223 



distichinn, and Aralia spinosa in it as compared with the next 

 above, and the scarcity of Piniis vh'giniana (which was seen 

 only once in Maryland) seems to indicate more of a climax type 

 of vegetation and therefore presumably a somewhat richer soil 

 than the average for the Miocene portion of Delaware. 



•In Accomac and Northampton counties, Virginia, the follow- 

 ing species prevail along and near the axis of the peninsula : 



Trees. — Pmiis Taeda, Liqiddambar, Pinus virginiana, Ilex 

 opaca, Cornus florida, Quercics alba, Fagits, Oxydendruni arbo- 

 reuin, Acer rtibnim, Querciis Phellos, Nyssa sylvatica {?\ Quercus 

 Michauxii, Piims echinata, Magnolia virginiana, Qnercns falcata, 

 Q. nigra, Diospyros. 



Shrubs. — Myrica cerifera, Aralia spinosa, Alnus riigosa, 

 Tecoma radicans, Rhus copallina, Clethra alnifolia. 



Herbs. — (None seen worth mentioning.) 



The relative scarcity in this list, as compared with the two 

 next preceding, of Magnolia, Liriodendron, Salix, Taxodium, 

 Chamaecyparis, Nyniphaea, and Liliiim is doubtless due mostly to 

 the narrowness of the Virginia part of the peninsula and the 

 consequent scarcity of fresh-water streams and swamps. The 

 Cormis, Fagns, Aralia, Myrica, Qnercns Michauxii, Q. nigra. 

 Ilex, Oxydendruni, Pinus echinata, and Tecoma on the other 

 hand are decidedly more abundant in Virginia than in Delaware 

 and Maryland, perhaps only because the center of distribution of 

 each of these species lies farther south ; especially in the case of 

 Oxydendruni and Quercus Michauxii which have their northern- 

 most known stations on this very peninsula. It should be noted 

 in passing — though I am not yet prepared to explain the sig- 

 nificance of the fact — that most of the ten species last mentioned 

 are typical hammock plants in the southeastern states. 



Between Pinner's Point (the railroad terminus just across the 

 harbor from Norfolk) and Pleasant Shade, Va. (about eight miles 

 west of Emporia), where metamorphic strata were first noticed, 

 the following species were seen more than once. 



Trees. — Pinus Taeda, Liqiddambar, Liriodendron, Quercus 

 alba, Salix nigra, Pinus echinata, Taxodium distichum, Nyssa 

 sylvatica bijlora {?), Magnolia virginiana, Quercus falcata, Oxy- 



