Figure 5. — Typical old-growth bottom-laud hardwood stand with uiiderstory of immature trees. Madison Parish. 



cut, and included in this category is a small area of nonpro- 

 ductive forest bearing a woody growth of noncommercial 

 species such as common adelia or "swamp privet" {For- 

 estiera acuminata), planertree {Planera aquatica), and but- 

 tonbush {Cephalanthys occidentalis). 



Much of the uncut old-growth bottom-land hardwood 

 timber is held in large tracts by industrial owners. One 

 of the more outstanding of these, supporting an exception- 

 ally large volume of high-quality timber, is the Singer 

 tract near Tallulah, in Madison Parish. Although recent 

 sales have reduced its area by half, it still contains about 

 40,000 acres and is one of the large areas of old-growth 

 hardwood timber in the South. The forest on this tract, 

 frequently three-storied, is composed of a mixture of im- 

 portant hardwood species including sweetgum (redgum), 

 tupelos, and cypress. Most of the old-growth timber is 

 overmature and includes considerable cull. On the area 

 recently sold, although most of the merchantable timber is 

 being cut, the residual stand is fairly well stocked, owing to 

 the considerable volume of second-growth timber present. 

 In the Grand Lake region north of Morgan City are vast 

 areas of tupelo (chiefly water tupelo, or "tupelo gum"). 

 Although this timber is not readily marketable at present 

 much of it may be used in the future for cellulose products. 



The forest land in the bottoms has not been classified 

 according to site quality — that is, forest-producing capac- 

 ity — because nearly all of it rates high in this respect. 

 Most of the bottom-land areas are believed to have a 



forest-producing capacity considerably above the average 

 for hardwood sites in the upland and mountainous parts 

 of the South. The exceptions are the poorly drained back- 

 water areas of waxy clay soils in the bottom lands and 

 on the terraces, which support stands of the overcup oak- 

 water hickory type. Even when drained, these soils are 

 usually undesirable for agirculture. 



Rolling Upland Forests 



Of the three principal types of forests on the rolling up- 

 lands, which in all occupy 8)2 million acres, the longleaf 

 and slash pine forests are restricted to the southern part. 

 Upland pine-hardwood and upland hardwood also occur 

 in the southeast and southwest pine units, but more exten- 

 sively in the northwest pine unit. The longleaf-slash 

 pine types occupy 30 percent of the upland forest area, the 

 shortleaf-loblolly pine hardwood type 59 percent, and the 

 upland hardwoods 11 percent. 



Longleaf pine originally grew in practically pure stands 

 chiefly in Vernon, Beauregard, Allen, Rapides, and adjoin- 

 ing Parishes in the southwest part of the State, and in 

 Washington and St. Tammany Parishes in the eastern 

 tip. Here was once found some of the choicest virgin 

 longleaf pine timber of the South. Entire sections are 

 reported to have averaged more than 20 M board feet per 

 acre, Scribner scale. Like parks or groves, the virgin 

 longleaf pine forests had little or no undergrowth or repro- 

 duction (fig. 7); and the trees, which were tall and clear- 



10 



