22C JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM jvoL. n 



however, is peaceful enough at present, and attracts many summer 

 tourists, campers and fishermen, as well as more serious romancers; 

 and it is not unknown to the nature and folk-lore fakir and the promotors 

 of ficticious oilbooms, to say nothing of occasional naturalists or botanical 

 collectors who stray thither. 



There can be no doubt that the forests throughout the Ozark region 

 are at present encroaching rather rapidly upon the prairies and open 

 areas, including the bald knobs, and that if this natural process contimies 

 unchecked most of the latter are destined at no very distant day to be 

 completely engulfed and obliterated. Tradition and the testimony of 



early settlers and of some of the "oldest inhabitants" still living, agree 



that when this part of the country was first occupied by pioneers it was 

 nmch more open, witli a greater percentage of unforested lands, and that 

 many of the hills now partially covered with shrubs and trees were known 

 to them as barrens and balds. This rather vague evidence is, moreover, 

 sup[)orted to some extent by the accounts of early scientific travellers and 

 writers. Schoolcraft and Nuttall both visited the region, and in their 

 journals call attention to the open nature of the country and the scarcity 

 of timber upon the hills. I was also informed by Mr. C. A. Holman, 

 who s}>ent several years as a surveyor in the typical bald knob section in 

 connection with water power and other projects, that the early govern- 

 ment surveyors, who worked there in the early decades of the last century, 

 left frequent references and inferences in their field notes, which he had 

 occasion to consult and check, to the untimbcred nature of the country, 

 such as the absence of trees for corners and datum marks in localities 

 now covered with a typical forest growth. 



It is scarcely necessary in this brief article to give a full list of the 

 woody plants known in the Ozark region, but an analysis of more than 

 300 species, exclusive of the genus Crataegus, reveals the fact that about 

 ninety per cent of them are common forms of the Gulf coastal plain flora. 

 The remainder consists of a few endemic species and varieties, a few from 

 the southwest and a larger number with their range beyond the Ozark reg- 

 ion lying to the east and north of the coastal plain. Of the woody plants 

 pecuhar to the region none appear to be very distinct from similar forms 



found in the soutliern forest. The following are some of the most interest- 

 ing: 



Carya BucUeyi var. villosa Sarg. {Ilicor'ia villosa zVshe). A small 

 Hickory closely allied to Carya ovalis, but witli the under surface of the 



yomig 



It is often the 



commonest, and in places the only. Hickory found on dry, flinty hills. 



Q 



A variety of the Black Oak 



with the under surface of the leaves permanently stellate-i)ul)escent. 

 It is common in rocky upland woods in many parts of the Ozarks, and 

 sometimes becomes a large tree. 



IJamamells vernalis Sarg. Closely allied in foliage and flora charac- 

 ters to the eastern and southern 77. virgiidana, but strictly shrubby in 



