141 



which the author does not comment on — seems to be character- 

 istic of all the sandier parts t)f the coastal plain of the south- 

 eastern United States, and it must have an important influence 

 on soil and vegetation.* 



The descriptions of vegetation seem to have been written more 

 for the benefit of the intelligent citizens of Hartsville than for the 

 scientific public, for they contain very few generalizations, or 

 comparisons with other parts of the world. A number of par- 

 ticular spots, many of which have been considerably altered by 

 civilization, are described in a sort of narrative style (as was 

 customary in most of the pioneer descriptions of vegetation, a 

 generation or so ago), without any tabulation, or summation of 

 the salient features of the vegetation of each habitat. However, 

 the inconvenience of having the names of plants scattered 

 through the text in no particular order is partly offset by the 

 index, which seems to be nearly complete. 



The sand-hill vegetation, the first type described, is evidently 

 much like that of the rest of the fall-line sand-hill belt from 

 North Carolina to Georgia, of which almost no ecological descrip- 

 tions had been published before. f Under this head there are 

 some valuable notes, partly compiled and partly original, on the 

 relations of fire to the dominant tree of the sand-hills, Pinus 

 palustris. 



The upland forests of slightly richer soils differ from those of 

 the sand-hills in having more shade and humus, and many more 

 species of trees. The author calls especial attention to the 

 scarcity of conspicuous spring flo>vers in these forests: a feature 

 which is also characteristic of the hammocks of Florida and of 

 many other places where the soil is sandy and poor in soluble 

 minerals and the summers are wetter than the winters, and has 

 been commented on by many visitors to such regions coming 

 from places where different conditions prevail. 



The "flatwoods" resemble the flat pine-barrens nearer the 

 coast in many ways, and the "savannas" seem from the descrip- 



* See Bull. Torrey Club 37: 415-416 (footnote). 1910. 



t Some of the commoner or more conspicuous plants of this belt have been 

 listed in Bull. Torrey Club 37: 412-413. 1910; 38: 224-225. 191 1. 



