1923] PALMER, THE RED RIVER FOREST AT FULTON, ARKANSAS 17 



Lyonia ligustrina DC, Vaccinium corymbosum L., Rhododendron oblongi- 

 folium Millais, and Styrax americana Lam. The Small Cane (Arundinaria 

 macrosperma Michx.) and the Palmetto (Sabal minor Pers.) are also found 

 here. Amongst woody climbers are Wisteria macrostachya Nutt., Smilax 

 laurifolia L., S. lanceolata L. and Vitis palmata Vahl. A number of trees 

 are found but they are scarcely so characteristic as the shrubs, since most 

 of them occur also in the low swampy woods of the river bottoms. Taxod- 

 ium distichum Rich., Planera aquatica J. F. Gmel., Carpinus caroliniana 

 Walt., Betula nigra Marsh., Salix nigra Marsh., Liquidambar Styraciflua 

 L., Acer rubrum var. Drummondii Sarg. and Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. 

 lanceolata Sarg. are amongst the commonest species. Rank growths of 

 the Cinnamon and Flowering Ferns, Woodwardia areolaia Moore, Asple- 

 nium Filix-femina Bernh. and several others, besides Orchids, Sundews 

 and other rare and interesting small plants flourish in such situations. 

 These spring-fed bogs in turn are the sources of or tributary to small 

 creeks, the shady but well-drained bottom lands of which support a varied 

 forest flora. In addition to many of the species mentioned previously as 

 occurring in the bogs and low woods, several appear to be most at home 

 in such locations. Amongst these are Aralia spinosa L., Benzoin aestivale 

 Nees, Symplocos tinctoria L'Her., Acer floridanum Pax, Tilia caroliniana 

 Mill., T. caroliniana var. rhoophila Sarg., Ilex opaca Ait., and Vitis 

 rotundifolia Michx. 



As the soil of these little valleys is of high fertility, at least for a few 

 seasons after it has been cleared for agriculture, but few examples of this 

 composition of the forest remain. Indeed throughout the whole region 

 about Fulton the work of clearing and destroying the forest is going on 

 with great rapidity, and in the portions that remain most of the finest speci- 

 mens of trees valuable for lumber have been culled out. Within the last 

 few years many of the small swamps and bogs have been drained and 

 through the construction of levees and ditches a great deal of bottom land 

 has been added to the cultivated area. From one to three saw logs are 

 usually obtained from the largest trees of Pine, Cypress or Oak, and the 

 remainder is left to decay where felled. When the land is to be brought 

 into cultivation the general practice is to clear out the smaller growth and 

 dispose of this and the dead tree tops by fire, to then deaden the remaining 

 large trees and leave them to slow decay while crops are laboriously culti- 

 vated amongst them. Even more distressing to the forest lover and the 

 botanist is the sight of the wholesale destruction of Ash and Hickory on the 

 uplands in search for 'handle material, the trees often yielding only one 

 or two short cuts suitable for this purpose, or to see such interesting trees 

 as Quercus Durandii or Q. arkansana felled to obtain a single railroad tie. 

 Much of the uplands that are now being cleared are also of very slight 

 value for agricultural purposes, some of them being too sterile and ill 

 drained and others in the sand hill section being subject to rapid destructive 

 erosion as soon as the protecting forest cover has been removed. 



