No. 17] FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS 39 
covering of a tawny or yellowish-brown silt loam, which has 
been called the Brown Loam. This is a medium light soil, 
moderately rententive of moisture but is well drained. It is 
fairly rich in plant food, and a good agricultural soil. This 
soil is derived from the Loess, being the thin eastward exten- 
sion of it, varying in thickness from eight or ten feet down to 
one or two. 
As the flora of this region is representative cf at least one- 
third of the entire state, it will be treated somewhat fully. In 
the sandy eastern half of this region from Grenada County 
north, and in all the central parts of the state south of Grenada 
and north of Jackson prairies, the chief tree growth is pine 
(Pinus taeda and Pinus mitis being the commen species). The 
forests, however, are not usually pure pine forests, but have 
a considerable admixture of oaks of several species, and other 
hardwood trees. The oaks most abundantly mixed with the 
pines are black jack, post oak, and Spanish oak. The typical 
forests cf the sandy uplands are: 
Ulmus alata Pinus mitis 
Ulmus Americana Pinus taeda 
Prunus Americana Quercus nigra 
Sassafras officinale Quercus stellata 
Cornus florida Quercus falcata 
Vaccinium arboreum Quercus velutina 
Diospyros Virginiana Carya tomentosa 
Castanea vesca. Carya porcina 
Of original growth, Pinus mitis, the short-leaf yellow pine, 
is the most common tree of the region, often growing in almost 
pure stand over large areas. The old field pine (Pinus taeda) 
is everywhere the most abundant second growth tree, in a few 
years covering with a dense growth of seedlings all old fields 
thrown out of cultivation. 
The shrubby undergrowth is somewhat typical, showing 
a decided xerophytie character, as will be seen from the follow-- 
ing list: 
Vitis rotundifolia Vaccinium stamineum 
Rhus radicans Rhus copallina 
