1M41 PALMER. THE LIGNEOUS FLORA OF RICH MOUNTAIN 1S1 



OLEACEAE 



Fraxinus americana L. The White As] 

 and on the north slopes of the mountains. 



attains 



its largest size. It probably also occurs less frequently at all levels. 



TViic ottrA.rt.iv a shrub or small tree, known 



Chionanthus virginica L. 



Man 



:ky 



Mountain 



VERBENACEAE 



CaUicarpa americana L. This shrub, sometimes called French Mul 

 ry, grows in the valley, and is usually found in rocky ground alonj 



the margins of the creek. 



ornamental 



autumn on account of its large axillary clusters of purplish-red fruit. 



RUBIACEAE 



Cephalanthus 



called 



this section, the Button Willow, is found rarely along the margins of Big 



Creek 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE 



ifidulum 



Raf. This southern species of Black Haw grows 

 rather sparingly' in thickets and open woods in the valley and on top of 

 the mountains. It sometimes becomes a small tree 5 or 6 meters in height. 



Sympkoricarpos orbiculatus Moench. This little shrub, known through- 

 out this section as Buck-brush, is found in thickets and open rocky ground 

 in the valley and on the mountain tops, but it is not common. 



Since the area we are considering embraces only a single mountain 

 valley, a few miles in length, and its enclosing ridges, the flora is naturally 

 not a representative one for the entire sub-region, but only of certain 

 phases of it. The most noticeable deficiencies in the list of trees and shrubs 

 given above are the distinctly lowland and aquatic species, such as the 

 Bald Cypress, Swamp Hickory, Water Oak, Bur Oak, Overcup Oak, 

 Planer-tree, Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia) , Swamp Honey-locust, Pecan, 

 Small Cain, Green Haw, (Crataegus viridis), White-wood {Forestiera 

 acuminata) and Green Ash, all of which are abundant in the alluvial flood 

 plains and swamps of the Arkansas River, fifty or sixty miles to the north, 

 and most of them found much nearer, along small streams, including the 

 Ouachita, and branches of the Poteau and Little River, all having their 

 sources in these highlands. To anyone familiar with the flora of the more 

 typical portions of the Ozark region, and especially the plateau section, 

 the comparative paucity of the prairie flora in the glades and openings, or 

 at least the absence of the peculiar isolated relic colonies and species so 

 abundant northward, will be apparent. This is the more obvious on 



