96 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



the curious insectivorous sundews (Drosera) and pitcher plant 

 (Sarracenia). With the reclamation of these swamplands, many 

 of the choicest North American plants must disappear. 



Eastward of the Mississippi, between 30° and 40° latitude, 

 is the richest forest of temperate North America, and origi- 

 nally this region was almost entirely an unbroken forest, com- 

 posed mostly of a great variety of deciduous trees. Along 

 the east coast from New Jersey to Florida and also along the 

 northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico is the coastal plain, in which 

 are extensive pine-barrens occupying the sandy soils. Pines of 

 several species are the predominant trees. Except for these 

 coniferous forests, and those of the higher altitudes of the Appala- 

 chians, the forest of the eastern United States is made up mostly 

 of deciduous species. This forest reaches its finest development 

 on the lower slopes of the southern Appalachians in North Carolina 

 and Tennessee, and in the rich river valleys of the Ohio and the 

 lower Mississippi. Oaks of many species and often trees of great 

 size are conspicuous, including the white, red, and scarlet oaks, 

 as well as many other less familiar species. Ashes, elms, chestnut, 

 several birches, maples, beech and bass-wood, are the same as 

 those of the more northern forest area; but in addition to these, 

 all of which are represented in the European forests by related 

 species, there are a number of characteristic extra-European 

 genera, most of which have allies in eastern Asia. First in impor- 

 tance is the tulip-tree, Liriodendron tidipifera, probably the tallest 

 deciduous tree of the American forest, sometimes being nearly 

 200 feet in height, and with a straight lofty trunk which is said 

 to occasionally be nearly ten feet in diameter. From New York 

 southward, the sweet gum (Liquidambar sty rati flua) is a common 

 and very beautiful tree of large size, especially in rich alluvial 

 soils. Pepperidge (Nyssa), persimmon (Diospyros) and sassafras 

 are also characteristic, and in the southern areas the common locust 

 (Robinia pseudacacia) as well as several other species occur. The 

 sycamore (Platanus octidentalis) , which is common throughout 

 the eastern states, along streams, is one of the largest of American 

 trees. 



Among the most striking of the trees of the middle and southern 

 states are several species of Magnolia. The great evergreen mag- 

 nolia (M. grandi flora), is decidedly a southern tree, but two species, 



