NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



447 



Soil surveys of most of the counties have 

 been published by the United States 

 Bureau of Soils. The United States Geo- 

 logical Survey has published topographic 

 maps of most parts of Alabama north of 

 Montgomery and east of Tuscaloosa 

 (including all the mountains), and some 

 of the later ones indicate woodland 

 by green overprint. 



Before listing the dominant plants 

 of each region it will be worth while to 

 point out a few species that are more 

 abundant in Alabama than elsewhere, 

 including a few that are endemic or 

 nearly so: 



Small trees: Magnolia macrophylla. 



Shrubs : Illicium Floridanum, Hydran- 

 gea quercifolia, Neviusia Alabamensis, 

 Croton Alabamensis, Aesculus parvi flora, 



Herbs: Trichomanes Petersii, Luziola 

 Alabamensis, Car ex picta, harper ella 

 fluviatilis, Hymenocallis coronaria, Hex- 

 aslylis speciosa. 



The dominant plants will be divided 

 into large trees (a foot or more in diam- 

 eter), small trees, shrubs and woody 

 vines, and (vascular) herbs, and ar- 

 ranged as nearly as possible in order of 

 abundance. All bryophytes and thal- 

 lophytes are omitted. In the case of 

 genera represented by only one species 

 in the eastern United States the specific 

 name is usually omitted. 



1. The barrens or Highland Rim* is 

 chiefly north of the Tennessee River, 

 and is more extensive in Tennessee. It 

 is a comparatively level region, except 

 in the vicinity of streams, some of which 

 have cut rather deep and narrow valleys. 

 The soil is mainly a grayish or yellowish 

 silt loam of medium fertility, with 

 angular chert fragments scattered 



4 The much discussed Muscle Shoals is near the 

 southern edge of this region. There are rocky shoals 

 on the Tennessee River most of the way from 

 Decatur to Florence, but the principal portion is in 

 Lauderdale County, where the river drops 85 ft. in 

 15 mi. and is about 1 mi. wide and was dotted with 

 wooded islets. The place was doubtless named 

 originally about 100 years ago from the abundance 

 of mussel shells (and the obsolete spelling "muscle" 

 is still used for the shoals by most people), which 

 have been collected there by various conchologists, 

 who however seem to have published no special 

 account of the place. The vegetation has never 

 been studied, and the opportunities for doing so 

 were destroyed by the completion of the Wilson 

 Dam in 1924. Florence and Sheffield, cities of 

 several thousand inhabitants, are close to foot of 

 ihoals on opposite sj^es of river, 



through it. The upland forests are 

 rather monotonous and uninteresting, 

 and made up of widely distributed 

 species. A few herbs more charac- 

 teristic of the coastal plain, such as Eri- 

 anthus strictus, Rynchospora corniculata, 

 Cyperus pseudovegetus, Carex glauces- 

 cens, Juncus scirpoides, Eryngium pros- 

 tratum and Hydrocotyle verticillata, are 

 found in shallow ponds north of Athens, 

 where the pines are most abundant. 

 Near streams, especially on bluffs of 

 flinty limestone, there is a much greater 

 variety, and some very interesting 

 plants, including a large number of 

 spring flowers. A few woody plants 

 chiefly confined to the coastal plain, 

 such as bald cypress (Taxodium dis- 

 tichum), planertree (Planera aquatica), 

 Brunnichia, and swamp privet (Adelia 

 acuminata), extend up the Tennessee 

 River a little way into this region. 



The commonest trees are : Large trees : 

 Red oak (Quercus falcatd) } white oak 

 (Q. alba}, loblolly pine (Pinus Taeda), 

 sweet gum (Liquidambar), beech 

 (Fagus), tulip poplar (Liriodendron) , 

 post oak (Quercus stellata), hickory 

 (Cory a alba), red cedar (Juniperus 

 virginiana), shortleaf pine (Pinus 

 echinata), chestnut (Castanea dentata), 

 black gum (Nyssa sylvatica). 



Small trees: Dogwood (Cornus flor- 

 ida), black willow (Salix nigra), iron- 

 wood (Carpinus caroliniana) . 



Tri Cities Park. A few hundred acres 

 on the south side of the Tennessee River 

 is still in excellent condition except for 

 having a few squatters' cabins near its 

 edges, and is a very good example of 

 the original forest. East of Sheffield. 



2. The Tennessee Valley proper lies 

 on both sides of the river, and is charac- 

 terized in its low and level portions by 

 fertile red clayey soils derived from 

 limestone. At the southern and eastern 

 borders of the valley, where it passes 

 into the plateau region, the slopes are 

 composed of nearly pure hard limestone, 

 with very little soil. There are several 

 limestone springs and caves, with more 

 or less interesting fauna. The most 

 noted cave, to zoologists, is Nickajack, 

 at the northeastern corner of the state. 

 (Its entrance is in Tennessee.) 



The level red valley lands are mostly 

 under cultivation and have been for a 

 long time, and the present forests in the 

 lowlands are chiefly confined to the 

 poorer and wetter spots. Little Moun- 

 tain, a sandstone outcrop, and the rough 

 limestone slopes are pretty well wooded, 

 though the best timber, especially red 

 cedar, has been cut out. The following 

 list of trees covers both the red lands 



