210 



Growing on bases of trees : 



Dicranum flagellare Anomodon rostratus 



Anomodon attenuatus Rauia scita 



Also most of the species in the preceding list. 



General problems relating to the phenomena of plant succes- 

 sion are to be discussed in later papers. Because, however, 

 of their bearing on the broader question of the relationship 

 between the forests of the present and those of the past it seems 

 advisable in the present connection to call attention briefly to 

 certain facts deduced from a study of second-growth woodlands 

 at Colebrook, in localities which almost certainly were once 

 occupied by forests similar to the one above depicted. In the 

 majority of cases such tracts are less mesophytic than the original 

 forest, as is evidenced by the usual presence of Betula alba 

 papyrifera and Piniis Strohiis as character trees, together often 

 with Carya ovata and Carya glabra. The proportion of chestnut 

 and red oak is greater here than in the virgin forest while hemlock 

 is ordinarily much less abundant. The increased percentage of 

 the two species first mentioned is doubtless, in large part, to be 

 accounted for by their well known prolific sprouting capacity. One 

 striking example of the propensity of chestnut to reproduce in 

 this manner was noted by the writer where a single 75 centimeter 

 stump had given rise to more than 375 coppice shoots. Apropos 

 it may be remarked that, according to Frothingham,* much 

 the greater part of the present Connecticut forests have originated 

 in this way, while recent estimatesf show that chestnut today com- 

 prises fully 50 per cent, of the standing timber in the state. Like 

 most conifers, hemlock fails to develop adventitious buds, and is 

 consequently dependent entirely upon seed reproduction, a 

 comparatively slow and uncertain method of propagation. The 

 xerophytic proclivity of second-growth tracts is further reflected 

 by the character of the undergrowth. The yew, hobble bush, 

 and moosewood are sparser and may have vanished completely, 

 while Prunus pennsylvanica, Gaylussacia baccata, and species 

 of Vaccinium have made their appearance. Many of the her- 



* Op. cit., p. 13. 

 t Frothingham, 1. c. 



