226 THE PLANT LIFE OF MARYLAND 



Cut Over Areas. — Under these changes of environment, the 

 plants which become conspicuous are Baptisia tinctoria, Pteris 

 aquilina and species of Solidago; the tall composites such as Eupa- 

 torium purpurcum, and Vernonia noveboracensis. In areas which 

 have been cut over at some time more remote, but which have not 

 been able to reestablish the former conditions of wooded slopes, the 

 Bear Oak and the Chinquapin are to be expected, and are commonly 

 found together with Comptonia peregrina in full sunlight exposures. 

 Lespedeza hirta often occurs with these, and also the white-flowered 

 Euphorbia corollata. There is often a low growth of prostrate or 

 trailing plants in places not too greatly exposed to the heat and 

 dryness, and in these places Veronica officinalis, Dasystoma virgin- 

 ica and Dasystoma pedicularia are to be expected. Mosses and 

 lichens abound in these localities, but they are of the cosmopolitan 

 forms in all instances where the species were noted. Dioscorea vil- 

 losa occurs commonly in open woodland, either in fairly moist, or 

 in quite dry situations, and Cimicifuga racemosa is found in a sim- 

 ilar variety of habitats. In certain localities along the roadside, 

 the Beaked Hazel forms the roadside shrubbery, and less frequently 

 in this vicinity, it is supplanted by the common Hazelnut. Where 

 there is a small stream in woodland situations, the Witch Hazel and 

 the Spice-bush are usually present. Cassia nictitans, and Cassia 

 chamaechrista occur at frequent intervals in the taller vegetation of 

 the dryer situations. 



Drainage. — The high ground of Parr's Ridge extends toward the 

 southwest, gradually decreasing in elevation, but there is an increase 

 in the number of subordinate ridges in the vicinity of Mount Airy, 

 beyond which point the central ridge becomes lost as an axial eleva- 

 tion. Numerous low hills replace the ridges of the more northern 

 parts, and the intervening valleys are correspondingly less deeply 

 cut, and the sides are less steep. Between the Little Pipe Creek 

 region which has just been discussed, and the vicinity of Mount 

 Airy, the streams belong to two drainage systems; the area is in 

 the nature of a divide, with the Patapsco drainage on the east and 

 the Monocacy on the west through the wearing down of the elevated 

 land into subordinate hills. The two systems approach in the vicin- 

 ity of Mount Airy. 



