THE FLORA OF COLUMBIA AND 

 VICINITY 



PART I. 



ECOLOGY, 



1. GENERAL VIEW OF THE VEGETATION. 



The vegetation of the region about Columbia is prevaiUngly 

 mesophytic. It may be briefly characterized as an oak forest, 

 in which many other trees, however, find place. As a deciduous 

 forest, with the various oaks as dominant, the region has the as- 

 pect of an upland, or at least midland, rather than of a lowland, 

 or alluvial, vegetation. The general physiographic features add 

 to this impression, much of the ground is high and broken, the 

 cliffs stand often close to the streams, and no extensive tracts of 

 marsh land occur. 



But such a general characterization only brings us to the 

 threshold of our study, and serves only to indicate where the 

 emphasis of any ecological treatment of the flora should be 

 placed. While the oak forest sets the character of the region, 

 and while its influence is profoundly felt everywhere, yet other 

 distinct plant societies exist within it. 



Along the streams, willows, birches, cottonwoods, and syca- 

 H3] I 



