\)C> I'LANT MFK oF ALAI5AMA. 



()!' :irl»<irtal foiiiiMl ions tlii^ poach, H<j. prar. plum, pomo^rjinuto, 

 and, ill slicltcit'd situations, the sweet and Wittei* oi'iinjre and locjuat, or 

 .lapanese medlar ar«> cultivated, and also the jirape. Thes(> fruits are, 

 ho\ve\"er. not yet phmtcd .sufficiently to form large orchards. 



KKGION Of THE CENTKAL I'lNE JiELT. 



Physiographical features. — A belt of sands and pehhles <-r()sses the 

 v'^tate almost ccMitrally in a southeastern and northwestern direction 

 and separates the Paleozoic formation from the more recent siMlimentary 

 (Mesozoic) strata. This belt, varying from about 10 to a little over 

 35 miles in width, (extends from Russell County to a short distance 

 west of Tuscaloosa County, where, with a sudden ])end toward th(\ 

 north, it merges into thi^ Lower Hills, which arc^ clad with a mixed 

 forest of short-leaf pine and u])hind hard-wood trees. Between the 

 water courses the undulating surface frequently spreads out into 

 more or less level table-lands. 



Xeropliile and iiie^opldle foreaU. — Wherever the sandy loam forming 

 the surface soil becomes deeper, the long-leaf pine is associated with 

 post oak, Spanish oak, black oak, black-jack, pigimt, and mockernut 

 hickory, and where the more siliceous soil prevails the long-leaf pine 

 alone forms continuous forests of a heavy timber growth, which furnish 

 the supplies demanded by the active lumber industry established along 

 the railroad lines traversing this })elt. 



Entering this region at the northern border, the turke}' or barren 

 oak and the blue jack make their appearance and are frequent com- 

 panions of the long-leaf pine of the dr3'-pinc barrens farther south; 

 and of evergreen shrubs and trees, which line the streams throughout 

 the maritime pine belt, the sweet illicium {llliciuin floridanum)^ ti-ti 

 {('llftonl<iiaon<)p}iyll(i)^ and red l)ay {Pers.ea Carolina) are here met with. 

 The limbs of the large trees, shading their banks, arc now invested with 

 the somber gray drapery of Spanish moss, and this, together with the 

 appearance of the dwarf or blue palmetto {Sahal adansonii) and arbor- 

 escent lilies ( Yucca alolfolia^ Y. Jilanien.tosa)^ indicates that the sub- 

 tropical region of the State has been entered. On the southern border 

 of this central pine belt, in localities with a fresh moist soil, the 

 magnolia is found from Russell Count}^, at the eastern confine of the 

 State, to Prattville and to York Station on the western boundary. 

 The northern limit of the Southern spruce pine {Pvaus glabra) proceeds 

 ver}^ nearly along the same line. 



Xerophile and TTbesophjile herbaceous plant associations. — The follow- 

 ing herbaceous plants of the Louisianian area find their northern limit 

 in this region and are but occasionally found to obtrude beyond it 



