232 THE PLANT LIFE OF MARYLAND 



these often show valleys of considerable steepness and have a dif- 

 ferent type of forest and herbaceous covering from the more gentle 

 slopes. The top of the main ridge, or of the two arms into which 

 it divides southward, consists of massive sandstone and forms a 

 plateau. Here the conditions are quite different from the lower 

 portions. 



THE GENTLEB SLOPES. 



The number of Beech trees in the foresl composition increases 

 as the better forest conditions of the hills is reached, and the pro- 

 portion of the White Walnut or Butternut is considerably greater 

 than eastward. The Hemlock now becomes a prominent feature 

 of the forest landscape, and in places composes nearly or quite one- 

 fourth of the standing timber. Some of the finest specimens of this 

 tree occur in deep narrow valleys of the mountain brooks, but even 

 these are being cut down in many cases. If too inaccessible for 

 heavy teams to remove the logs for timber, the bark is stripped and 

 the log allowed to lie unused in the woods. The Butternut is also 

 rapidly being thinned out of the areas where it occurs, since trees 

 as small as six inches in diameter are now felled for the excelsior 

 factories. The Ash is another tree which is in somewhat greater 

 abundance than previously noted, but does not form a large pro- 

 portion of the stand at any point observed. 



The White Pine is present in the hilly woods to a slight per cent.. 

 and occasional Red Cedars occur along the roads. In the moisl 

 soil by the side of the streams, the Sweet Birch occurs in some 

 abundance; on the slopes of the streams now the Basswood, Sugar 

 Maple, Mulberry and, on the higher portions, the Beaked Hazel 

 is found. Other plants which occur in the region about Sabillas- 

 ville, which have not been mentioned in the discussion, are: 



Dioscorea villosa 

 Vagnera racemosa 

 Uvularia sessilifolia 

 Monarda fistulosa 

 Ilabenaria clavaia 

 Smilax rotundifolia 



