STEELE NEW PLANTS FROM EASTERN UNITED STATES. 361 



altered. Illinois is a vast empire, and it must not be imagined that 

 it is everywhere alike, yet it is true that over a large part of its area 

 there is scarcely a foot of waste land. In the wooded country the 

 cow takes what the plow omits. The drainage of low grounds is 

 dispossessing the moisture-loving tribes which for a time were com- 

 paratively safe. The now universal practice of mowing the railroad 

 rights of way (where these are not cultivated) is driving the ordinary 

 prairie flora from almost its last refuge. The practice of mowing the 

 roadsides also prevails in advanced communities, and, commendable 

 as it is, it still further diminishes the botanist's resources. 



In spite of all difficulties, I believe it is still possible to collect 

 nearly every plant which belonged to the original Illinois flora. The 

 mowing of the railroads is largely delayed to the latter half of August, 

 and some tracts escape even into September. It is likely also that 

 temporary reservations of select strips could be secured if our scien- 

 tific institutions would take hold of the matter. The railroads which 

 were built before the prairie had been broken are those which chiefly 

 deserve attention. A very fine display of old prairie was observed 

 in 1910 along the Wabash Railroad, especially between Decatur and 

 Springfield. Besides this resort, there are occasional neglected 

 cemeteries and schoolhouse yards which help a little. In broken 

 ground, as the bluffs of the Illinois River, native plants find a certain 

 amount of protection, as do also plants of a certain class on moist 

 flats of streams. 



What has just been said of conditions in Illinois is true or becom- 

 ing true of the whole prairie region and, indeed, with qualifications, 

 of all our better agricultural areas. Already in North Dakota 

 Doctor Lunell speaks of the imminent danger of the loss of species. 

 The case is one which requires prompt action. Vegetable phys- 

 iology can wait, but these plants must be collected now or never. 

 Yet%o slight is the local interest that the University of Illinois is 

 at present offering no instruction in systematic botany, on the 

 ground that there is no demand for it, It should be remembered, 

 however, that the local demand for a study is much regulated by 

 the presence or absence of an enthusiastic representative of the 

 science. At the same time the great botanical establishments of 

 the country are devoting a large part of their energies to the floras 

 of lands which are not even dependencies of the United States. In 

 1909 I collected many undescribed species almost under the eaves 

 of an institution which is engaged upon the flora of South America. 

 One cause of the present neglect is probably the absorbing interest 

 of the young science of plant ecology and the narrow view taken by 

 some of the ecologists. About all the use which the class of students 

 referred to seem to have for taxonomy is to supply them a convenient 

 means of labeling the plants whose adaptations they wish to study. 



