452 Part IV. Chapter 2, 
Fork, and the red cedar Funiperus virginiana, at the westward turning bend 
of the Red River and Brazos River Valley. 
k land?) covers the bottoms of valleys in Alabama and is provided with a deep, well- 
watered soil enriched from the sloping hills. A large number of deciduous trees grow in such 
situations, among them are Quercus alba, Q. Michauxii, Q. obtusiloba, Q. em Q. tinctoria, three 
or four species of Carya (Hicoria), Fagus, Liriodendron tulipifera, Fraxinus sp., a 
styraciflua, two or three species of Magnolia, Cornus florida, Oxydendrum a Acer 
Acer saccharum, Carpinus caroliniana, Tilia americana, Ilex opaca, Ostrya virginiana, ir Betula 
nigra. Pinus Taeda is scattered through this forest with an occasional tree of Pinus mitis. The 
underbrush is usually dense and consists of various deciduous shrubs and herb 
4. Central Pine Belt- and Central Prairie-Formations. 
Forest Formation. This belt varies in width from 10 miles to a little over 
35 miles in width the soil consisting of sand and pebbles. The deeper sandy 
loam of this pine belt is occupied by Pinus palustris associated with Owercus 
obtusifolia, O. falcata, O. tinctoria, O. Catesbaei, Carya alba and C. porcina 
(= Hicoria ovata and glabra) and where more silicious soils prevail, Pinus 
palustris reigns supreme. Jllicium floridanum, Cliftonia ligustrina, Persea 
carolina occur along the streams with Sadal Adansonii, Yucca aloifolia and 
filamentosa. 
The Central Prairie Territory comprises the plain of Cretaceous rocks 
which crosses Alabama in a belt from 35 to 45 miles wide, its mean elevation 
above the Gulf of Mexico exceeding 200 feet. 
Post-oak Prairie Formation. This phytogeographic formation occupies 
clayey loams, sands and pebbles which mingle with the soil resulting from the 
decomposition of the underlying limestone strata. Open xerophilous forests of 
Quercus falcata, Q. tinctoria, post oak O. obtusiloba (= O. minor) the last 
predominant associated with Carya alba and porcina (= Hicoria ovata and 
glabra). Under cover of the brush, the gramineous associations predominate. 
This formation is typically represented in Texas where it occupies the 
sands, gravels and clays of the lignitic belt far into the Rio Grande plain. 
But isolated from the main belt are other extensive areas of this type of forest, 
which in general occurs westward to the one hundredth meridian. This is 
the type of forest which the Atlantic forest assumes when it passes 
into the arid southwest. Aside from Pinus mitis, Quercus obtusiloba iS 
the most abundant and universal and after this Ouercus nr Töndiee; O. cinerea, 
Carya porcina (= Hicoria glabra) and C. myristiciformis, while a few species 
of the alluvial bottoms penetrate into the upland forest, viz., Ulmus americana, 
Quercus alba, Q. rubra, Liguidambar styraciflua°). 
rairie Forest Formation. This occupies the black, calcareous, highly 
fertile soil rich in humus of the uplands. Ouercus lyrata, O. laurifolia, Q. aqua- 
1) REED, FRANKLIN W.: A working plan for forest Lands in central Alabama. U. S. Forest 
Service Bulletin 68, p. ıı (1905). 
2) Bray, WıLLıaM L.: Forest Resources of Texas, Bureau of Forestry Bulletin No. 47: 26. 
U. S. Department Agriculture. 
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