FOREST 



RESOURCES 



O F 



SOUTHEASTERN 



TEXAS 



Description of the Forest 



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THE forests of this unit are formed pre- 

 dominantly of three associations of species. 

 Best known is the longleaf pine forest, 

 which extends westward from the Sabine River 

 through Newton, Jasper, Tyler, and Polk Coun- 

 ties, with small disconnected areas in adjacent 

 counties. Bordering the longleaf (and often merg- 

 ing into it) is the shortleaf-loblolly-hardwood 

 forest, which covers the entire western and north- 

 ern parts of the unit, and on the south forms a belt 

 between the longleaf area and the coastal prairie. 

 Third is the hardwood association, occurring as 

 bottom-land hardwoods along the main rivers, 

 such as the Sabine, Neches, and Trinity, and as 

 upland and scrub hardwoods in scattered tracts 

 throughout the pine stands. 



For convenience in description, the forest has 

 been classified (1) as to forest type on the basis of 

 association of tree species, and (2) as to forest 

 condition on the basis of stand, age, and cutting 

 history. 



Forest-Tjype Groups 



The longleaf pine group includes pure longleaf. 

 longleaf-loblolly, longleaf-shortleaf, and longleaf- 

 hardwood types (see map at end of report). 

 Of these, the pure type is most common, domi- 

 nating 9 percent (table 2) of the forest area, or 

 approximately 600,000 acres, located mainly in 

 the rolling uplands of Newton, Jasper, Tyler, and 

 Polk Counties. The mixed types are a result of 

 full or partial cutting of longleaf followed by an 

 influx of other species and are often composed of a 

 residual stand of longleaf in mixture with second- 

 growth shortleaf, loblolly, and hardwoods. These 

 mixed types are common along the western and 

 northern boundaries of the lonsjleaf belt. 



The shortleaf-loblolly-hardwood group includes 

 pure shortleaf pine, pure loblolly, shortleaf- 

 loblolly, shortleaf-hardwood, and loblolly-hard- 

 wood types. This group of types covers 60 

 percent of the forest area of the unit, or approxi- 

 mately 4 million acres. Loblolly, pure or in 

 mixture with hardwoods, is the prevailing type in 

 southeastern Montgomery County, in Liberty, in 

 the western part of Hardin, and in Orange County. 

 In the western and northern counties of the unit, 

 shortleaf pine takes a more important place in the 

 association. All of the types in this group occur 

 on all topographic situations. Both the shortleaf 

 and loblolly types are common in the rolling hill 

 country, but loblolly seems to thrive best in the 

 flatwoods along the coast. Adaptable to all sites 

 and reproducing abundantly, this group is des- 

 tined to have an increasing acreage in this unit. 



The hardwood group consists of the upland- 

 hardwood, bottom land-hardwood, scrub-hard- 

 wood, and cypress-tupelo types. Combined they 

 make up about 26 percent of the forest area. 

 Most important is the bottom land-hardwood type, 

 totaling slightly over 1 million acres. It occurs 

 along the Sabine, Neches, Trinity, and smaller 

 rivers. Red and black gum, red and white oaks, 

 magnolia, ash, and cypress are commonly found 

 in these bottoms. Approaching the coast, these 

 species are sometimes replaced by stands of the 

 cypress-tupelo type, which terminates at the 

 marshes. This type covers about 50,000 acres, 

 mostly along the Sabine and Neches Rivers. The 

 upland-hardwood type is composed of mixed 

 hardwoods, such as post oak, southern red oak, 

 black oak, red and black gum, and hickory. This 

 type occurs in small areas scattered throughout the 

 unit, probably achieving its best development in 

 the "redlands" belt of Sabine and San Augustine 



