VEGETATION OF LOWER COOSA HILLS. 67 
the undergrowth. Among the associations of herbaceous xerophile 
plants, which cover the exposed slopes and brows of these hills, the 
pea family with its bush clovers, tick-trefoils, etc., is most numer- 
ously represented in species as well as in individuals, while the Car- 
duaceae present a number of golden asters, golden-rods, and blue asters, 
common throughout the mountain regions. Characteristic species are: 
Lespedeza hirta. Meibomia bracteosa. 
Lespedeza capitata. Strophostyles helvola. 
Lespedeza frutescens. Cracca virginiana. 
Lespedeza virginica. Psoralea pedunculata. 
Lespedeza nuttallii. Chrysopsis mariana. 
Meibomia obtusa. Chrysopsis graminifolia. 
Meibomia rigida. Solidago ovata, etc. 
Meibomia marilandica, Aster undulatus. 
Meibomia glabella. Aster patens. 
On the summit of the ridges between Shoal Creek, east of St. Clair 
County, at an altitude of about 1,000 feet, Zlex monticola and But- 
neria fertilis (Calycanthus glaucus), both at home on the Alleghenian 
ranges from about New York to South Carolina, are strangely asso- 
ciated with the Carolina ash (Praxinus platycarpa) from the swamps 
of the Coastal plain, here inhabiting the wet banks of brooks, and 
form an interesting group of mesophile shrubs. In rocky but some- 
what rich soil on these ridges various species of blueberries abound 
beneath the hardwood trees, especially Vaccinium vacillans, a low, 
bushy form of V. corymboswm, and V. melanocarpum, the so-called 
wild gooseberry, remarkable for its large fruit. The berries of the 
last are of the size of a small garden gooseberry, of a shining plum 
purple, almost black color, juicy and palatable, and eagerly consumed 
by man and animals. This shrub, from 24 to nearly 4 feet high, 
when in bloom is at once recognized by the abundance of its strictly 
racemose flowers, and when bending under the burden of its fruit pre- 
sents a pretty sight. The berries ripen in the latter part of July. It 
is sparsely distributed over other parts of the mountain region, and 
occurs also. in the Ozark Hills of the same geological formation in 
southwestern Missouri. 
Where the floor of the Coosa rests upon the Silurian dolomites and 
subcarboniferous limestones, and the same strata form the first terraces 
of the hills, the soil is highly fertile. The flora is rich in the number 
of herbaceous species, belonging to many familiesand partly of cam- 
pestrian and partly of sylvestrian character, and it stands in strong 
contrast with the flora of the arid rocky hills. In early spring Hepatica 
hepatica and Syndesmon thalictroides adorn the shelves. The meso- 
phile association of herbs, mostly perennials, is particularly attractive 
during later spring and the earlier part of the summer, on account of 
the bright flowers of the Indian pink (Spzgelia marilandica), the scarlet 
flower of the catchfly (Stene virginica), the purple flowers of Phlox 
