MISC. PUBLICATION SOS, U. S. DEPT. OF' AGRICULTURE 
under natural conditions. The rotation of legumes with nonlegumes 
for soil enrichment is also a common practice. In Taiwan (For- 
mosa), according to E. Kent Beattie, alders are included in the rota- 
tion of rice fields in much the same manner, presumably for the bene- 
fit derived from the nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the shrub's roots. 
In general, plants producing such nodules are able to live in very 
poor soils, since lack of nitrogen is not as gi-eat a factor in their 
success as it may be for other plants. For this reason the leguminous 
plants are particularly satisfactory for planting on poor, eroded 
land, the soil of which will with difficulty support other plants. 
Many legumes are unsuccessful on acid soils, doing better on neutral 
or alkaline soils, where calcium appears to be of importance m the 
nutrition of the bacteria of the nodules. This is not always true, 
however, as in Lupinm. 
There are a number of exceptions to the rule that nodule forma- 
tion caused by RMzobium occurs in all leguminous plants. Those 
of interest here are Cercis canadensis^ CReditsia tnaCanthoSy and 
Gymnocladiis dioica {13) . The question at once arises whether these 
species enrich the soil since they bear no nodules. According to 
L. T. Leonard, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, as well as other 
authorities, they probably do not. The synonymity of legimies and 
nitrogen fixers is by no means certain ; possibly there are many more 
legumes that do not fix nitrogen. 
EXPLANATION OF THE LIST 
SCOPE 
In the alphabetical list are considered all species of woody plants 
known to grow in the continental United States and on the Cali- 
fornia islands, with the following exceptions : 
1. Plants of the soutliern, subtropical portion of Florida. 
2. In general, species not woody throughout ; that is, woody only at the base. 
3. Species not native to the United States, unless definitely known to have 
become naturalized to such an extent as to prove their ability to compete 
with native species. 
4. The cacti, since, as Britton and Schafer {HI) have said, stem structure 
is such that no criterion other than size is available to determine which to 
include as trees or shrubs and which to regard as herbs.* 
5. Species of parasitic or partially parasitic habit, as PJioradendron, Razoum- 
ofskya, Pyndaria, since growing or using them presents difficulties that in 
effect exclude them from planting programs. 
6. Hybrid forms, except for occasional mention under the parent species. 
LATIN NAMES AND SYNONYMS 
The species making up the list of woody plants have been selected 
from two sources: (1) Eegional and local floras, and (2) monographs 
of families or genera. But from whatever manual or monograph 
the names were taken, a decision had to be made regarding the 
proper name to use, since taxonomists are not alwaj^s agreed on the 
correct technical name. Furthermore, manuals published earlier in 
the century, but still in common use, employ names not in accepted 
* Cacti, especially the opuntias, have been used with considerable success in controlling 
gully heads. The stem sections are simply dumped into the eroding gully, and on taking 
root they form thickets that contribute materially to the control of the eroding soil. 
Many species are very important as a source of food and water for desert animals. As 
some 20 species of mammals and a like number of birds have been observed to eat cacti, 
their importance to wildlife appears to be considerable. 
