Destruction and Deterioration 117 



After a fire has killed brushwood or a body of 

 standing timber the scene is one of dreary desola- 

 tion. The ground is thickly covered with gray 

 ashes or black cinders. Charred branches and 

 trunks, some of the latter still standing erect, 

 others strewing the ground in wild confusion, is all 

 that remains of the once green forest. But nature 

 does not long leave her nakedness uncovered. 

 Grasses and herbs of various kinds at once begin 

 to sprout, and it is a curious fact that few of the 

 varieties appearing on the burnt-over places are 

 identical with those growing on the floor of the 

 forest while it was still standing. The species 

 which appear on such burnt areas differ, of course, 

 very much according to the part of the country and 

 the nature of the locality. One would not expect 

 the same vegetation to cover the slashings in 

 Maine, in North Carolina, in Wisconsin, and on the 

 Pacific coast. But everywhere there are some 

 characteristic plants that mark the place where 

 the fire has been, and these plants have often been 

 popularly distinguished as fire-weeds. One of the 

 most widely spread is a tall plant with showy, pur- 

 ple flowers, called Epilobium angustifolium by the 

 scientists. When it is in blossom it imparts a great 

 splendor of color to the tracts it covers in large 

 masses. The little red cherry shrub known as 

 Prumis pennsylvanica is called fire cherry in Wis- 

 consin, and probably elsewhere, because it is always 

 found on burnt tracts. Blackberries and rasp- 

 berries are apt to follow the fire. In the meantime, 



