1. A small tract of rare ferns in Dismal Swamp south of US 158. 



2. The sandy "islands" north of US 158 in the Dismal Swamp National 

 Wildlife Refuge. 



3. The remnant marsh at the mouth of Corapeake Swamp in the Dismal, 



4. The rest of the Gates County portion of the Dismal Swamp National 

 Wildlife Refuge. 



5. Merchants Mill Pond State Park. 



6. The publicly owned lands in Chowan Swamp. 



7. The small remnant areas of lon^eaf pine and turkey oak in the Sand 

 Banks . 



These areas are summarized in detail in the following report. 



VEGETATION AND LAND-USE TYPES IN GATES COUNTY 



1. UPLAND OAK FORESTS: originally a major type, rare now, with only 

 scattered small remnants. 



2. LONGLEAF PINE ( Pinus palustris ) and Longleaf pine /turkey oak/heath: 

 originally the dominant upland communities of the county, on well- 

 drained loams as well as deep sand soils. Now gone except for small 

 remnants in the Sand Banks owned by the Story and Vaughan families. 



3. BEECH SLOPES: once bordered all of the streams wherever high, steep 

 slopes occurred. Many small remnants, the principal one at Merchants 

 Mill Pond. 



4. UPLAND POCOSINS OR CAROLINA BAYS: (Whiteoak, Black Mingle, Hall 

 Pocosins) now mostly drained and converted to loblolly pine 

 plantations. 



5. SWAMP FORESTS: 



A. ATLANTIC WHITE CEDAR: Once occurred in pure stands in Dismal 

 and Chowan Swamps, All gone now except for scattered trees and 

 a small stand of about 5 acres owned by Weyerhauser Corporation 

 south of US 158. This portion of the Dismal has recently been 

 extensively ditched and drained, so, once removed by logging or 

 fire, this stand will not reproduce itself. 



B. BALDCYPRESS /BLACK GUM: This was the dominant swamp forest, with 

 the following major variations: cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) over 

 tupelo ( Nyssa aquatica ) in areas with permanently standing water, 

 and cypress over black gum ( Nyssa sylvatica biflora) in the 

 larger, less wet areas. This community has reproduced itself well 

 in Chowan Swamp and along stream swamps, but it will take 

 several centuries to regain its full stature because of the long 



