44 



PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



Genera and species common to Alabama and Europe, etc. Continued. 



1 Cotinus in the Mediterranean region. 



2 Hibiscus of the Mediterranean region. 



3 Southern and western Europe. 



* Storax of the Mediterranean region. 



5 Fraxinus. 



Orobanche and Phelypaea differ but slightly 



from our Thalesia (Aphyllon) . 

 i Galium. 



BIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL RELATIONS. 



Viewing the plants of Alabama in their biological aspect, their 

 habits of life, and the peculiar adaptations by which they establish 

 and maintain themselves successfully among their various associations, 

 no striking features are met with which are not presented in one or 

 the other of the adjoining States. With our present knowledge it is, 

 however, impossible to enter upon very close comparisons. The per- 

 ennial plants are largely in excess of the annuals and biennials, com- 

 prising five-sixths of the total vascular flora of the State. Among the 

 woody perennials, 343 distinct species and varieties have been counted, 

 32 with climbing or creeping stems. This number includes 45 under- 

 shrubs and suffrutescent perennials, most numerously belonging to the 

 Hypericaceae (St. Johnswort family), with 12 species, which, owing to 

 the large number of individuals gaily adorned with bright yellow 

 flowers, form a striking feature in the plant covering of the flat pine 

 barrens in the coast plain. 



FOREST FLORA. 



SHRUBBY PLANT ASSOCIATIONS. 



The 171 species and varieties of shrubs known in Alabama, intimately 

 connected with the arboreal vegetation, form the higher undergrowth 

 and the brushy cover of the soil of the mixed forests in the southern 



