KINDS OF (JKOWTH. 



15 



growth of small white and })ost oaks, dogwood, haws and the nar- 

 row-leaved crab-apple, while where the soil is very sandy and dry 

 there grows, either with the long-leaf pine, or where it has been 

 removed, a small woi'^hless oak, the sand black-jack or barren oak 

 (Quercus ( 'a/cs5ae/ Michx.), and less freqnently the high-ground wil- 

 low oak (Quercus chierca ^Michx.). This oak is also a small tree and 

 indicates the most barren soil. Besides the pines just referred to, 

 there are two others found with them, the short-leaf pine (P. ecJii- 

 iiata Mill.), an uncommon tree except on dark loam or gravelly soil 

 along the western and northern limits of this section, and the 

 savanna pine (P. serotina Michx.), a knotty, unsymmetrical tree 

 occurring from Virginia southward along the margins of "pine bar- 

 ren" ponds or scattered in small clumps over the open savannas 

 and marsh lands. These few species form the chief growth of the 

 higher lands. 



The swamp lands, with a total area of about 3,500 square miles, 

 have a very characteristic and varied growth. Bordering these 

 swamps are water and willow oaks, with the evergreen loblolly 

 bay and sweet bay ; farther in them are huge swamp chestnut oaks 

 (Quercus Michauxii Nutt.), elms, maples, beech, holly and tall rose- 

 mary pines (P. Taeda L.). These lands constitute the oak flats, areas 

 which are under water only during the wettest seasons of the year. 

 They have usually a good soil and can be easily drained. 



AVhere the water is deeper in the sw^amps and remains longer 

 grow the cypress, sweet gum, black gum, tupelo and yellow poplar. 



In the mud swamps along the larger streams there are, besides 

 cypress and gums, ash, overcup oak, cottonwood, sycamore and 

 •hackberry. Mixed with the other swamps, but covering less area 

 and occurring only on sandy or peaty soil, are white cedar swamps, 

 or "juniper bays,'' as they are usually called. The tree growth 

 in these is largely and often entirely juniper or white cedar 

 (Cliamaecyparis spheroiclea Spach.) and white bay (Magnolia glauca 

 L.). In the extreme eastern part of this section, in the immediate 

 vicinity of the sea-coast, there is a characteristic arborescent flora 

 of red cedars and live oaks, while along its southern limits the 

 palmetto and American olive (Olea am.ericana L.).give it a semi- 

 tropical aspect. On the other hand, as the clay and loam of the 



