11(> PLANT LIFK OK ALAHAMA. 



Plm-huri't II fJiifs (iitil I li/i/mji/n/fif jihinf iissocifif loii.'t, 



'rowiiitl (lif iKirtlicrn limit of this ic^ioii the oldest sti-atu of the 

 Post-Trrtiarv (Nimk-ciic) \n'i\s of loose siiiids and coiiiiJact more or loss 

 aluminous clays ap])roacli of attain (lie surface. The higher swells of 

 the taltle lands covored liy the porous sands and <^ravels include level 

 tracts of l)adly drained Warrens underlaid l>y the older strata. Hooded 

 lifter every hea\y rain, drou»;hty during hot and dry weather. On 

 these flats C'ul>an pine is thinly scattered and here reaches its northern 

 limit of ve*i-etatioii. at a distance of about ()<► miles from the seashore. 



Excepting the ink berry (/A./- glahni) scarcel}" any tree or shrub 

 shades the ground; but a small number of grasses find a place among 

 the coarse her])s forming the cover of the extremely poor soil of these 

 flats. The bulk of tlie herbaceous vegetation consists of a few abun- 

 dant mesophile species. The following are representatives species: 



A ndropogon vir(jinicu.s. ' Sa bbatia dodecandra. ' 



Anthaenaniki rnfa. Ifelcnium hrerifolium. 



Paffpahnn (jlahrnlitm. Rhe.iia mariana.^ 



Panicum pohfitnllu's.^ Rhexia ulrida. 



Sabbatid aiiitpamdatd.^ Cunodonum seasUifollum. 



There are also a number of paludial species with xerophile adapta- 

 tions; that is, they are provided with strong, deeply embedded root- 

 stocks to retain the needed supply of moisture during periods of hot 

 and dry weather, and Avith rigid l(>aves of greatly reduced surface to 

 prevent excessive transpiration. Among such plants may be men- 

 tioned species of Xyris and round rushes. In exposed shallow pools 

 and ditches Sagittarias {Sai/itta/'ia chajMicmi, S. ci/dojjfc/'d) having 

 rigid scapes and narrow stiff leaves are most frequent, the latter fre- 

 quently reduced to narrow phyllodia. On the base of the pine-clad 

 ridges ])ordering the flats ILdnnuirhi, cristata and Pxoralea siitvplex are 

 not infrequenth?^ observed, the spindle-shaped or top-shaped roots of 

 the latter deeply ))uried in the sand, where it is constantly moistened 

 by springs. 



In many localities the decliviticN of the table-lands are perpetually 

 wet with the water which oozes from the porous silicious strata imme- 

 diately overlying the imper\ious clay, and the depressions inclosed 

 by them are frequently covered with a dense carpet of peat mosses, 

 interwoven with the long flliform ihizomes of beak rushes, spike 

 rushes, and one nut rush, the foUow'ing being species: 



Sphagnum macrophyUum. Rynchospora rarifJora. 



Sphagnum imbricatum cristulum.^ RynrhosjMra oligantha. 



Sphagnum recurvum} Eleocharls ancularis.^ 



RynchoHporajntsilla. E/eocharis tuberculosa ^ 



Rynchospora plumosa. Scleria caroUniana. 



' Found also in Carolinian area. 



