19*41 PALMER, THE LIGNEOUS FLORA OF RICH MOUNTAIN 133 



Mountain, Arkansas. It may 

 higher mountains. 



distributed 



ornamental 



in the early history of the western lands settled by people from its center 

 of distribution, and since it, like them, was of hardy and prolific stock, it 

 took readily to the country and became widely naturalized. It has been said 

 that the early Kentucky pioneer, when he started to seek a new home in the 

 west, filled one pocket with buck shot and the other with seeds of the Black 

 Locust; and wherever he settled it soon appeared. As to the other commod- 

 ity, it may, like the dragon teeth of the fable, have gone out as allies to 

 the hunters and woodsmen, aiding them to conquer the country which their 

 descendants still dominate. However, to get back to our subject, this 

 tree grows so abundantly on these mountains, in situations so remote 

 from settlements, and where the flora is so uncontaminated, that there 

 can be no doubt of its being indigenous here, and over a large part of the 



southern Ozark region. 



Lonicera flava is also found rather frequently in the rougher parts of 

 the Ozarks. But it evidently belongs in this association, ranging, as it 

 does, from the mountains of North Carolina, through Tennessee and Ken- 

 tucky. Dirca palustris is the most northern in its general distribution of 

 any of the woody species found here. It grows from New Brunswick to 



States 



Mississipp 



Missouri 



few isolated stations as far west as the James River in Stone County. 

 Near Eureka Springs, in northwestern Arkansas, it is sufficiently abundant 



Leatherwood 



And it 



Mountain 



Muskogee, Oklahoma. Rhododendron roseum has a similar range eastward, 

 but has been found in Missouri only in the St. Francois Mountain section 

 of the southeastern part of the state. It also occurs at one or two localities 



in southwestern Illinois. 



Halesia monticola var. vestita is perhaps the most interesting, as it is 



restricted 



tain area. 



Halesia 



from Virginia and Florida to Kentucky and southern Illinois. The species 

 found here has a similar though more restricted range, and is distinctly 

 a tree of the mountains. It has previously been found at only one other 

 locality west of the Mississippi River : along the Little Red River, in Cle- 

 burn County, Arkansas. It may be expected, however, to turn up in inter- 

 vening stations. 



It will be noted that the forest flora of this area is made up for the 

 most part of species common in the Coastal plain to the south, as is the 

 case over the entire Ozark region. The presence in these isolated and 

 protected situations of a number of species having their center of distri- 



