NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



485 



in Hancock County, forming a part 

 of a low range of hills standing out 

 conspicuously from the surrounding 

 country, an immense glacial moraine, 

 the Altamont. 



Knob 300 ft. above the valley of 

 Lime Creek. 



A small glacial lake near the top of 

 the knob, Dead Man's lake with rare 

 Brasenia. 



Trees like the basswood, pignut 

 hickory, black and green ash, bur oak, 

 cottonwood, slippery and white elm, 

 quaking aspen. Of shrubs hazel, wild 

 grape, cornel. 



Altitude 1500 ft. 



Forest City 8 mi. west, M. & St. L. 

 Ry. C. R. I. & P. Ry. 



Garner 8 mi. south, C. M. & St. P. 

 Ry. C. R. I. & P. Ry. 



3. MISSOURI 

 BY A. C. BURRILL 



I. GENERAL FEATURES AND ORIGINAL 

 BIOTA 



The State is divisible into three 

 distinct regions, (a) the northwestern 

 upland plain or prairie region, (b) the 

 Missouri portion of the Ozark uplift, 

 and (c) the southeast lowlands, some 

 20 mi. wide and with an area of over 

 1000 sq. mi., part of an old flood plain 

 of the Mississippi River and made up of 

 alluvial deposits. 



a. The prairie region embraces most 

 of the state north of the Missouri River 

 known as Northern Missouri, and a 

 large tongue south of the river on the 

 west side. This was originally covered 

 with rolling plains of mesophytic prai- 

 rie, with deciduous trees in groves along 

 the countless ''branches," creeks and 

 rivers. The large streams have wide 

 valleys, two to 10 mi. in breadth, which 

 were originally occupied by rich flood 

 plain forest. The valleys are cut 

 through thick limestone and sandstone 

 in the Missouri River section, and are 

 steepest where the Burlington limestone 

 outcrops from Clark County in the 

 northeast, south to Lincoln and western 



St. Charles counties on the Missouri 

 River and then west to Cooper County 

 forming the Missouri River bluffs, then 

 southwest to Polk and Cedar, where it 

 divides southeastward to Taney County 

 and southwest to Jasper and McDonald 

 Counties. 



This region originally supported the 

 bison (Bison bison), elk (Cervlts cana- 

 densis), Virginia and mule deer (Odocoil- 

 eus virginianus and 0. hemionus), wolf 

 (Cam's sp.), coyote (Cam's latrans), 

 prairie chicken, and other species char- 

 acteristic of such regions in the Missis- 

 sippi Valley. 



6. The Ozark region crosses the 

 Missouri northward at the center of the 

 state and again crosses into Illinois 

 below St. Louis in the Cape Girardeau 

 County region. It is characterized by 

 broad smooth valleys, well degraded 

 hills with smooth summits and rough, 

 tree-clad slopes, sharp deep canyons 

 occasionally and rocky knobs in spots. 

 Few localities have an elevation exceed- 

 ing 1400 ft., but abound in water power, 

 rapid mountain streams, rivers and 

 springs clear to the south border, "The 

 Shepherd of the Hills" country. The 

 greater part of the Ozark region was 

 originally forested with oak, hickory, 

 cherry, tupelo black gum, red cedar, 

 walnut, and shortleaf pine; little sugar 

 maple. 



Here the black bear (Ursus ameri- 

 canws), bison, Virginia and mule deer, 

 opossum (Didelphis virginiana), raccoon 

 (Procyon lotor), woodchuck (Marmota 

 monax), red fox (Vulpes fulva), gray 

 squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), fox squir- 

 rel (Sciurus niger rufiventer), wolf, and 

 wild turkey were once common. 



c. The southeast lowlands were once 

 wooded, chiefly, with cottonwood (Popu- 

 lus deltoides), oak, soft maple (Acer 

 saccharinum) , cypress (Taxodium dis- 

 tichum), tupelo gum (Nyssa sylvatica) 

 and red or sweet gum (Liquidambar 

 styraciflua). These trees are fast dis- 

 appearing. Here, also were magnolia 

 (M. virginiana), tulip tree (Liriodendron 

 tulipifera), persimmon (Diospyros vir- 

 giniana), sassafras (S. variifolium), and 



