THE PLANT LIFE OF ELLIS, GREAT, LITTLE, AND 

 LONG LAKES IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



By William H. Brown. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The study of the flora of Ellis, Great, Little, and Long lakes, North 

 Carolina, was carried on from the United States Fisheries Laboratory 

 at Beaufort, in that State, during the summer of 1908. The field 

 work was done during the months of July and August, and the collec- 

 tions were worked over at the laboratory at Beaufort. My thanks 

 are due to Mr. Henry D. Aller, director of the Fisheries Laboratory at 

 Beaufort, for placing every possible convenience at my disposal, and 

 to Mr. George A. Nicoll and Mr. William Dunn, of Newbern, North 

 Carolina, for the use of their hunting camp, boats, and equipment 

 while doing the field work. I am also indebted to Profs. D. S. John- 

 son and B. E. Livingston, of the Johns Hopkins University, for 

 valuable suggestions and criticisms. 



The four lakes form a compact group situated in the eastern coastal 

 plain of North Carolina, about 10 miles north of Bogue Sound. The 

 region around the lakes is very flat and has a gray, loamy soil. Owing 

 > - t *i-J i he flatness of the country the rain water does not run off 

 rapidly but stands on the soil and makes a large part of it swampy. 

 The only cultivated land near any of the lakes is a small patch near 

 but not bordering on Lake Ellis. The rest of it is covered with either 

 forest or low pocosin. The latter is a region kept almost clear of 

 trees by forest fires and covered with an almost impassable growth 

 of small bushes and briars. 



The water supply of the lakes is obtained from the rain, either 

 directly or through the neighboring swampy country. The depth of 

 the water in the lakes depends on the amount of rainfall ; but as the 

 soil of the surrounding flat country is porous and covered with a 

 dense growth, the water is held back, and there is a more or less 

 constant supply. 



The natural outlets can not be seen from the lakes themselves, but 

 are swamps leading to a stream. Canals have been dug from Lake 

 Ellis and Long Lake. All the lakes drain to the Neuse River, but 



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