HARPER: VEGETATION OF THE PINUS TAEDA BELT 47 
of several kinds, are of frequent occurrence. There is a little 
hammock vegetation near some of the streams. 
Owing chiefly to the general flatness of the country it is very 
difficult to draw a sharp line between different habitats or even 
between upland and lowland vegetation. There are many places 
where such ‘‘xerophytes” as Pinus palustris, Quercus marylandica 
and Aristida stricta grow within a few feet of moist-pine-barren 
plants like Eupatorium rotundifolium, Chondrophora nudata and 
Habenaria ciliaris, apparently in the same soil and with almost 
exactly the same amount of moisture. The activities of farmers 
and lumbermen during the last two centuries have complicated 
matters still further. About 30 per cent. of the area is now under 
cultivation, and therefore devoid of natural vegetation, consider- 
able areas are occupied only by weeds, and the remaining forests 
have been robbed of their largest trees. For these reasons, and 
also because the superficiality of my observations does not warrant 
attempting such details, the vegetation is studied collectively, 
without separating the habitats. The frequency of fire has not 
been specially investigated, but it is doubtless less than in typical 
pine-barrens. At the present time fire is probably less frequent in 
any one spot than it was a century ago, on account of the nu- 
merous fields, roads, etc., that serve as barriers. 
Summary of field work. The plant census below is made up 
from notes taken on several trips between New York and the 
states beyond the Savannah River, as follows. The arrangement 
is chronological, and references to places where some of the 
trips have been written up are given in parentheses. 
June 11, 1903. Suffolk, Va., to Weldon, N. C., by the Seaboard Air Line. 
(Torreya 3: 121-123. Aug. 1903 
Nov. 17, 1905. Laurel Hill to upwines N. C., by the Seaboard Air Line, and 
back on foot as far as Laurinburg. (Torreya 6: 41-45. March, 1906. 
July 25, 1906. Savannah River (a few ae below Augusta) to Allendale, S. C., 
by the Charleston & Western Carolina Ry. (Bull. Torrey Club 34: 351-377; 37: 411. 
The first reference also applies to the other 1906 dates below. 
July 26, 1906. Ashley Junction to Florence, S. C., by the Atlantic Coast Line. 
July 27, 1906. Florence, S. C., to Lake Waccamaw, N. C., by the Atlantic 
Coast Line. 
July 28, 1906. Wallace (about 35 miles north of Wilmington) to Rocky Mount, 
NeGs “a Suffolk, Va., by the Atlantic Coast Line. 
, 1906. Suffolk to Petersburg, Va., by the Norfolk & Western Ry. 
(about 47 Vides an hour). 
