THE COVES. 



Originally these trees were distributed according to their prefer- 

 ences as to soil and moisture and their ability to hold their chosen 

 places against intruders. White Oak followed the deep, loamj^ soil of 

 the hollows; Tulip-tree grew a little higher up, where it mingled on 

 the slopes with Scarlet Oak, Yellow Oak, and Pignut; Chestnut took 

 for its own all the thin, dry, poor soil on the ridges; gums and Red 

 Maple confined themselves to the swampy hollows, Sourwood to the 

 creek slopes; Black Willow clung to the water's edge, and Locust, 

 Persimmon, and Dogwood ranged among the trees on the levels. 



But fire, grazing, and cutting have changed the character of the 

 forest and the distribution of its species. The plateau woodland is 

 now composed mostly of scrubby second-growth, with occasional 

 groups of old White Oak, Scarlet Oak, Chestnut Oak, Black Gum, 

 and Chestnut, many of which are deca} T ed and hollow, and are dead at 

 the top. Repeated fires have destroyed the humus and grazing has 

 killed the underbrush. Few seed-bearing trees are found, and most 

 of the reproduction is by sprouts. No pure stands exist on the plateau. 



THE COVES. 



The coves are irregular in outline, with a series of terraced benches 

 along their sides. They contain hollows within them, which are exten- 

 sions of the cove beyond its main bodj 7 into the plateau. The four 

 coves in the Sewanee spur of the Cumberland Plateau are Rowark 

 Cove, Crownover Cove, Hawkins Cove, and Lost Creek Cove. (PI. II, 

 fig. 2.) 



Only one conifer, Red Juniper, grows in the coves. The broad- 

 leaved trees are as follows: 



Butternut. 



Black Walnut. 



Bitternut (Hickory). 



Shagbark (Hickory). 



Pignut (Hickory). 



Hornbeam. 



Beech. 



Chestnut. 



White Oak. 



Chestnut Oak. 



Cow Oak. 



Red Oak. 



Scarlet Oak. 



Yellow Oak. 



Slippery Elm. 

 White Elm. 

 Cork Elm. 

 Wing Elm. 

 Cucumber-tree. 

 Umbrella-tree. 

 Tulip-tree. 

 Papaw. 

 Sassafras. 

 Witch Hazel. 

 Sycamore. 

 Serviceberry. 

 Scarlet Haw. 

 Black Cherry. 



Redbud. 



Yellow-wood. 



Locust. 



Ailanthus. 



Dwarf Sumach. 



Sugar Maple. 



Yellow Buckeye. 



White Basswood. 



[Flowering] Dogwood. 



Blue Dogwood. 



Black Gum. 



Persimmon. 



Sweetleaf. 



Fringetree. 



The quality of the forest varies in the several coves. Crownover, 

 Hawkins, and Rowark coves are well timbered with good seedling 

 trees, and thej-e is excellent seedling reproduction; but in Lost Creek 

 Cove fire has burned the reproduction and killed or scarred the mature 

 timber. In all the coves the north and northeast slopes are clothed 

 with tall, clear, sound trees, while those on the south and southwest 



