PLANTING INDICATORS. 363 



Pool (1914:267) has considered in some detail the sandhill communities of 

 shrubs which show the close approach to the water requirements of trees, 

 among the most important of which are Celtis, Prunus, and Salix. 



Bates and Pierce (1913: 15) have discussed the sandhill shrubs in their 

 general relation as indicators of forestation and of planting sites: 



"Of the numerous woody undershrubs the yucca, or soap-weed (Yucca 

 glauca), is probably the most striking plant of the sandhill region and is least 

 abundant where the soil is the most stable and firm. Other shrubs, most of 

 which are more or less gregarious and form clumps or mats on the ground, are 

 the sandhill willow (Salix humilis), very common on north slopes and indic- 

 ative of good moisture conditions, the redroot or New Jersey tea (Ceanothus 

 ovatus), typical of sandy hilltops; the sand cherry (Prunus besseyi), found in 

 almost any site, but especially in the loose sand around blow-outs; and the 

 shoe-string bush (Amorpha canescens). Wolf berry (Symphoricarpos occi- 

 dentalis), choke-cherry, and wild plum frequently form thickets on the slopes 

 of pockets facing the southeast, where they are favored by the moisture from 

 snowdrifts. The first-named seldom becomes more than 2\ feet high, the 

 other two frequently 15 feet. 



"From the standpoint of forestry one of the most important of the woody 

 plants is the low bearberry or kinnikinnik (Ardostaphylos uva-ursi). While 

 this grows in only a few limited localities, on moist north slopes, it is thought 

 to be indicative of conditions favorable for western yellow pine, since it is an 

 almost invariable associate of that tree in the Rocky Mountains. 



"Typical of the stream valleys in both Kansas and Nebraska are the false 

 indigo (Amorpha jruticosa), the buffalo berry, peach-leafed willow, sand-bar 

 willow, wolfberry, plum, and chokeberry. The diamond willow, one of the 

 Nebraska sandhills' most valuable small trees, is not found in Kansas. On 

 the whole, shrubby growth is much more typical of the Nebraska than the 

 Kansas sandhills, which usually have a heavy grass sod that does not permit 

 the growth of shrubs." 



