BOTANICAL SURA^EY— SUGAR GROVE REGION 273 



"Coves" which abound throughout the area. A cove (frontispiece), in 

 the lumberman's vernacular, is a short, steep ravine, surrounded bv high 

 hills or margined with ciifit's, within which the timber, though brittle, 

 is unusually tall, straight, and free from knots and wind checks. The 

 reason for this character of the timber is, of course, the struggle for 

 sunlight in which the trees on the bottom are placed at a disadvantage 

 as compared with their neighbors higher up on the slope. The condi- 

 tions for vegetation in these coves are highly favorable in respect to 

 both climatic and edaphic factors. The soil is for the most part a 

 loose, sandy loam, with considerable humus on the surface, but more 

 sandy below, in places becoming nothing but sand, which is dug by 

 the farmers and serves very well for domestic uses. 



In these coves there develops a luxuriant forest, richer in species 

 than any other association in our area. Like the hendoek forest, the 

 Liriodendron forest has suffered severely from the lumberman until 

 it is now dilBcult to find a good specimen for study. One of the best 

 is the "Crystal Springs" ravine at Sugar Grove, which has been used 

 as a summer resort for twenty years, during whicli time the timber has 

 not been disturbed, although the underbrush and herbage have been 

 more or less modified by the activities of picnickers and botanists. An- 

 other good cove is located about a half a mile north of Sugar Grove, 

 near the pumping station in section 4, Berne Twp. This one was lum- 

 bered a number of years ago. but has since lain undisturbed, and in its 

 herbage probably represents more normal conditions than the other. 

 Unfortunately it was swept by a fire during the winter of 1909-10, 

 which damaged it so much that it is no longer interesting to an ecologist. 

 The picture of the cove forest here drawn is largeh' a composite of the 

 conditions in these two ravines. 



The forest of these "coves" is so diversified that often no one tree 

 can be designated as the fascies, but all in all there is little question 

 but that the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is most characteristic. 

 Followdng it, roughly, in the order of abundance, are : 



Castanea cleniaia (especially on the higher slopes) 



Tsnga canade>isis (also most abimdant on the higher slopes) 



Juglans cinerea Quercus alba 



Fagus grandifoUa Quercus velutina 



Acer rubruyn Betula loita (on tlie steeper slopes) 



Nyssa sylvatica Morus rubra 



Hicoria orata 



The underbrush in places, especially on densely shaded slopes with 

 a northern exposure, consists of thickets of Bhododoidron maximum 



