ALTAMAHA GRIT REGION OP GEORGIA , 83 



In these respects they resemble .deserts, but the dryness of 

 the sand-hills is of course in the soil, and not in the air 

 as in most desert regions. The Columbia or Ozark sand of 

 which the sand-hills are composed is always too deep for any 

 roots to reach the bottom of it, and it is practically homogeneous 

 from top to bottom, except the very uppermost layer which 

 is exposed to the atmosphere and is usually whiter than the 

 rest. Analyses of this kind of soil in Dodge and Decatur 

 counties and other parts of the southeastern coastal plain by 

 the U. S. Bureau of Soils show usually about 10% of clay and 

 silt, less than i% of organic matter, and the rest all sand. The 

 whiteness of the sand together with the sparsity of the vegeta- 

 tion makes the sand-hills conspicuous. They probably consti- 

 tute about 10% of the area northeast of the Altamaha River 

 and 5% of the remainder of the region. They have been 

 little damaged by civilization, except that many if not most of 

 the pines on them have been turpentined or removed. Fires 

 sweep over the sand-hills occasionally, but there is so little 

 grass to burn that not much damage is done, except to trees 

 which have been turpentined. The land is of little value 

 agriculturally, and has few buildings on it other than churches. 

 The following list of plants has been compiled from about 25 

 different sand-hill areas widely distributed over the region. 



25 Quercus Catesbaei 



3 



— 



14 Quercus brevifolia 



3 



— 



1 1 Pinus palustris 



3 



— 



10 Quercus Margaretta 



3-4 



— 



9 Quercus geminata 



4 



— 



1 Crataegus Michauxii? 





white 



1 Diospyros Virginiana 



4-5 



white 



17 Chrysobalanus oblongifolius 



6 



white 



14 Serenoa serrulata 



6 



cream 



13 Polycodium caesium 



4 



white 



7 Ceanothus microphyllus 



4-5 



white 



4 Batodendron arboreum 



5 



white 



4 Gaylussacia dumosa 



4 



white 



5 Clinopodium coccineum 





red 



6 Polygonella Croomii 



9 



white 



3 Asimina angustifolia 



5 



cream 



2 Cholisma ferruginea 



5 



white 



