VEGETATION OF LOWER COOSA HILLS. 67 



the undergrowth. Among the associations of herbaceous xerophile 

 plants, which cover the exposed slopes and brows of these hills, the 

 pea family with its bush clovers, tick-trefoils, etc., is most numer- 

 ously represented in species as well as in individuals, while the Car- 

 duaceae present a number of golden asters, golden-rods, and blue asters, 

 common throughout the mountain regions. Characteristic species are: 



Lcsjinleza Itirta. Meibomia bract eom. 



Lespedeza capitala. Strophostyles helvola. 



Lespedeza fnitescenn. Craeca virginiana. 



Lespedeza vlnjinica. Psoralea pedunculala. 



Lespedeza nuitallii. Chrysopsis mariana. 



MeUioniia ohtusn. Clm/sopsis gramimfolia. 



Meibomia rigida. Solidago ovata, etc. 



Meibomian mardandica. Aster undulatus. 



Meibomia glabella. Axter patens. 



On the suunnit of the ridges between Shoal Creek, east of St. Clair 

 County, at an altitude of about 1,000 feet. Ilex monticola and But- 

 nerla fertUlH {(Vdycantkns glaucu.s)^ both at home on the Alleghenian 

 ranges from about New York to South Carolina, are strangely asso- 

 ciated wnth the Carolina ash {Fraxinus platycarjm) from the swamps 

 of the Coastal plain, here inhabiting the wet banks of brooks, and 

 form an interesting group of mesophile shrubs. In rocky but some- 

 what rich soil on these ridges various species of blueberries abound 

 beneath the hardwood trees, especially Vacclnium vacUlans., a low, 

 bushy form of Y. corynihosmn^ and Y. Tneianocarpmn^ the so-called 

 wnld gooseberry, remarkable for its large fruit. The berries of the 

 last are of the size of a small garden gooseberry, of a shining plum 

 purple, almost black color, juicy and palatable, and eagerly consumed 

 by man and animals. This shrub, from 2^ to nearly 4 feet high, 

 when in bloom is at once recognized by the abundance of its strictly 

 racemose flowers, and when bending under the burden of its fruit pre- 

 sents a pretty sight. The berries ripen in the latter part of July. It 

 is sparsely distributed over other parts of the mountain region, and 

 occurs also in the Ozark Hills of the same geological formation in 

 southwestern Missouri. 



Where the floor of the Coosa rests upon the Silurian dolomites and 

 subcarbonif erous limestones, and the same strata form the flrst terraces 

 of the hills, the soil is highly fertile. The flora is rich in the number 

 of herbaceous species, belonging to many families and parth^ of cam- 

 pestrian and partly of sylvestrian character, and it stands in strong 

 contrast with the flora of the arid rocky hills. In early spring Ilepatica 

 lieiKitica and Syndesrium thalictroides adorn the shelves. The meso- 

 phile association of herbs, mosth^ perennials, is particularl}' attractive 

 during later spring and the earlier part of the summer, on account of 

 the bright flowers of the Indian pink (Spigeliamarilandica), the i^cavlet 

 flower of the catchfly {iSUene vlrginlca)^ the purple flowers of Phlox 



