TREES AND SHRUBS OF PRAIRIE REGION. 101 
of succeeding generations, notably on a plantation near Faunsdale, 
Dallas County. Generally this tree has disappeared with the oak forest 
on the fertile lands, and is at present found only in the small groves 
of oaks saved from destruction to shade the grounds around the dwell- 
ings of the planters. The nutmeg hickory, when full grown, resembles 
the shagbark hickory in its pale, shreddy bark, but it is readily dis- 
tinguished from the latter by the silvery hue of the lower surface of 
the leaves and the smaller fruit, with a thin epicarp inclosing the per- 
fectly smooth nut, which simulates the nutmeg in size and shape. By 
the discovery of the nutmeg hickory in this region, and of its exten- 
sion into Mississippi, the northern limit of the distribution of this tree 
from the Atlantic slope in South Carolina to Texas and northern 
Mexico, following with hardly any deviation, the same parallel of lati- 
tude, is now clearly established. 
Of trees of smaller size the pawpaw (Astmina triloba), redbud ( Cer- 
cis canadensis), Carolina buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana), and of 
shrubs the spice bush (Benzoin (Zaurus) benzoin), form the undergrowth 
and frequent the openings. Vétcs aestivalis, the vigorous summer 
grape, Vites cinerea, Vitis rotundifolia, the slender-stemmed bullace 
grape, and the supple jack (Berchemia volubilis), ascend the highest 
trees without visible support below the lofty summits, where these 
members of the liana formation spread out their branches, and under 
a fuller exposure to the sun unfold their flowers and ripen their fruit. 
With these are associated a number of others of the same plant 
formation, namely: ; 
Bignonia crucigera (cross vine). Ampelopsis arborea (Vitis bipinnata Torr. 
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia & Gr.) (pepperidge vine). 
creeper) . Ampelopsis cordata. 
Tecoma radicans (trumpet vine). 
These vigorous woody climbers cover with their festoons the borders 
of these forests as it were with an impenetrable curtain of green. 
Smaller woody and herbaceous perennial climbers entangling the 
bushes and smaller trees are: 
Smilax bona-nox (greenbrier) . Cebatha carolina, 
Smilaz: laurifolia (greenbrier) . Aristolochia tomentosa. 
Smilax lanceolata (greenbrier) . Calycocarpum lyonii (cup vine). 
Brunnichia cirrhosa. Schizandra coccinea. 
The last is a type of the Louisianian area, sparsely distributed from 
South Carolina to northwestern Louisiana. Nowhere is the poison 
ivy (Rhus radicans) found of more luxuriant growth and in greater 
abundance than in the openings of the damp forests. Taking a firm 
hold in the bark of trees with its innumerable rootlets, the stem creeps 
up to the top of the highest trunks, which are completely hidden by 
the long horizontal branches of this creeper when covered with their 
soft, rich foliage. 
