118 Rhodora [JuLy 
There are, in Washington County, at least fifty large and small 
swamps, and many more lakes and ponds. A large number of these 
are located in the glacial drift, which covers large areas in the state, 
and their origin can undoubtedly be traced to the glacial period. 
The topographical features surrounding the Great Swamp are espe- 
cially favorable to the development of a swamp. West and northwest 
of the region, the land is well elevated above the level of Narragansett 
Bay, and the soil, Gloucester stony loam,’ is porous and easily drained. 
The soil north and east of the swamp is of glacial origin and the land 
also well elevated. To the south there is a combination of soils, some 
of glacial origin, and some derived from the country rock. ‘The 
elevations here are not so marked as on the other sides. The swamp 
itself, therefore, is in a basin at least a hundred feet lower than the 
surrounding country, and often more. Within the Great Swamp 
area there are two hills, a little over one hundred and fifty feet in 
height, which partly traverse the swamp in a north and south direction, 
thus offering a ready means of entering the area. On the southern 
edge is Worden's Pond ninety four feet above sea level and at no 
point more than a few feet deep. Its total length is not over two 
miles, and it is a little less than a mile and a quarter wide. Passing 
through the swamp, and entering the pond from the north are two 
streams, the larger called the Chipuxet River. Cutting the western 
half into two nearly equal divisions and serving as a boundary between 
the towns of South Kingstown and Richmond, is the Usquepaugh River, 
which eventually empties into the Pawcatuck River. Swampy land 
extends on both sides of these rivers for a mile and a half north of the 
Great Swamp proper. 
The records of former botanical work done in this area are rather 
scattered and difficult to obtain. The most valuable data of course, 
are from the collections of Olney and Bennett which are largely in the 
Brown University Herbarium. Besides these there are scattered 
specimens from the collections of George Hunt, W. W. Bailey, J. W. 
Congdon and George A. Leland, all of whom have made trips into the 
swamp at rare intervals. There is no systematic record so far as known 
to me, of the flora of the Great Swamp region, and only occasional 
reference is made to it in Bennett’s list of Rhode Island Plants, when 
he includes it in his reference to “South Kingstown.” In two of Mr. 
1 See Soil Survey of R. I. by F. E. Bonsteel and E. P. Carr, Washington, 1905. 
i 
