108 PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



pine forests do not differ from those forming the soil cover in the 

 open pine forests of the adjoining Lower Pine belt. 



Xerophile herbaceous plant association. In the parts where the reac- 

 tion of the decomposing limestone strata upon decaying vegetable mat- 

 ter has produced soil conditions similar to those which prevail in the 

 Central Prairie region (which includes the more or less calcareous lands 

 of the post oak prairies and cedar hammocks), the plant associations 

 bear the same campestrian character. In Monroe and Clarke counties 

 are found the same tall Compositae, together with various plants of 

 other families, which are characteristic of that region. The following 

 species are examples: 



Helianihus tomentosus. Lithospermum tuberosum. 



Helianthus hirsutus. Phacelia purshii. 



SUphium ladniatum. Verbena canadensis. 



Silphium asperrimum. Acuan (Desmanthus) brachycarpum. 



SUphium laevicaule. Morongia horridula. 



Lepachys pinnata. 



None of the above are met with farther south except the last two, 

 which extend to the coast plain. Of xerophile and mesophile plants 

 inhabiting shaded rocky dells and banks, the following find here their 

 southern limit: 



Hepatica hepaiica. Panax quinquefolia. 



Anemone decapetala. Collinsonia canadensis. 



Ranunculus recurvalus. Houstonia caerulea. 



On the damp rocks which line the narrow channels of brooks deeply 

 cut into the limestone strata, the maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus- 

 veneris) occupies every crevice. Toward the southern confines of the 

 region the following, which grow also in the adjoining region, are 

 found: 



Sida elliottii. Clinopodium carolinianum. 



Callirhoe papaver. Koettia- albescent. 



Scutellaria canescens punctata. Stokesia laevis. 



On the limestone bluffs inclosing the bed of the Alabama River, for 

 instance near Claiborne, Dirca palustris, a shrub from the Alleghenian 

 area, finds in deeply shaded situations its extreme southern outpost. 

 Philadelphus inodorus with Ptelea trifoliata and the river grape ( Vitis 

 riparia) are also found on the bare ledges of these bluffs on the oppo- 

 site sides of the river. In the southwestern part of this region where 

 the calcareous prairie soils are mixed with the light loams, the red 

 cedar once formed a large portion of the timber growth, making a 

 feature analogous to the cedar hammocks of the Central Prairie region. 

 The cedar hammocks of this region are at present, however, nearly all 

 under cultivation, and the few still covered with cedar are rapidly being 

 stripped of their valuable timber, mostly for use as pencil wood. 



In the eastern extension of this region the loose Ozark sands form 



