Harper : Some Alabama plants 529 



dry 



of dicotyledons now living. 



It now seems as if practically all the bog plants common to the 

 glaciated region and coastal plain can be found in at least a few 

 places in the older regions between, and perhaps they were all 

 once more widely distributed there, and are being gradually 

 crowded out into the newer regions by the climax vegetation.* 



OUERCUS LAURIFOLIA Michx. 



Until this year this too was known only from the coastal plain, 

 but during the spring I found it quite abundant along the Coosa 

 River in Chilton and Coosa counties, in the Metamorphic region, 

 also along streams at several places in the Coal Measures, particu- 



f 



larly in Bibb County around Blocton, in the upper (northeastern) 

 part of Tuscaloosa County, and in Walker County near Cordova, 

 Cedrom f and South Lowell. It is doubtless slowly retreating 

 from the highlands, like several other species mentioned in this 

 paper. To determine where it reached its maximum inland exten- 

 sion, and at what geological period, would be a most interesting 

 problem, but I can suggest no way of solving it at present. The 

 fact that at all the localities above mentioned, except those near 

 Cordova and Cedrom, Plnus pahistris is common on the neighbor- 

 ing hills, is perhaps worth remembering. 



In the coastal plain Querctis laurifolia is common in most of 

 the counties, but rather avoids the Cretaceous prairies and other 

 calcareous regions where climax vegetation prevails. Dr. Mohr's 

 remarks about this species and Q. Phellos on page 473 of his Plant 



Life show that he had the two species partly confused, for the 

 latter is one of the commonest trees in the prairie region, where 

 Q. laurifolia is almost unknown. The two trees are indeed diffi- 

 cult to distinguish in summer, but in winter and early spring (at 

 which seasons most of my observations on Alabama trees were 

 made) they are very distinct. 



* Some interesting suggestions along this line are found in Mr. Kearney's paper 

 in Science for Nov. 30, 1900, though he seeks the cause of the phenomena in changes 

 of climate, which must have played a relatively unimportant part, and moreover are 



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largely hypothetical. 



t A small station on the Frisco System, between Townley and Pocahontas. 



