NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



345 



White Sulphur Springs, or Dry Fork 

 Village, C. &. O. R. R., at north end of 

 mountain. C. L. Brooks. 



Ice Mountain. Ice Mountain on the 

 North Fork of Cacapon River, Hamp- 

 shire County, is an area of about 100 

 acres, extending from the east bank of 

 the river to the top of the mountain. 

 Here the mountain slope is covered with 

 a loose talus of sandstone boulders, 

 within which an immense quantity of 

 ice is formed each winter. Over a small 

 portion of this tract, at the foot of the 

 mountain, ice persists throughout the 

 summer. affecting the vegetation. 

 While the elevation is only 1000 ft. the 

 plants are such as are found in other 

 parts only at altitudes of 4000 ft. or 

 over, e.g., twin flower (Linnaea bcrealis). 

 dwarf cornel (Cornus canadensis) and 

 oak fern (Phegopteris dryopteris}. The 

 line of demarkation between the plants of 

 adjacent territory and those of the ice 

 area is distinctly visible, making a 

 study easy. 



The forest is composed chiefly of red 

 cedar, hemlock, oak, birch, chestnut, 

 and maple. In the forest are red and 

 gray fox, raccoon, opossum, red and 

 gray squirrels, chipmunk, Virginia deer 

 and black bear. The bird life is charac- 

 terized by the wild turkey, ruffed 

 grouse, turkey vulture, and a large num- 

 ber of song birds. 1000 ft. ; level. 



Cumberland, Md. 14 mi. east, B. & O. 

 R. R. to Green Spring, 40 mi. south, 

 branch line to Moorefield, W. Va. 30 

 mi. northeast (a) ; or Winchester, Va. 30 

 mi. west (a) improved and dirt roads to 

 Capon Bridge, W. Va.; 10 mi. west (a) 

 and (w). A. B. Brooks. 



Cranberry Glades. (Available.) The 

 southwestern portion of Pocahontas 

 County is a high mountainous region 

 originally covered with mountain conif- 

 erous forests and deciduous forests 

 where game of many kinds was plentiful. 

 A large portion of this tract has now 

 been greatly changed by fire and lumber- 

 ing. These forest areas are of great 

 importance for stabilization of stream 

 flow. 



Near the head of the Cranberry River, 

 on the southwestern border of the ter- 

 ritory mentioned, are the Cranberry 

 Glades. This swampy area consists of 

 one glade containing from 300 to 400 

 acres. This tract and its environs are 

 teeming with a variety of plant and 

 animal life. Among the former are 

 ground hemlock (Taxus canadensis}, 

 northern rattlesnake plantain (Epipactis 

 repens var. ophioides}, rose pogonia 

 (Pogonia ophioglossoides} , horned blad- 

 derwort (Utricularia cornuta), sphagum 



moss (Sphagnum girgensohnii) and cran- 

 berry (Vaccinium macrocarpon and V. 

 oxycoccos). Such animals as the masked 

 shrew (Sorex personatus], the smoky 

 shrew (Sorex fumerus), the red-backed 

 mouse (Evotomys gapperi), and the 

 yellow-checked meadow mouse (Microtus 

 chrotorrhinus) are found in and about the 

 glade. In the forest are Virginia deer, 

 black bear bob-cat (Lynx rufus}, red 

 and grav fox, raccoon, gray squirrel, and 

 red squirrel. The bird life during nesting 

 time is marvelous. Such species as the 

 alder flycatcher, olive sided flycatcher, 

 swamp sparrow are among those that 

 nest in the trees and shrubs and the 

 grasses and sedges of this glade, while 

 the cairn's warbler, mourning warbler, 

 mountain solitary vireo, olive backed 

 thrush, and other species have their 

 habitat in the surrounding forest. 

 Glade 3100 ft. Level with surrounding 

 mountains arising from 1000 to 1500 ft. 

 above it. 



Grafton, 59 mi. southeast, B. &. O. 

 and W. M. R. R. to Elkins, 95 mi. south, 

 W. M. and C. & O. R. R. to Seebert; 

 or Ronceverte, 40 mi. northeast, C. & 

 O. R. R. to Seebert, W- Va., 14 mi. west 

 to the Glades** 9 miles (a) or wagon, 

 remaining 5 mi. (h) or (w). A. B. 

 Brooks. 



Cranesville Swamp. (Available.) 

 This is an area of about 560 acres 

 near Cranesville, Preston County, on 

 the West Virginia-Maryland border. 

 Plants and animals that belong to the 

 northern flora and fauna are found here, 

 and the place is frequently visited by 

 naturalists. 



Originally this tract was covered with 

 mountain coniferous forest consisting 

 of red spruce, white pine, hemlock, and 

 tamarack. At present these trees are 

 to be found only here and there. The 

 deciduous forest growth contains such 

 trees as chestnut, mountain ash (Pyrus 

 americana}, oak, hard maple, and aspen. 

 In and about the swamp are found 

 gold thread (Coptis trifolia), dwarf 

 cornel (Cornus candensis), purple 

 fringed orchis (Habenaria fimbriata), 

 and two species of Cranberry (Vaccinium 

 macrocarpon and V. oxycoccos). Among 

 the animals are the snowshoe hare, 

 cottontail rabbit, gray squirrel, red 

 squirrel, raccoon, and red and gray fox. 

 The northern water thrush, veery, Cana- 

 dian warbler, Nashville warbler, and 

 great blue heron are among the birds 

 found in this locality. 2500 ft.; level. 



Terra Alta, 10 mi. north (a) over dirt 

 road to Cranesville, mi. southeast. 

 W. E. Rumsey. 



French Creek. A tract of about 1000 



