XEROPHILE AND MESOPHILE FOREST FLORA. 71 



Under the cover of the mostly rather open forest a variety of shrubs 

 contribute to form a dense undergrowth. Blueberries ( Vaccinium 

 vacillans, V. stamineum) are met with everywhere in the mountain 

 region, and a bushy low form of the common azalea or honeysuckle 

 (Azalea nudiflord), conspicuous by the abundance of its mostly snow- 

 white flowers, borne in close clusters, almost hides the ground. The 

 fringed stuartia (Stuartiapentagyna), mountain holly (Ilexm,onticola), 

 and its variety (/ monticola mollis), with soft hairy leaves, extend 

 northerly on the lower of the western Alleghenian ranges to south- 

 eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and reach 

 their southern limit on Sand Mountain. Ilex longipes extends from 

 North Carolina and Tennessee to the Louisianian area, and the rare 

 Ilex duMa is found on the richer slopes, with Darbya umbellulata, 

 which of late has also been discovered on the edgt, of the metamorphic 

 hills in Lee County. The last occurs also in a few localities in North 

 Carolina and middle Georgia. Seven bark (Hydrangea quercif'olia), 

 one of the most ornamental shrubs, adorns the open woods and rocky 

 hillsides throughout the region, being also common on the lower hills 

 and extending to the Coast Pine belt. The following shade the rocky 

 borders of the water courses: 



Vaccinium tenellum (small-leaved huckle- Sluartia virginica (Virginia stuartia) . 



berry) . Aronia, arbutifolia (chokeberry) . 



Kalmla latifolia (evergreen kalmia) . Pyrus angustifolia (Southern crabapple) . 

 Azalea arborescent (sweet-scented azalea) . 



The chokeberry, which is here of arborescent habit, presents a 

 beautiful sight when loaded with its bright scarlet fruit, which 

 remains from early autumn through the winter. The following add 

 to the number of mesophile shrubs, which prefer a damper and deeper 

 soil: 



Chionanthus virginica (fringe tree) . Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur thorn) . 



Pyrus angustifolia (Southern crab apple) . Crataegus mollis (downy haw) . 



Crataegus cocdnea (scarlet haw). Crataegus uniftora (winter haw). 

 Crataegus spathulata (sugar haw) . 



Of woody creepers and climbers 



Smilax rotundifolia (horse brier) , Clematis virginiana (common virgin's 



bower) , 



are confined to the mountain region, extending to the Alleghenian 

 area; while 



Bignonia capreolata (cross vine) , Berchemia volubilis (supple-jack) , 



Teco-ma radioans (trumpet vine) , Vitis aestivalis (summer grape) , 



are widely distributed in the Carolinian and Louisianian divisions. 



Mesophile forests. Where the sandstones give way to clayey shales 

 more subject to erosion, the channels of the water courses become 



