FOREST POLICY. 



beech, basswood, cherry, yellow poplar, white ash, cucumber, 

 chestnut and buckeye occur, frequently with a dense undergrowth 

 of rhododendron. 



On the south slopes, white, scarlet and chestnut oaks; 

 chestnut, locust and hickory prevail. Table mountain pine on 

 dry ridges. North Carolina hemlock on eastern slopes. Woods 

 virgin. 



(.3) Mountain summits (over 5,000 feet elevation). Black 

 spruce (Picea rubens) and balsam (Abies fraseri) cover the moun- 

 tain sides, protected from storms. Buckeye, beech and sweet 

 birch; further, mountain ash are mixed with the soft woods, the 

 two first named often in groups. 



The undergrowth is a tangle of laurels standing on a dense 

 matting of mosses. On the wind-swept side of the mountains 

 "balds" occur, fit only for pasture, covered with Ericaceae, dotted 

 with stunted red oaks, chestnuts and a locust here and there 



(b) Piedmont plateau. Uplands show an irregular mix- 

 ture of broad-leafed species (notably black oak) with pines 

 (echinata and taeda). On red sandstone a pure growth of taeda 

 and echinata is frequently found without admixture of hardwoods. 

 On fertile red clay (tobacco land), hardwoods (black, white and 

 red oak; white, shagbark and small nut hickory; yellow poplar; 

 white ash) occur without pines. The virgin forest is practically 

 removed. Along the large streams, sweet and black gum, over- 

 cup and swamp (cow) oak, sycamore and hackberry occur. Along 

 the smaller streams are found red and white oak, yellow poplar, 

 beech, maples and hop hornbeam. 



(c) Coastal plain. Maritime forests along seashore are 

 broad-leafed and evergreen, composed of water (nigra), laurel 

 (laurifolia) and live (virens) oak, devilwood (Osmanthus amer- 

 icana), mock orange (Prunus caroliniana), sweet bay, yaupon 

 (Ilex vomitoria) and palmetto. The pine belt uplands, adjoin- 

 ing the maritime forests, show long leaf pine or taeda or both, 

 according to fertility of soil. The lowlands in the pine belt ex- 

 hibit so-called "Oak Flats," with cow, overcup, white, water and 

 Spanish oaks, in company with ash, elm, gum, cottonwood and 

 red maple; or swamps stocked with gum and cypress; or so- 

 called "Bays," where white cedar prevails; or "Pond pine 

 swamps," formed by Pinus serotina, mixed with oaks and 

 taeda pine. 



