FORESTS OF LOWER HILLS AND LOWLANDS. 109 
the arid surface soil, spreading over a large part of western Florida 
and southern Georgia. These are covered by very open pine barrens, 
and the latter are inhabited by a number of peculiar herbaceous species. 
Most widely diffused and abundant are: 
Aristida stricta. Koellia nuda. 
Panicum xanthospermum. Ceranthera linifolia. 
Eriogonum tomentosum. Chrysopsis hyssopifolia. 
Coleosanthus cordatus. Eupatorium leptophyllum. 
Eupatorium tortifolium. Eupatorium coronopifolium. 
Eupatorium lecheaefolium. 
Aristida stricta (wire grass) will be spoken of later as an inhabitant 
of the Lower Pine belt. ‘These and other species common to this 
region and the dry pine barrens farther south form a scanty covering 
for the barren sands.’ 
Mesophile forests.—On the lower flanks of the ridges and on the 
lower hills of the Central Pine region the short-leaf pine mingles with 
the long-leaf species and with the frequently named upland oaks and 
hickories, chinquapin (Castanea pumila), and basswood (Zilia hetero- 
phylia). As the declivities merge into the narrow valleys with a 
fresher soil more retentive of moisture, mesophile species gradually 
gain the upper hand. Representative trees are: 
Magnolia foetida (magnolia). Pinus glabra (Southern spruce pine). 
Magnolia macrophylla (large-leaf cucum- Quercus nigra (water oak). 
ber tree). Quercus laurifolia (laurel oak). 
Fagus americana (beech). 
There is a variety of shrubs in the openings and along the borders 
of the forest, among which are: 
Styrax grandifolia (large-leaved storax Aesculus pavia (red buckeye). 
bush). Ilex longipes (holly). 
Illicium floridanum (sweet illicium) . Butneria (Calycanthus) florida (Carolina 
Aesculus parviflora (white-flowered buck- allspice, lowland calycanthus) . 
eye). Chionanthus virginica (fringe tree). 
The first of these is frequent in the Louisianian area from North 
Carolina to Louisiana. In these mesophile forests the same species of 
the liana formation which prevail in the Central Prairie region are 
equally frequent. To the small shrubby climbers are to be added 
Clematis catesbaet, rare from lower South Carolina to Florida and 
known in Alabama only from the vicinity of Suggsville, Clarke County; 
C. reticulata, infrequent from South Carolina to Texas; C crispa, fre- 
quent on low, damp banks southward to the coast plain; and, finally, the 
yellow jessamine (Gelsemium), in damp and dry situations throughout 
the Maritime Pine belt. 
Mesophile and paludial forests of the lowlands.—The lowlands of the 
flood plain of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers and of their larger 
tributaries are heavily timbered. Their first terrace, overflowed only 
