SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 125 



If, then, it is admitted that districts of limited extent do exist, is 

 it unreasonable to believe that several may be distinguished in 

 Maine, a State fully as large as all the rest of JSew England? I 

 am aware that severe, extremely careful and faithful study is needed 

 to define the limits of such districts with anything like accuracy, 

 and I long hesitated about marking out such lines upon the map of 

 Maine. But I am sure of two facts; one, that the effort, although 

 perhaps premature, may induce Maine botanists to explore Aroos- 

 took county in order to satisfy themselves of the truthfulness of 

 these conclusions, and secondly, that such a map will elicit chari- 

 table but impartial criticism as to the expediency of defining such 

 limited districts of vegetation. Although the members of the sur- 

 vey have been able to sketch roughly the limits of various districts 

 in the State, it is thought expedient to defer presenting these lines 

 of definition in this report, exhibiting now only two districts of 

 Northern Maine. The upper fourth of the State is now, owing to 

 the scattered and scanty population, all embraced within one 

 county, Aroostook. It is of this county that I wish to speak par- 

 ticularly at the present time. 



The countr}' lying along the river St. John, from Boundary branch 

 to Grand Falls, is marked by the very frequent occurrence of cer- 

 tain Northwestern plants. And the district comprised by the 

 curved northern limit of Maine and a line drawn from Grand Falls 

 to a point between Baker Lake and Boundary branch will be found 

 to be nearly the range of these plants in our State. This district 

 is so entirely distinct botanically from any other portion of Maine, 

 that its limits can be said with confidence to be clearly defined. 

 The following list of plants maybe considered as comprising the 

 most characteristic species of the St John district: 

 Anemone parviflora, Michx. — Abundant along the main river, in the 



disintegrating slates. 

 Astragalus alpinus, L. — Common in rocky, damp woods. 

 Astragalus sp. ign. — Much resembling A. Robbinsii, Gray, hvit ap- 

 pearing to possess specific differences. Yevy frequent along the 

 shore. 

 Oxytropis sp. ign. — Dr. Gray has examined specimens of this plant, 

 but considered them too mature for proper identification. It 

 agrees pretty well with 0. Uralensis, L., var. b. Quite abundant 

 in moist woods. 

 Artemisia borealis, Mx. — Common in clefts of rocks along the shore, 

 particularly near falls. 



