90 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA. 



Hydrocotyle Bonarien- 



sis Bay shores . 



Osmunda regalis (A fern) -.Swampy spots. 



Saururus cernuus -Swampy spots. 



Elephantopus tomento- 



sus _ Hammocks. 



Cenchrus tribuloides Sand-spur _ Bay shores. 



Polypodium polypodi- 



oides .. (A fern) _ .. ....On trees in hammocks. 



Opuntia Pes-Corvi .Prickly pear _ Stationary dunes. 



Actinospermum angus- 



tifolium _ _ Stationary dunes. 



Rhynchospora dodecan- 



dra (A sedge) Sandy hammocks. 



Fimbristylis spadicea (A sedge) Dune hollows, etc. 



At least nine-tenths of the woody plants and most of 

 the herbs are evergreen, presumably because they cannot 

 get enough food from the sandy soil to make a complete new 

 set of leaves every year, as most plants in fertile soils do.* 

 The trees are mostly too small and crooked for lumber, 

 though a few of them from their very crookedness and 

 toughness find a limited use for boat knees, etc. Before the 

 days of iron ships the live oak was especially sought after 

 by shipbuilders. The grass furnishes a small amount of 

 forage for cattle, and some of the shrubs have flowers that 

 yield honey. 



POPULATION AND INDUSTRIES. 



There is no way of estimating the population with- 

 out an actual count, and even then one would encoun- 

 ter great difficulties in determining the boundaries of 

 the region and allowing for seasonal migrations. But it 

 can be safely asserted that the population is much den- 

 ser than that of the pine hills. Along the eastern shore 

 of Mobile Bay the number of houses probably averages at 

 least a dozen to the mile, and they are nearly as nu- 

 merous on some other parts of the coast. The amount of 

 agriculture is insignificant, and the principal occupations 

 of the people seem to be fishing and oystering and catering 

 to the wants of summer and winter visitors. There are 

 a few gardens in favorable spots, though, and small herds 

 of cattle graze on some of the islands. 



*Some might ascribe the large proportion of evergreens to the 

 mild winters; but evergreens are equally abundant in the far no'rth, 

 where the soil is frozen most of the year, and on sterile soils in all 

 climates. 



