In 1836, John Holbrook (1836) described and distinguished Coluber alleghaniensis and Coluber quadrivittatus of the eastern United States, both of which he considered distinct from the previously described Coluber obsoletus found to the west. Holbrook noted many differences between the two forms he described, and especially noted the differences in color pattern (alleghaniensis was solid black; quadrivittatus was yellowish with brown stripes), their distribution (quadrivittatus was found on the coastal plain, from at least North Carolina to Florida, whereas alleghaniensis was found “throughout the Alleghanies,” which at the time referred to the entire Appalachian Mountain range), and habits (Holbrook considered quadrivittatus to be more arboreal than alleghaniensis). Despite these differences, however, in the second edition of his North American Herpetology, Holbrook (1842:91) followed his description of C. quadrivittatus with this comment:
“Schlegel thinks this snake may prove identical with Coluber Alleghaniensis, to which, indeed, it bears considerable resemblance in form; but its colours are entirely different and are constant; its habitats and geographical distribution are not the same; the Coluber Alleghaniensis lives constantly on the ground, but the Coluber quadrivittatus I have met with on trees; one belongs to the mountains, the other lives on the plains.”