THE CONIFEROUS FORESTS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. I 93 



region and in the coastal plain and nowhere else. It ranges 

 from New Hampshire to Mississippi, but is not known more 

 than 200 miles inland, or south-east of a straight line drawn from 

 Charleston to Apalachicola (which excludes most of Florida) ; 

 and there are several large gaps in its range. It usually grows 

 in dense colonies of several hundred trees or more, much like the 

 spruces farther north. 



It is strictly a swamp tree, growing naturally only in per- 

 manently saturated soil, or peat. The water of these swamps is 

 exceptionally free from mud, lime (perhaps also sulphur) and 

 other mineral substances, but is usually coloured dark brown by 

 vegetable matter. Cities as far apart as Brooklyn, N.Y., and 

 Mobile, Ala., get part of their water supply from streams in 

 which Chamcecyparis grows ; and the water of Dismal Swamp — 

 one of the best-known localities for this species — used to be 

 preferred for drinking purposes on ships sailing from Norfolk on 

 long voyages. The manufacture of paper is an industry which 

 seems to require good water in large quantities, and the only 

 paper mills in the coastal plain known to the writer (viz., at 

 Hartsville, S.C., and Moss Point, Miss.) have juniper growing in 

 their immediate vicinity. 



The relations of this species to fire have been little studied, 

 but w^hat evidence there is seems to indicate that they are much 

 the same as in the case of the boreal forests already described. 



The wood is very durable, and therefore used largely for poles, 

 shingles, woodenware, etc., but it is not separated from that of 

 arbor-vitae and red cedar in the latest census returns. 



The Scrub Pine {Finus Vi'rginiana), also known as Jersey 

 pine, spruce pine, nigger pine, cliff pine, etc., bears considerable 

 resemblance to the jack pine previously mentioned, but does not 

 grow within 200 miles of it. It ranges from just south of the 

 terminal moraine in New York and Indiana to central Alabama, 

 nearly always forming dense groves or thickets with little 

 admixture of other trees. It is common in the coastal plain of 

 Virginia north of the James River, but farther south seems to 

 be confined to the highlands. In Alabama its distribution is 

 approximately co-extensive with the coal region, where it is a 

 familiar feature of the landscape. It grows in rather dry, poor, 

 often rocky, soil, but not quite the poorest. In Maryland and 

 Virginia it is very common in abandoned fields, but towards its 

 southern limits it prefers steep rocky bluffs. 



