118 PLANT LIFE t»K ALA15AMA. 



NvatiM's of Pcrdido ;iii<l Ksc:iml)i:i rivers, ;m(l is tlicic in t'liil pcrfoction. 

 This (rcr Mttaiii^ :i liciLilit of from so to Itofcct. willi an average diame- 

 ter of from hi to is inelies; trees oxer 1^4 inches in diameter are raicly 

 seen. Beiii^i" niiieh soiioht tor on account of the \ aiiie of the timber, 

 sound trees are at present ficiiueiit ordy in I'emote i<icalities difficult 

 of access. Amonji" tiie tices of suiaUer size and the variety of shruhs 

 forminn" the dense undergrowth of these forests the evergreens also 

 predominate, of which the following sp<'cies are exampleis: 



Cliftonia nwuiipIii/Ua. Myriat cerifeni.^ 



Ci/rllla r((rniiltlora. Myrica inodora. 



Ilex myrt'ifoJhi. KuhnUi kttiJolUt} 



Ilex lucUUi. Illichun florkhmum. 

 Ilex glabra. 



Prominent by reason of their a))undance and their showy flowers are 

 PU-ris nitida and Leucothue a.L'illitrls with Oxydeudruin. arhorcum^ all 

 of the heath family; besides which may be mentioned: 



BtUneria {Calycanthus) florkla. Viburnum nudum (opossum liaw). 



Clethra alnifoUa. Viburnum nitidum (opossum haw) . 



Mohrodendron {Ilalemi) dipterum (silver Viburnum molle (opossum liaw) . 

 bells) . Styrax jmlverulenta (storax bush) . 



Mesqphile herbaceoiLS plant associations. — The herbaceous plant asso- 

 ciations in these raesophile woods are identical with those of the same 

 character prevailing in the upper division of the coast pine belt. 

 Frequent among them is 2[aci'antJtera fuchsioides^ conspicuous on 

 account of its profusion of large racemes of scarlet flowers, a coarse 

 biennial extending from western Georgia and eastern Florida into this 

 State and to the northern limit of the Louisianian area. 



REGION OI' TIIE COAST PLAIN OR LOW FLAT PINE HARRENS. 



Physiographical features. — On their descent to the coast plain the 

 rolling p'ne uplands disappear under the silt of sandy loams or merge 

 impercepti1)ly into the coast sands and the most recent lacustrine for- 

 mations which line the shore. The sandv loams form the second ter- 

 race of the lowlands of the coast, rising to a height of from 10 to 30 

 feet above the low flood plains and river l>ottoms, which are subject 

 to occasional oxerflow. 



MesopJdle forests. — Open forests of long-leaf pine sparsely inter- 

 spersed with Cuban pin(> and loblolly pine once covered the plain. 

 After the removal of the original tim])er growth the long-leaf pine 

 was to a large extent superseded ))y the Cuban pine, groves of which 

 in every stage of development occupy the clearings. Upon these 

 clearings, made scarcely two-thirds of a century ago, Cuban pine has 

 alread}' attained the dimensions of useful timVjer, the trees averaging 

 from 18 to 21: inches in diameter, with a height of from 85 to 100 feet. 

 A number of trees felled upon one of these old clearings in the 



' Found also in Carolinian area. 



