QUAIL-FOOD PLANTS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES 9) 
16. SWEETGUM 
(Fig. 4, D) 
Sweetgum, often called red gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), is a 
common tree and often abundant in bottom lands. Its star-pointed 
leaves, corky twigs, and pendant, many-horned, spherical fruits are 
distinctive. The winged seeds are a popular fall food for the bob- 
white but appear to be available for only a short season following 
the first hard frosts. 
17. GRAPES 
(Fig. 5, A) 
There are many species of wild grapes (Vitis) and the most im- 
portant as quail foods have not been determined. V. cordifolia and 
V. vulpina are probably valuable because of their prevalence and also 
because of their late ripening. Where they flourish in woods and 
along streams, the vines furnish good refuge cover as well as food. 
18. DEWBERRIES; BLACKBERRIES 
(Fig. 5, A) 
The species of Rubus are numerous. AR. trivialis is the abundant 
southern dewberry of fields and waste places. Thickets of the 
vines provide food for spring and summer and also afford valuable 
cover. 
19. WILD CHERRIES 
(Fig. 5, B) 
Five species of wild cherry (Padus) are found in the Southeast. 
Wild blackcherry (P. virginiana) and chokecherry (P. nana) are the 
most common; the former is a medium-sized or large tree, and the 
latter a shrub or small tree. Quail use both the fresh and dried fruits, 
and, in spring, the germinating seeds. : 
20. BAYBERRIES; WAXMYRTLES 
(Fig. 5, C) 
Of the four species of bayberries in the Southeast, Myrica cerifera 
and M. carolinensis are the most important. They are one of the 
main sources of winter food in parts of the Coastal Plain. 
21. FLOWERING DOGWOOD 
(Fig. 5, D) 
The flowering dogwood (Cynozlyon floridum) has some value for 
winter feeding because of its prevalence, but while many quail learn 
to eat its fruit, the habit is by no means general in all coveys. Even 
in the absence of the showy, white flower bracts or the clusters of 
bright red fruits, flowering dogwood can be easily identified by the 
checkered pattern of its bark—similar to the markings of persimmon 
trunks but shallower. 
22. WILD BEANS 
(Fig. 6, A) 
There are three species of wild bean in the Southeast, two of which, 
Strophostyles helvola and S. wmbellata, are useful as quail food. They 
are twining or trailing beanlike vines of sandy soils. 
