56 PLANT LIFE IN OKLAHOMA. 



States in the region about the Great Lakes. This region has the typical 

 growth of black and white spruce, poplar, canoe birch, aspen, and tama- 

 rack. 



To the southward from the south limit of this spruce forest are 

 marked forest regions extending in a north-south line. These are the 

 Atlantic forest, the Pacific forest, the Rocky Mountain forest, and the 

 forested regions of the Great Basin. The Great Plains region is forestless 

 but not treeless. 



Oklahoma is in part in the forest region of the G-reat Basin and 

 part in the region of the Great Plains. The east one-third of the State 

 lies chiefly in the timibered belt. The southeastern part of the State has 

 a forest growth,' which places ' it in the southern forest belt which is 

 chiefly characterized by the long leaf, short leaf, loblolly, and slash pine. 

 In the northeastern part of the State east of Grand Eiyer and north of 

 the Arkansas is found a tree growth very characteristic of a hardwood 

 forest of the central Mississippi valley. The remainder of the principal 

 timbered region of the State lies within the Sandstone Hills region, except 

 the area in the Arbuckle Mountain and the Cretaceous plains along Eed 

 Eiver. 



A strip 75 miles wide clear across the east side of the State is covered 

 with heavy timber. The northern part of the strip is hard wood. South 

 of Arkansas Eiver it is chiefly pine, hickory, and oak. There are millions 

 and millions of feet of valuable timiber. The pine is of the yellow variety. 

 The hardwood is oak, hickory, walnut, elm, and maple. In the south- 

 eastern part of the State pine timiber is of much more value than the 

 land on which it stands. One lumber company, it is said, owns enough 

 timiber to keep its mills running 30 years if they cut 100,000 feet every 

 day. 



In the western half of the State trees are found usually only along 

 the streams or on the sandhills. The level uplands are grass covered. 

 Cottonwood, elm, haekberry, chinaberry, walnut, willow, dogwood, redbud, 

 soapberry, box elder and mulberry are the chief kinds found. On the flat 

 prairies and along some of the streams in the western part is found the 

 thorny mesquite. Blackjack, barren, post oak, haekberry, hickory, and 

 sumac grow, on the sand hills. On the high plains in the extreme western 

 part of the State there are very few trees even along the streams, but 

 even here an occasional low elm or dwarf cottonwood or willow may 

 .be found. One of the problems which confronts the citizens is to discover 

 what trees may be transplanted and grown in the ttreeless part of the 

 State. The inhabitants desire shade trees and it is important that trees 

 be secured which will meet the conditions. DifiSculty will often be ex- 

 perienced in getting trees started in this region, but many efforts will 

 meet with success. 



The black locust, soft maple or silver maple, box elder or ash leaved 

 maple, the green ash, mulberry, and catalpa are being most widely planted 



