1900] Averill, — Trees in western Connecticut 35 
interest. ‘They should be taken, however, as a preliminary reconnais- 
sance, and not as an attempt to fix definitely the bounds of the species. 
From an elevation of about 690 feet at Canaan, the river descends 
to the sea at Stratford, a distance of about eighty miles. It is throughout 
a beautiful stream, and the wooded condition of the hills on either 
side gives a wild aspect to its scenery. But little large timber is seen, 
as may be expected in a region abounding in lime and containing 
some iron ore. 
Where the Still River enters the Housatonic, Acer dasycarpum is 
seen on the alluvial deposits and at other places in the town of New 
Milford, particularly in the vicinity of the village of the same name. 
At Kent it is known as the * river maple." It is common all the way 
up to Sheffield, Mass., wherever there is any considerable deposit of 
alluvial soil and is confined to this soil. 
The Cottonwood, Populus monilifera, is found along the river from 
tide water to Pittsfield, Mass. It occurs sometimes at a distance of a 
mile or two therefrom, along highways and open places, but I have 
not seen it in the woods. 
In RHODORA, i. 39, I noted Populus balsamifera growing along the 
river in New Milford. It appears to have.been introduced. Recently 
I went over this ground with Mr. E. H. Austin, to whom I am indebted 
for much valuable information about the plants of that region. The 
trees are extended along the river for a distance of five or six miles, 
but have evidently been derived from a tree set out about sixty or 
more years ago in front of a house on the east bank about a mile south 
of Kent village. The original tree has been cut down, but an old lady 
was found who could remember it. We could get no information as 
to where it came from. The rapid spread of the tree is interesting, 
and would be possible only in a tree of rapid growth. I counted the 
rings in a stump cut off near the ground and about thirty-two inches 
in diameter. ‘There were thirty-two, showing an increase in diameter 
of an inch per year. 
Two trees, the canoe birch and the larch, show the effect of altitude 
and latitude in their distribution. Going northward from the coast, the 
canoe birch, Betula papyrifera, is first seen in the northern part of New 
Milford, where it is common, and from thence north it is a conspicuous 
tree on many of the hillsides. In the Berzelius List of Plants within 
thirty miles of New Haven it is given as rare, with three localities speci- 
fied, viz., Maltby Park, near New Haven, Wallingford, and Wading 
River, Long Island. 
