November 30, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



833 



Vitis rotundifolia. 

 Hypericum Drumondii. 

 Bignonia crucigera [B. capreolata) 

 Blephantapus iomentosus. 

 Eupatorium aromaticum. 

 Ohrysopsis gramiiiifolia. 

 SilpJiium Asteriscus. 

 SilpMum compositum. 



Another noteworthy Austro-riparian col- 

 ony occurs at a mean elevation of about 

 300 meters (1,000 feet), in the cafion-like 

 valley of the Hiwassee River, in extreme 

 southeastern Tennessee. Here the number 

 of almost purely Lower Austral Graminese 

 is particulai-ly striking. Some of the most 

 important species are : 



Ei-ianthiis alopecuroides. 



Erianthus contortus. 



Erianthus brevibarbit . 



Andropogon argyrceus. 



Andropogo7i Elliottii. 



Paspalum purpurascent. 



Panuum gibbum. 



Panicum viscidum. 



Danthonia sericea. 



Uniola longifolia. 



Poa Ohapmaniana. 



Deeumaria barbara. 



Bapiisia alba. 



Aralia spinosa. 



PtiUmnium capUlaceum {Discopleura capillacea). 



Phlox amcena. 



Melofhria pendula. 



Lacinaria graminifolia [Liatria graminifolia). 



HeliantJius angustifoUus. 



Lookout Mountain, especially near its 

 southwestern end, in Alabama, harbors a 

 notable colony of Lower Austral plants ; 

 but the precise altitudes at which most of the 

 species occur are not known to me. Some 

 of them which have not been reported from 

 other stations in the mountains are : 



Piniis Tceda.* 



Xyris communis. 



Asimina parmflora. 



Cebatha Carolina {Oocculus carolinus). 



Sarracenia flai)a (var. oreophila). 



Orotonopsis linearis. 



Berehemia tcandent.* 



Vaccinium arboreum. 



Oelaemium sempervirens.* 



Spigelia marilandica. 



Tatesia Imte-mrens ( Qatesia laete-mrens) .* 



Chondrophora virgata [Bigelovia nudatavirgata). 



These three localities are but a few 

 among many which could have been se- 

 lected to illustrate the extension of Lower 

 Austral species beyond the normal alti- 

 tudinal limits of their zone. Hardly a 

 warm lower slope or a sunny valley in the 

 mountains but shelters a greater or less 

 number of them. The mapping of these 

 colonies is one of the nicest and one of the 

 most interesting pieces of work that awaits 

 the future investigator of local floras in 

 this territory, for it goes without saying that 

 it is impossible to indicate them on any 

 general map of the Southern Appalachian 

 region . 



Let us now examine more in detail the 

 composition of the flora which occupies 

 these outposts of the Lower Austral Zone. 

 A category which may be eliminated at the 

 outset embraces those species which have 

 been introduced into the mountains by the 

 direct or indirect agency of man. Here 

 belong a number of, for the most part, in- 

 digenous weeds which are common in waste 

 and cultivated land in the low country of 

 the southeastern United States, and which 

 have penetrated the Appalachian region 

 chiefly along the railways, e. g. : 



Oyiiodon Dactylon. 



Gommelina nudiflora. 



Croton glandulosus. 



Groton monanthogynos. 



Passiflora incarnata. 



Polypremum procumbens. 



Sitilias caroliniana (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus). 



Eupatorium capillifoUum {E.fceniculaceum). 



Selenium, tenuifolium. 



Of the lower Austral species whose oc- 

 currence in the Appalachian region can not 

 be referred to the agency of man, the 

 greater number — about sixty per cent. — 

 range elsewhere beyond the limits of the 



* Occurrence on Lookout Mountain needs confirma- 

 tion. 



