D. Babson,

It could be osage orange.  In the antebellum town cemetery at Old Cahawba
(an abandoned town near Selma Alabama) osage oranges (Maclura pomifera)
were planted as a protective fence inside a ditch that surrounded the town
cemetery. (according to newspaper accounts)  Only one of what must have
hundreds or thousands of these trees survives today at this long abandoned
cemtery.


However, I suspect that the wished for plantings in our small family
cemeteries were the evergreen shrub/tree that locals here currently call
cherry laurel, Philadelphus coronarius .  It is sometimes called "English
dogwood."  

There is also a Trifoliate Orange, but I suspect that it didn't become
popular here until after the Civil War.  It too is a good hedge plant, but
was oringally meant to have real oranges grafted onto it.   I always find
this plant in rural African-American cemeteries, and you can't help but
think of the "crown of thorns" when you look at its tangled barbs during the
winter.   

Linda Derry


-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David W
Babson
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 1:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Vegetation and Historic Sites

Are the "Wild Oranges" osage orange?  Often used as a hedge and along
roadsides in Kansas and other Plains states (as at Ft. Riley), but I would
not pick it for a grave border--it grows up into a dense thicket.  It would
serve to hide the grave, if that's a concern.

D. Babson.


________________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Linda Derry
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 1:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Vegetation and Historic Sites

Smoke,

Doesn't poison Ivy thrive more in disturbed areas of the forest? If so ,
large patches could indicate human occupation.

The so called " cedar trees" don't help us much here in the old Cotton Belt,
as it naturally takes over in prairie, if the grassland is not allowed to
burn on a regular basis.  Instead magnolias and many any other "ever green"
tree or shrub are used in graveyards.  Something called "Wild Oranges" is
often mentioned in wills as something antebellum folk wanted planted around
their graves.  Of course , the actually species they are referring to is
debatable.


Linda Derry
Site Director
Old Cahawba
719 Tremont St.
Selma, AL 36701
ph. 334/875-2529
fax. 334/877-4253
[log in to unmask]





-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Smoke
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Vegetation and Historic Sites

The yellow daffodils you refer to are the same as our Jonguils / Day
Lillies.  First thing out in the spring, then the pretty yellow of the
Forsythia bush (sometimes at old house sites) and then the redbud.  We
have Poison Ivy as the the most common ground cover all over the
forest.  Nobody here but city folk would ever wear shorts.  I have
heard tales that the old timers would have an eastern red cedar tree
for each member of the family all picked out as their "coffin tree"
but can not confirm with any historical records.  It is also a very
common tree here in both the towns and forests.


On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Linda Stine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thanks everyone for the info!  I see the same patterns and can add that
> later farmsteads often have small yellow daffodils that come out really
> early, also "cotton tuffs" that are an early version of spirea I think
which
> are white or pink flowered bushes, and the obligatory row of "tiger
lilies"
> in bright orange up the path or drive.  I also see a lot of nut and fruit
> trees.  Anyone really know why cemeteries seem to always have red cedars?
> Soil conditions?  Deliberate planting?  LFS
>
--
Smoke Pfeiffer

Laws do not represent either reason or justice.
They represent force.