PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HISTORY OF THE PRESENT BOTANICAL EXPLORATION OF 



ALABAMA. 



In 1879 the botanical collections made by the State geologist of Ala- 

 bama, Dr. Eugene A. Smith, in the northern section of the State, were 

 submitted to the writer for classification, with the request that he take 

 charge of the investigation of the flora of Alabama in connection with 

 the Geological Survey. Having accepted this duty, the formation of 

 a Normal Herbarium of the State was undertaken. To this end the 

 collections of the writer, made in the Coastal plain, and particularly 

 in the Lower Pine region and Littoral belt, were incorporated with 

 the above collections, and thus the foundation was laid for the Normal 

 Herbarium of the Geological Survey of the State, deposited in the 

 Museum of the University of Alabama, which has served as a basis for 

 this report. Subsequently, and during a long series of years, the 

 writer has worked singly in the field at such intervals as his official 

 duties would permit. Engaged in the investigation of the forests for 

 the United States Census in 1880 and 1881, and later in making collec- 

 tions for the exhibits of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, at the 

 Exposition in Louisville, and the Cotton Exposition at New Orleans in 

 1884 and 1885, extensive collections of plants were made and advan- 

 tage was taken of the opportunities for the study of plant life in the 

 field in all the different regions of the State. Further facilities in the 

 same direction were enjoyed from 1890 to 1896 while engaged in the 

 study of the forests and in the collection of the material for timber 

 tests under the direction of Dr. Fernow, then chief of the Division of 

 Forestry, Department of Agriculture. 



During the summer and fall of 1892 several special trips to investi- 

 gate more closely the flora of the State were undertaken for the Geo- 

 logical Survey of the State. These trips included visits to the so-called 

 Canebrake (Central Prairie) region, the basin of the Coosa River, the 

 eastern part of the mountain region, and the Tennessee Valley. In 

 1896 a visit was paid to the Chehawhaw Mountain and the higher val- 

 leys and denuded plains in Clay County, the most elevated district in 

 the State. Very desirable contributions have been received during 



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