Hill: Penobscot Vegetation 431 



ilar to that which occurs in southern Nova Scotia, as de- 

 scribed by Transeau (29). That this type of forest in 

 Nova Scotia, just as in Maine, should not be considered the 

 regional climax is evident since, as Transeau himself states, 

 the successions leading to the coniferous forest "are typical 

 only of the region directly influenced by the coastal condi- 

 tions" while inland a mixed conifer-hardwood forest occurs. 

 Furthermore Fernow (8) states that the coniferous forest, 

 which usually occurs on the thin soil of the granite ridges, 

 and along the coast comprises only some 20/e of the wood- 

 lands of Nova Scotia, the remainder being of the mixed 

 spruce-hardwood type. 



In New England the spruce-fir forests are divided by the 

 foresters into four general types: (1) spruce swamp, (2) 

 spruce flat, (3) mixed hardwood and (4) spruce slope. Of 

 these the spruce swamp and spruce slope clearly represent 

 physiographic climaces, the former occupying the poorly- 

 drained, low-lying areas with an acid, mucky or peaty soil; 

 while the latter occurs on the shallow rocky soils of the up- 

 per slopes. Both these types are of frequent occurrence in 

 the Penobscot Bay region. The mixed hardwood forest 

 constitutes the climax type, while the spruce flat is inter- 

 mediate between the swamp and the hardwood type. That 

 the mixed hardwood rather than the spruce forest represents 

 the regional climax association-type is evident from the 

 statement of the foresters that the spruce attains its best 

 development in the former type of woods. The spruce for- 

 est certainly should not be considered as constituting a re 

 gional climax type in places where it may be predominant, 

 if the spruce is unable to become dominant over the decidu- 

 ous species in other localities which are the most favorable 

 for its development. 



A comparison of the Penobscot Bay region with Cape 

 Breton brings out the fact that the vegetation is not as di- 

 versified as in the latter area. There are no forests which 

 can be definitelv classed as belonging to the northeastern 



