CIRCULAR No. 412 OCTOBER 1936 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 
GROUPS OF PLANTS VALUABLE FOR WILDLIFE 
UTILIZATION AND EROSION CONTROL 
By W. L. McArer, technical adviser and research specialist, Office of the Chief, 
Bureau of Biological Survey 
CONTENTS 
Page | Page 
MAPROMU CHOU eee eae eee ey ee 1 | Plants utilized by wildlife—Continued. 
Riantis wializedsbyawil dlifes= = oe 2: | SCCOEDRO GU CES eee ee u 
Coversplants2 =a: weet ee ee 3 | Plants useful to wildlife that have been recom- 
[BYRON SO JO MIT a ee 4 | mended for erosion control_________________ 8 
CT DAS Cea ee ee eee eS 5 | Crop and pasture plants_____________________ 8 
INTAS Gap RO GLU COTS eee ee eee 6 | Wainesishrubs an dstreeses eae ee fe) 
STITT GEO GO CU CORS ees ee eae ee ee rj] Abas Oi job ang ss Se eT ee 9 
[ENERO DUCELEON 
The American public now realizes the evils of soil erosion and is 
inclined to do everything possible to remedy them. Among methods 
of controlling erosion, the establishment and maintenance of vege- 
tative cover on the soil is favored as being simple and effective, eco- 
nomical and lasting. Although plants vary in efficiency as soil 
binders, almost any of them is of some use. Where vegetative cover 
is to be restored by planting, choice will be limited in most. cases by 
the character of the existing ground surface. If this is badly eroded, 
relatively few plants are ‘adapted to growth there. Fortunately, 
among the pioneering types are some that are of value to wildlife. 
For example, on Cecil clay loam, a soil of the piedmont section of 
North Carolina that is often seriously eroded, Lee,’ a soil surveyor 
of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, reports that— 
Abandoned fields first grow up in broom-sedge and brambles, followed the 
second year by sassafras and sumac bushes, and yellow pine, and in a few 
years, except on badly eroded areas, there is a good stand cf pine. Forested 
areas support a fair or good growth of white, red, black, posty scarlet, and 
chestnut oaks, shortleaf or yellow pine, spruce, pitch, and white pines, hickory, 
biack gum, yellow poplar, dogwood, and a few persimmon, locust, sourwood, 
black walnut, white elm, sweet gum, red cedar, end hemlock trees. 
Commenting on these plants, in the order named, it may be said 
that broomsedge affords good cover, and brambles (that is dew- 
berries. blackberries. and the like) provide both cover and food for 
small forms of wildlife, including cottontail rabbits, quail, and other 
game species. Sassafras and sumac fruits are eaten by many birds 
tier, W. D., and Bacon, S. R. SOL SURVEY OF BURKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 
U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem.-.and Soils, Ser. 1926, no. 22, p. 16. 1930. 
78720°—36 
