Ecology of the Cincinnati Region 
161 
drangea arborescens. Where shaded, the moist clay banks are carpeted 
with mosses, Dicranella and Physcomitrium. On older parts of the 
banks, are red elm, sumach, Ostrya, and sugar maple, with sycamore 
and willow in the wetter parts. The succession which is here indicated 
is very rapid. The most trying conditions are light and instability of 
the material. Slides are frequent (dg. gi). Wherever a few trees have 
gained a foothold and the ground is shaded, mesophytes appear, such as 
beech, sugar maple, and ironwood. The tops of these bluffs retain their 
Fig. 31. Steep clay banks support little vegetation; Sharon creek. 
xerophytic character longer than the slopes. They are bordered with 
locust, walnut, Ostrya, and oaks (Qiierciis Miihlenbergii, Q. rubra, Q. 
coccinea, and Q. velutina). In many respects this succession resembles 
that found on clay river bluffs. It differs only in that it is much more 
rapid, because better sheltered. 
