on the 

 basis of such fragmentary observations, it would appear to be clearlj 

 worth while to experiment in such situations with Liriodendron on a 

 small scale with a view of determining its feasibility for general use. 

 The normal succession, however, would never be a forest of Lirio- 

 dendron, but rather that already described in the upland forest. Al- 

 though none of the second growth pine forests observed had attained 

 any great age, it is altogether probable that they would come to resemble 

 closely the virgin pine forest already described and that they would 

 finally give way to the oak foi-cst. 



