108 



At the point described, along these small streams, close 

 to the road, a gently sloping area of three or four acres is occu- 

 pied by a pretty dense cypress swamp, with perhaps 200 trees. 

 Just here the modern highway follows the route of the old 

 Huntsville road, which was in use 100 years ago, and must have 

 been traveled at various times by several geologists, and others 

 who should have known cypress when they saw it, but appar- 

 ently no mention of this outlying colony ever got into print. 

 (About a mile to the southeast there is a main line of railroad, 

 built about 1870, but the cypress is not visible from that.) I had 

 traveled the highway by automobile several times in the last 

 few years, but somehow never noticed the Taxodium until I 

 passed that way on a bus on my way back from New York on 

 Oct. 26, 1932. 



According to the geological map, it is only about three miles 

 down the valley from this point to the nearest area of the Tus- 

 caloosa formation, though some of the Paleozoic strata can be 

 traced at least 15 miles south westward before they finally dis- 

 appear. The cypress swamp is not immediately adjacent to 

 Cooley Creek, but separated from it by a belt of ordinary creek- 

 bottom vegetation, and just what causes the difference is not 

 clear. I went into the swamp on Jan. 29, March 12, April 18, 

 and Oct. 19, 1933, and made the following notes on the compo- 

 sition of the vegetation. 



Taxodium distichum outnumbers by far all other trees. Next 

 in abundance is Liquidambar Styraciflua, and there are a few 

 trees of Salix nigra, Fraxinus americana, Vlmus alata, and Celtis 

 sp., the last near the outer edge. Small trees are represented by 

 Morus rubra (near the edge) and Carpinus caroliniana. Ber- 

 chemia scandens and Rhus radicans are common woody vines, 

 and there are a few specimens of Bignonia and Parthenocissus. 

 The only shrub observed was Sambucus canadensis , and that 

 may not have been there always, as it is noted for its weedy 

 tendencies. 5 The most abundant herb is Senecio lobatus (or 

 glabellus as it is now called), and it is very conspicuous in April. 

 About a dozen other herbs were noted once each, and there are 

 also a few weeds and mosses. 



There are some puzzling peculiarities about the growth of 



6 See discussion of this point by Asa Gray and others in American Natural- 

 ist 1 : 493-494; 2: 38-39; 3: 282. 1867-1869. 



