88 PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



VEGETATION OF THE BARRENS AND RIVER HILLS. 



In the northern part of the Tennessee Valley and west of the out- 

 lying spurs of the Cumberland Mountains rises an undulating plain 

 from 200 to 300 feet above the river level, broken by the deep narrow 

 channels of the numerous tributaries of the river which take their 

 rise in the " Highland Rim" of Tennessee. The soil is a sandy com- 

 pact loam of whitish color, destitute of lime and vegetable matter 

 and deficient in underdrainage, being underlaid by an impervious clay 

 or hardpan. This plain is covered with an open forest of the upland 

 oaks, which are common in the mountain region, black jack prevailing, 

 accompanied by mockernut hickory. The trees are all of stunted 

 growth, scarcely above medium size, with an undergrowth of dogwood, 

 black haw, sourwood, and sumach. A low willow (Salix tristis) covers 

 acres of the level expanse, imparting by the ashy hue of its foliage a 

 peculiar aspect to the low, bushy, deciduous forest. The herbaceous 

 flora of these barrens exhibits the same want of variety as their woody 

 growth. As noticed on a single visit to the barrens between the forks 

 of Cypress and Shoal creeks, in Lauderdale County, in the early part 

 of June, the paucity of the glumaceous plant formations was a sur- 

 prise. Of grasses and Cyperaceae, 



Andropogon virginicus, Eleocharis tennis, 



Agrostis hiemalis, Oyperus ovularis, 



Panicum commwtaium, 



were scantily scattered between the herbaceous perennials, indicating 

 a cold, ill-drained, rather poor soil. The following were among the 

 herbaceous plants observed, the first being the most abundant: 



Phlox maculata. . Meibomia canescens. 



Steironema lanceolaium. Meibomia dillenii. 



Steironema dliatum. Coreopsis tripteris. 



On the more exposed declivities, which admit of ready surface 

 drainage, the same associations of xerophile herbs prevail which 

 inhabit similar localities all over the State, mostly Leguminosae, con- 

 sisting of bush clovers (Lespedeza spp.), tick- trefoils (Meibomia spp.) 

 Stylosanthes, Psoralea, Cracca, and of other families, Cweopsis seni- 

 folia, Ceanothus americanus, and Pol/ygala incamata. Tick-trefoils, 

 chiefly Japanese clover (Lespedeza striata), which overruns the ground 

 around dwellings, afford the only pasturage to live stock. 



On their descent to the river plain the channels of the water courses 

 intersecting the barrens widen and the highland becomes divided by 

 broader valleys into ridges, which encroach more or less upon the 

 banks of the Tennessee River. These hills are mostly steep and 

 densely wooded. With the dip of these strata toward the south the 

 soil becomes looser and calcareous and the vegetation more luxuriant. 

 The timber growth is of great diversity and of fair quality. White 



