Southern Appalachian District. 485 
Top Mountain occur: Zistera convallarioides, Habenaria orbiculata, H. psycodes, 
Diphylleia cymosa (in great masses), Trautvetteria palmata ') 
valley of the Swannanoa River grow magnificent oaks 
Quercus falcata (= Q. digitata), O. ünbricaria with Leucotho& Catesbaei, Aco- 
nitum uncinatum, etc. The valley of the North Fork of the Swannanoa River 
is occupied by an arboreal vegetation, composed of Castanea dentata, 
Liriodendron, Fagus, Quercus alba, O. rubra, Magnolia acuminata, Fuglans 
cinerea, Quercus coccinea, O. phellos, Acer saccharum, Betula lenta (Castanea- 
Acer-Quercus Facies), Rhododendron maximum forms a dense jungle along 
the borders of streams (Rhododendron Association). 
These dominant trees are found somewhat back from the streams, while 
near the streams, with their roots in the water, or where the lower parts of 
their trunks may be submerged during heavy rains, grow Platanus occidentalis, 
Tsuga canadensis, Betula lenta (Tsuga Facies). This facies constitutes the 
hemlock bottom type of the foresters which covers the broad, nearly level 
bottom lands of the main valleys, on the deep, fresh loamy clay and clay 
loam soils, and follows the narrow valleys of the smaller streams up the slopes 
of the mountains. It extends over the northwest slope of Grandfather 
Mountain nearly to the top. 
Tsuga canadensis is the dominant tree and with it are admixed Betula lutea, Fagus ameri- 
cana, A and Castanea dentata (= C. americana) with an undergrowth almost eig 
of er maximum. [Hemlock Formation.) At the Natural Bridge of 
alluvial soil of the gorge is found a pure hemlock forest. Beneath the dense shade Er the hem- 
lock tree, which is here a the botanist finds on the ground Mitchella repens, the part- 
ridge berry, which here, as elsewhere, is tolerant of the dense shade cast by the crown of the 
hemlock trees. Occasio a ae with the hemlocks, as m species, because they 
are BRICORE of shade, ken forester finds the ee ar americana, the dockmackie, Viburnum 
in ira: ravines Kalmia la tifolie and Rhododen mum. Here in the den shade grow 
Asarum canadense, Asarım cum, Polygala pur, , Waldsteini fragarioid 
The shrubs 7 the forest henhere in southw are Cereis ER, Cornus 
florida, C. alternifolia, Staphylea trifolia, Physocarpus ee Robinia hispida, Berberis cana- 
densis all of which flower in May, while in the dense woods are found Dirca palustris, Lindera 
Benzoin, Cornus sericea, Rhododendron ie (= Azalea lutea), Halesia tetraptera. 
Smilax hispida overgrows shrubs in the woods while Dioscorea villosa and Smilax herbacea grow 
in close association. Iris cristata Anhabits wooded hillsides forming great masses with J 
diphylla in the deepest, shadiest ravines. 
The ds on the southeast slopes of Iron Mountain are characterized by Actaea 
alba, Caulophyllum thalietroides, Diphylleia cymosa, Zizia Bebbii, Thaspium barbinode, Menziesia 
globularis, Vaceinium corymbosum var. pallidum, Aristolochia sipho. Other woodland herbs are 
1) Consult Vaıt, Anna M.: Notes on the Flora of Smythe Co., Va. Garden & Forest V: 364, 
388, 424, 437: The ‚Alleghenies of Va. in June Garden & Forest III: ii 391; SHRIVER, HOWARD: 
Some notes from Wytheville, Va. Botanical Gazette I: 26; KEARN ‚ T. H.: Notes on Flora a 
S, E. Kentucky: Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club XX: 474. 
