76 PLANT LIFK <)K ALAIJAMA. 



\ ati(»iis thus t'oi-iiK (1 arc called \)\ the jx'dpjc of the coimti'v " lot-k 

 houses." Ill these ^iooliiv I'eeesses, iie\ci' \ i>ite(l l»v the direct rays 

 of (lie sun, thcii- roots and walls coiistuiitly inoisteiied l>y lli*^ water 

 oozniji" from cxciy cre\ ice. some of the rarest aiul most dclicutc ferns 

 tind a shelter from wind and sudden chanties of temperature. Tr/c/io- 

 imiin.s j» (( i-sll^ tiie tiniest of this order in the. rnited States, and eoii- 

 tined to iiorthcMii Ahihama, is at home in these rock houses, and thence 

 it way first hroueht to ii<iht by -hidj'e T. M. Peters, who discovered it 

 on the l)aid<s of the head watcn-s of Sipser River. The liliform hori- 

 zontal rhizomes are interwoven into (Umisc patches, their fronds of 

 dark green scarcely an inch high, somewhat resembling the thalhis of 

 a hirge liverwort. This fern was su])se(|uently found in a similar 

 locality on the western edge of the table-land ))y Prof. E. A. Smith, 

 and later l)y the writer on its eastern border at the fid Is of Black 

 Creek, in Etowah County. Trichontanc.^ rad/canf< is also a freciuent 

 inhabitant of these rock houses, being found on wet, deeply shaded, 

 rocky walls northward to the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky. 

 The long creeping rootstock of this beautiful fern, adhering tirmly to 

 the rock, decorates the roof and walls of these recesses. A.s2>Ieiiiuiii 

 trichoinanes^ with its fronds of ))rightest green, ana the thallus of a 

 large liverwort {D urn art lent sp.) are the frequent companions of the 

 above. Of plants of higher orders onl}- a few have been observed in 

 these cavities. Thin grass {Agrostis pef'ennan^) with its weak, decum- 

 bent stems, occurs here, where its foliage is scarcely ever afll'ccted by 

 frost and never touched ])V the direct sunlight, and ITeachern nu/ch'l 

 is also quite frequently found on the damp ledges which form the 

 threshold of the caves, but rarely penetrates beyond them. 



ITydropliyt'ic plant as-sociadoiis {jM/Zt/dlalp/a/its). — On the table-land 

 beyond the channels of the large streams and their very numerous 

 ])ranches no areas of great extent of a water-soaked or submerged 

 soil are foimd, and the narrow cliamiels through which the water 

 rushes towaid the lowlands afford l)ut little chance for the spread of 

 a h^'drophile vegetation. The wet grassy swales are inhabited by the 

 following: 



Anclropogon virginicus. ( 'nrex f/ranulariK. 



Homalocenchrus {Leermi) viryinirua. KleocJiariH tmuis. 



Panicularia nerrata. Ekocharh aciciilaris.^ 



Panicum rostratmii. Kleocharis ovata.^ 



Pan inim comvi niaium . ScirpuH polyphyllus. 



Panicum polyardhen. Dlchromena colorata. 



Panicum sphaei'ocarpon. Kobresia pumila. 



Carex lurida. Juncus marginalus.^ 



Carex lupulina. Juncus (common species) . 



Carex intumescens. Cicuta maculata.^ 



Carex squarrosa (rare) . Coreopsis tripteris} 



Carex torta. Eupalorium maculatum.. ' 



' Occurs also in the Louisianian area. 



