Ecology of the Cincinnati Region 
191 
Above this are a number of belts composed largely of xerophytic per¬ 
ennials, among which Desmanthus illinocnsis is the most abundant. Other 
plants commonly found on such banks are Baptisia australis, Apocynum 
cannabium, Tecoma radicans, Salix longifolia (low bushes), Echinochloa 
Crusgalli, Panicum dichotomidorum, Aster ericoides, Xanthium canadense, 
and Ipomoea hederacea. These belts, with increasing density, and larger 
plants, extend upward about forty feet, or to the foot of the sudden rise 
bordering the flood plain. They correspond to the second and third zones 
of other shores. 
Fig. 46. A steep rocky river bank near North Bend on which Desmanthus illinoensis 
and Baptisia australis are common. 
On the low steep banks bordering the flood plain is a zone of trees, 
not marginal trees, but the bluff trees—red elm, hackberry, black locust, 
scarlet thorn (Crataegus coccinea), and honey locust. 
Although submerged at some periods of the year, the plants of the 
rocky shores are not hydrophytes. During the summer months, these 
banks are dry. They are in some ways similar to the high cobblestone 
shores. The perennials of such localities are deeply and strongly rooted. 
