tend to be intense, sometimes burning deep into the peat, resulting in small lakes and ponds. Wildfires occurring about once a decade tend to cause pond pines to dominate over other trees, and cane (Arundinaria) rather than shrubs to dominate the understory. More frequent fires result in a pyrophytic shrub understory. Annual fires prevent shrub growth and thin the pond pine forest cover, creating a flooded savanna with grass, sedge, and herb groundcover. Etymology The word pocosin comes from an Eastern Algonquian word meaning "swamp-on-a-hill." The city of Poquoson, Virginia, located in the coastal plain of Virginia (see Tidewater region of Virginia) derives its name from this geographic feature. References External links Detailed Ecological Description of Basin Pocosin Communities Ecology Ecoregions of the United States Wetlands of North Carolina Wetlands of Virginia Wetlands of South Carolina Pocosins