NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



453 



ottii), pond cypress (Taxodium im- 

 bricarium), loblolly pine, black gum, 

 red oak, magnolia, sweet gum, poplar, 

 shortleaf pine, spruce pine, cypress 

 (Taxodium distichum) . 



Longleaf pine originally made up at 

 least half of the forest; with it were 

 several other pines, cypress, oaks, ever- 

 green magnolia, sweet gum and tulip 

 poplar. As an understory are a large 

 number of smaller trees, of which 

 yaupon (Ilex myrtifolia) and may haw 

 (Crataegus aestivalis) are most charac- 

 teristic. Shrubs and vines are impor- 

 tant; wire grass (Aristida stricta) is the 

 most abundant grass. 



16. The southern pine hills (10% 

 virgin), or rolling wire grass country as 

 it is often called in Georgia, is a most 

 interesting region, extending with some 

 interruptions from eastern Georgia to 

 Louisiana. Its topography is flat to 

 moderately hilly. Nearly all the 

 streams are bordered by swamps five 

 to ten times the width of the channel, 

 and there are a fe,w shallow ponds. The 

 soils are decidedly non-calcareous, 

 sandy, and below the average in fer- 

 tility. 



The longleaf pine originally made up 

 about two-thirds of the forest. With it 

 were about the same species of trees 

 and shrubs and herbs as in the lime 

 sink region. 



Herbs: Aristida stricta (wire grass), 

 Eriogonum tomentosum, Eriocaulon de- 

 cangulare, Sarracenia Drummondii 

 (pitcher-plant), Rhexia Alifanus, Eupa- 

 torium rotundifolium, Sarrancenia flava 

 (pitcher-plant), Pitcheria, Campulosus 

 Kuhnistera pinnata, Pteris aquilina, and 

 hundreds of others. 



Among the plants especially charac- 

 teristic of this region are Chamaecyparis, 

 Myrica inodora, and Cliftonia. 



The greater part of the delta is too wet 

 to cultivate and too near sea level to 

 be drained, so that farming is restricted 

 to its edges and upper portions. Much 

 of the cypress and some of the other 

 trees have been removed by lumbermen, 

 but the forests are so dense and the trees 

 grow so rapidly that they are hardly 

 missed. 



The upper part of the delta merges 

 gradually into ordinary alluvial swamps, 

 and its most characteristic vegetation 

 is at the lower end, where the following 

 trees prevail: 



Black gum (Nyssa biflora) sweet bay, 

 cypress (faxodium distichum), sweet 

 gum, red maple, tupelo gum, ash, black 

 willow and swamp cottonwood (Populus 

 heterophylla) . Buttonbush (Cephalan- 

 thus), wax myrtle, bamboo vine, dwarf 

 palmetto, mistletoe, itea, and pepper 



vine (Ampelopsis arbor ea), are common 

 shrubs and vines. 



There are comparatively few herbs in 

 the swamps proper, but more in the open 

 marshes. The black gum grows larger 

 and more abundantly here than almost 

 anywhere else in Alabama. Populus 

 heterophylla is practically confined to 

 this region as far as Alabama is con- 

 cerned, but it occurs also in similar 

 situations at the mouth of the Apala- 

 chicola River. 



These swamps are refuges for certain 

 large animals, such as the bear and 

 alligator. They can be reached in a 

 few miles from any railroad station 

 between Jackson and Mobile, but proba- 

 bly more satisfactorily by hiring a 

 launch at Mobile. 



17. The Gulf coast strip includes the 

 islands, dunes, marshes and shell mounds 

 bordering the Gulf of Mexico and other 

 bodies of salt water connected with it. 

 On account of the copious warm sum- 

 mer rains the sand of the dunes is 

 pretty thoroughly leached, and it 

 appears almost as white as snow in 

 many places. Nearly all the woody 

 plants are evergreen. 



There are practically all gradations 

 between trees and shrubs, so that the 

 following size grouping is somewhat 

 arbitrary. 



Larger trees: Slash pine, loblolly 

 pine, longleaf pine, black gum, live oak 

 (Quercus virginiana), magnolia, sand 

 pine (Pinus clausa), red cedar, hickory, 

 water oak, sweet gum. 



Smaller trees: Live oak (Quercus 

 geminata), black jack oak, turkey oak, 

 Cliftonis (tyty), dogwood, holly. 



Shrubs and vines : Yaupon, Ilex vomi- 

 toria, Myrica cerifera (Quercus myrti- 

 folia), saw-palmetto (Serenoa serrulata), 

 sparkleberry (Batodendron) , French 

 mulberry (Callicarpa), Chrysoma pauci- 

 flosculosa, bamboo vine, (Smilax auri- 

 culata) rosemary (Ceratiola), Conradina 

 canescens. 



Herbs: Juncus Roemerianus, sawgrass 

 (Cladium effusum), Spanish moss, Pit- 

 cheria, Sagittaria lancifolia, Syngonan- 

 thus, and over 100 others. 



This region is interesting on account 

 of the large amount of peculiar and 

 almost undisturbed vegetation, and 

 shrubs belonging to families that are 

 mostly herbaceous, or else sparingly 

 represented in the interior, such as 

 Polygonella sp., Ceratiola, Clinopodium 

 coccineum, Conradina, Chrysoma, Bac- 

 charis, Iva and Borrichia. But it has 

 no railroads and is rather inaccessible. 

 It is best reached by hiring launches at 

 Bayou la Batre, Mobile, or Pensacola. 



The fish and oysters of the adjacent 



