most abundant in the Central Basin. Here, it formed 

 forests of considerable area, frequently to the exclusion 

 of all other species. Hemlock, red spruce, and Fraser 

 fir were plentiful in the mountains, the spruce and fir 

 being particularly extensive at elevations above 4,000 

 feet. 



In the main, however, hardwood forests dominated. 

 Oaks, of a dozen or more species, formed the great 

 body of timber from the Mississippi bottoms to the 

 mountains of east Tennessee. White oak, the most 

 valuable tree of this group, grew to enormous size in 



the Tennessee Valley and west Tennessee, and was also 

 common in other parts of the State. Hickories were 

 abundant on all the poorer soils; tupelo and sweetgum 

 flourished in west Tennessee. Chestnut was one of the 

 most common trees of all, forming perhaps 15 percent 

 of the timber in the Highland Rim and the Cum- 

 berland Plateau. The percentage was lower in the 

 Great Valley, but in the mountains chestnut probably 

 comprised as much as one-quarter of the timber (2). 3 

 White ash was plentiful in every part of the State. 



3 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 39 



Figure 6. — Cotton fields and hardwood forests characterize the fertile bottom lands of west Tennessee. (Tenn. Conservation Dept. photo.) 

 Tennessee's Timber Economy 7 



