Environmental Description:  This association is a mesic to dry-mesic calcareous forest occurring over limestone in the Florida Panhandle. It has floristic affinities to calcareous forests of the interior South, but also has many species of the southeastern Coastal Plain, including the palms Sabal minor and Rhapidophyllum hystrix. This and related upland hardwood forests occur on rolling hills that often have limestone or phosphatic rock near the surface and occasionally as outcrops. The soils are generally sandy-clays or clayey sands with substantial organic and often calcareous components. The topography and clayey soils increase surface water runoff, although this is counterbalanced by the moisture retention properties of clays and by the often thick layer of leaf mulch which helps conserve soil moisture and create decidedly mesic conditions. Furthermore, the canopy is densely closed, except during winter in areas where deciduous trees predominate. Thus, air movement and light penetration are generally low, making the humidity high and relatively constant. Because of these conditions upland hardwood and mixed forests rarely burn (FNAI 1990).