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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



as known, is menaced in the same 

 manner. 



8. The central shortleaf pine belt is the 

 innermost division of the coastal plain. 

 It is characterized by noncalcareous 

 clayey and sandy strata of Cretaceous 

 age, moderately hilly topography, with 

 more swamp than in any of the highland 

 regions, and soils classed as fine sandy 

 loam, sandy loam and gravelly sandy 

 loam. Lumbering operations near all 

 the railroads and numerous logging 

 roads have considerably reduced the 

 stand of the various pines. 



There is a considerable variety of 

 trees, but most of them are of common 

 and widely distributed species, such as: 

 loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, longleaf 

 pine, sweetgum, tulip poplar, beech, red 

 maple, white oak, water oak, red oak, 

 post oak, black-jack oak, black gum, 

 swamp chestnut oak (Quercus Mich- 

 auxii), laurel oak, sweet bay, (some- 

 times a large tree) black willow, dog- 

 wood, holly and Magnolia macrophylla. 



There is not much of botanical in- 

 terest in this region, except to one 

 approaching it from farther inland and 

 meeting such coastal plain types as 

 cypress, dwarf palmetto (Sabal glabra), 

 Myrica cerifera and Planera for the first 

 time. 



9. The central longleaf pine hills are 

 almost surrounded by the shortleaf 

 pine belt, and might be regarded as an 

 extreme phase of it, with rougher 

 topography and poorer soils. Many of 

 the hills are capped with ferruginous 

 sandstone and their slopes strewn with 

 quartz pebbles. The prevailing soil 

 types are sandy loam, gravelly sandy 

 loam, gravelly loam, loamy sand, and 

 fine sandy loam. 



Probably not one-tenth of the area is 

 cultivated, but the longleaf pine, which 

 originally made up something like half 

 the forest, has been pretty thoroughly 

 exploited and some of it turpentined. 

 The trees are about as in the shortleaf 

 pine belt except that the longleaf pine is 

 most abundant, and there are more small 

 oaks (Q. Marylandica, Q.Catesbaei, Q. 

 Margaretta). 



The occurrence of chestnut oak so far 

 south is interesting, but more note- 

 worthy is the close resemblance of 

 some parts of this region to the southern 

 pine hills (region 16). In Chilton and 

 Autauga counties there are some sandy 

 bogs, many of them visible from the 

 Mobile & Ohio R. R., and easily exam- 

 ined in a half-day's walk between sta- 

 tions. These contain a number of 

 pine-barren bog plants. 



The "salamander," (Geomys tuza 

 mobilensis') , reaches practically its north- 



ern limit in this region. Its "hills' 1 

 are nearly always in evidence in the 

 central part of Autauga County. Sum- 

 mer is probably the best time to find 

 plants in bloom. 



10. The "black belt," or cane-brake 

 region as it is sometimes called, coin- 

 cides pretty closely with the area of 

 one of the Cretaceous formations, the 

 Selma Chalk. That is an argillaceous 

 limestone which weathers into very fer- 

 tile soil, but is covered in many places 

 with sand and clay of later age. The 

 topography is undulating, seldom hilly, 

 and small streams are comparatively 

 scarce, not because of any subterranean 

 drainage, but because the typical soil 

 is so impervious that water runs off soon 

 after a rain. Over half the soil is 

 classed as clay, and next in importance 

 are fine sandy loam and loam. As in 

 the northern part of the state, but un- 

 like most of the coastal plain, winter 

 and spring are the rainy seasons. 



The forests chiefly confined to the 

 sandy areas, river-banks, and creek- 

 bottoms. The commonest trees at the 

 present time are: 



Large trees: loblolly pine (mostly 

 eastward), sweet gum, post oak, short- 

 leaf pine, longleaf pine, red oak, hack- 

 berry, willow oak, red cedar, cottonwopd 

 (Populus deltoides), winged elm, white 

 ash, scaly-bark hickory, mockernut hick- 

 ory, sycamore, white oak, water oak, 

 beech, cypress, Taxodium distichum, 

 swamp chestnut oak. 



Small trees: black willow, dogwood, 

 black-jack oak, ironwood, mulberry, 

 redbud. 



The remnants of natural prairie are 

 small and scattered pretty well over 

 the region; they may be recognized by 

 the presence of such herbs as bluestem 

 (Andropogon furcatus) prairie clover 

 (Petalostemun purpureum), Polytaenia 

 Nuttallii, Asclepiodora viridis, Verbena 

 angustifolia, compass plant, (Silphium 

 laciniatum) , purple cone flower (Brau- 

 neria pallida), Aster oblongifolius , Rud- 

 beckia amplexicaulis, Lepachys pinnata 

 and Mesadenia tuberosa. Hay fields and 

 pastures often contain some of these 

 same species, together with others 

 known to have been introduced but 

 very characteristic of this region at 

 present, such as Johnson grass (Sorghum 

 Halepense), "primrose" (Hartmannia 

 speciosa}, (Monardacitriodora], andGail- 

 lardia pulchella. On bare chalk out- 

 crops there are many red cedars and 

 some interesting shrubs and herbs, such 

 as Arenaria patula, Rosa setigera, Ane- 

 mone decapetala, Rhamnus Carolinian a, 

 Cornus asperifolia, Houstonia angus i- 

 folia, Sabbatia angularis. 



