122 PLANT LIFE OF ALABAMA. 



of eastern North Carolina and extends westward along the Gulf coast 

 to central Texas and northern Mexico. In the Gulf States the live 

 oak is rarely found above the thirty-first parallel of latitude. Of the 

 magnificent groves which once lined the shores of the Gulf and its 

 numerous inlets, but few remain. From its native hammocks this tree 

 was transplanted to adorn and shade the abodes of the earliest settlers. 

 Trees planted about seventy-five years ago, now frequently met with in 

 the suburbs of Mobile and at the older country seats, are from 2 to 3 

 feet in diameter and from 60 to 70 feet in height, their sturdy trunks 

 sending out massive horizontal limbs at a distance of from 10 to some- 

 times 15 feet above the ground, their shade frequently covering an 

 area nearly 100 feet in diameter. 



In these hammocks the magnolia attains its highest development, in 

 diameter rivaling the Cuban and loblolly pines, with which it is often 

 associated, and accompanied by the laurel oak, water oak, and beech, 

 all draped with the wreaths of Spanish moss. 



Of small trees and shrubs occurring here may be enumerated: 



Osmanthus americanus (American olive, Pyrus angustifolia (Southern crab apple). 1 



devil wood); Crataegus apiifolta (haw). 1 



Ihx vomitoria (yaupon). 1 Crataegus viridis (haw). 1 



Ilex opaca (common holly). 1 Chionanthus virginica (Northern fringe 



Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle) - 1 tree). 1 



Zanthoxylum clava-herculis (Southern Vacdnium arboreum (farkleberry). 1 



prickly ash) . Ilex caroliniana (holly) . 



Prunus umbettata (prairie plum) . Ilex coriacea (holly) . 



The evergreen American olive, rarely seen among the pine hills, 

 occurs here frequently. The last two hollies are shrubs which, 

 together with the others mentioned, form a dense undergrowth. 



Where the hammocks merge into the alluvial lands, the soil becom- 

 ing of a semi-swampy condition, the silver-bell tree (Mohrodendron 

 (Halesia) dipterum) is found, most frequently with swamp dogwood 

 (Comw stricta), interspersed with titi (Cliftonia tnonophylla), leather- 

 wood (Oyrilla racemiflora), holly (Ilex cassine) and blue palmetto 

 (Sabal adansonii), evergreen fetterbushes (Pieris nitida, Leucothoe 

 axillaris) forming the brushy soil cover. In the liana formation, Vitis 

 cinerea mostly takes the place of the summer grape, and Sagaretia 

 michauxii, which in the open and in dry soil is a straggling shrub 

 6 to 8 feet high, and is not rare on the coast from South Carolina to 

 Florida and Mississippi, in these woods assumes the habit of a robust 

 climber, ascending trees of great height. The stout root climbers 

 Decumaria barbara and the Virginia creeper are common. The 

 American wistaria (Krauhnia frutescens), with its compound racemes 

 of sky-blue flowers, adorns the lower borders of the hammocks, which 

 are further enlivened by the flame-colored flowers of the woodbine 

 (Lonicera sempervirens), and, very early in the spring, by the golden 



1 Found also in the Carolinian area. 



