76 Bulletin 1, Biological Society of Washington, 1918. 



ville, Md.), and to attempt to throw some light upon a ques- 

 tion, inspired by consideration of these bogs, that is: Why 

 we have no pine barrens in our region, nor indeed anywhere 

 in the Maryland Coastal Plain? 



By way of introducing what at first thought may impress 

 the reader as rather unrelated topics for discussion, I pre- 

 sent a quotation relating to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, 

 from Dr. Witmer Stone, than whom there is no closer student 

 of the Pine Barrens of that State, and with whom the writer 

 esteems himself fortunate to have made two visits to this 

 most interesting region. 



In his account of Polygala lutea, in that model local flora, 

 "The Plants of Southern New Jersey," 49 Dr. Stone says : 

 "This is one of the showiest plants of the Pine Barrens, one 

 of those that render the region so strikingly different from 

 the uplands beyond the fall line. I well remember my first 

 visit to the Pines, when the low moist spots were all dotted 

 with the brilliant heads of the Polygala, with here and there 

 stalks of white-fringed orchis, and the small orange-fringed 

 orchis, so like the Polygala in color, with Xyris and Eri- 

 ocaulon and a host of other things hitherto unknown. The 

 mosquitos and heat were nothing when such a natural flower 

 garden lay before one's eyes, and the poor flora of my upland 

 pastures seemed to sink into insignificance beside sudh 

 riches." 



Dr. Stone has here given us a vivid picture of his first 

 impression of the Pine Barrens, and when the reader realizes 

 that the same combination of plants Dr. Stone mentions 

 may be seen in our own Magnolia bogs, as those at Odenton 

 and Suitland, the query will seem less strange — why have 

 we no pine barrens? 



To proceed with the details of the discussion, which neces- 

 sitates description of typical Magnolia bogs, I will begin 

 with the general surroundings of 'my favorite group — the 

 Powdermill Bogs. These lie near the here sharply defined 

 inner border of the Coastal Plain, and two of the four 

 indeed lie on top of what is really a Piedmont Hill. The 

 Coastal Plain country here is strikingly different from the 



*>Ann. Rep. ~n7 jTstate" Museum, 1910 (1911), p. 520. 



