THE ECOLOGICAL PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



OF MARYLAND; COASTAL ZONE; 



EASTERN SHORE DISTRICT 



BY 



FORREST SHREVE 



Introductory. 



The vegetation of the Eastern Shore District of the Coastal Zone 

 is more highly diversified than that of any of the other ecological 

 districts of Maryland. This is due in part to the variety of soils, 

 in part to the extent and diversity of the swamps and marshes, and 

 in no small share to the fact that the most common and characteristic 

 forest tree of the southernmost counties, the Loblolly Pine (J 'in us 

 I in, In i, finds the northern limit of its range for Maryland in Kent 

 and Queen Anne's counties, while several of the tree species common 

 in the latter countries, as well as in the Midland Zone, are rare or 

 absent on the southern Eastern Shore. The most conspicuous differ- 

 ence between the upland forests of the upper and lower counties of 

 the Eastern Shore is that the former are deciduous, with oak, chest- 

 nut and hickory predominating, while the latter are evergreen with 

 the Loblolly Pine predominating, or the Loblolly together with the 

 Scrub Pine {Pinus virginiana) .""' The visitor to the shores of the 

 Anemessex River, in Somerset County, will find a forest composed 

 almost solely of Loblolly Pine, in which the Chestnut and the Chest- 

 inii < >ak are absent; while on the hills of Elk Neck, in Cecil County, 

 lie will find that the last-named trees form almost the entire forest 

 stand and that the Loblolly is absent, not ranging so far north. 



While the limits of the ranges of trees are important in bringing 

 about a diversity of forest composition in different sections of the 



*The Loblolly is locally known on the Eastern Shore as the "Bull Pine" 

 and the Scrub Pine as the "Spruce Pine." 



