DAVIS ON FLORA OF LAKES. . 25 



Professor Reighard of the University of Michigan to which attention will 

 be called later. 



Prof. Charles F. Wheeler of the Michigan Agricultural College and 

 Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, have made a careful examination 

 of the Metasperniae of Pine Lake, near Lansing, and with most satis- 

 factory results, adding to our knowledge of the geographical distribution 

 of certain rare plants, some of them new to our flora, and finding the lake 

 an exceptionally rich field, about fifty species of aquatics being recorded 

 from it. Rev. E. J. Hill, of Engelwood, 111., has made a careful and 

 systematic study of the plants along the shores of Lake Michigan and the 

 adjacent region, and of the Naidaceae in particular, and has added much 

 to our knowledge of the distribution and character of the Michigan 

 species of those polymorphous plants, by publishing his notes relating to 

 them from time to time in the botanical periodicals. Dr. Thomas Morong 

 made collecting trips into Michigan in search of aquatic plants, the re- 

 sults of which are embodied in his monumental work on the North Ameri- 

 can Xaidaceae. Dr. D. H. Campbell made a study of the plants of the 

 Detroit River in 1880. Mr. O. A. Farwell, now of Detroit, made an ex- 

 tensive study of the plants of Keweenaw county, including the aquatics, 

 bringing to our knowledge among other interesting species the Myriophyl- 

 lum which now bears his name. Mr. C. K. Dodge, of Port Huron, has 

 collected for a number of years along Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River 

 and neighboring waters and sends me a considerable list of species of 

 flowering plants which he has found in those bodies of water. 



Supt. H. T. Blodgett, of Ludington, has made some study of the flora 

 of Hamlin Lake in Mason county, and the small lakes in that vicinity* 

 which prove themselves rich in aquatic plants by the species which he 

 lias found. Messrs. Beardslee and Kofoid have collected in various parts 

 of less settled portions of the Lower Peninsula, particularly in Cheboy- 

 gan county; and Mr. S. H. Camp, of Jackson, has made limited collections 

 of aquatics in the course of general collecting. Mr. G. H. Hicks, Dr. W. 

 J. Beal and doubtless nearly all other botanical collectors of the State 

 should be added to the list, as occasional collectors of the plants of our 

 lakes to a greater or less extent. 



The result of this work is that we have a general and rather diffuse 

 knowledge of about a hundred species of the Metasperniae, more than 

 half of which it is safe to say that not a half dozen botanists in the State 

 would recognize at sight, if he found them. The main fact that we know 

 of them is that they are reported to occur within the boundaries of the 

 State, in some cases, augmented by the less perfect knowledge that they 

 occur at intervals over a considerable portion of it, but it may be truth- 

 fully said, I think, that there our knowledge ends in the case of the most 

 of these species. The work done has been largely finding and recording 

 species and there it has ended. 



Such work has a decided scientific value undoubtedly, and should not 

 be underrated, and certainly is not by me, but with only our catalogue of 

 names we surely have a very meager and unsatisfactory knowledge of the 

 plants of our lakes. A careful study of the various lists of plants of the 

 State, however, brings to light a number of interesting facts. It shows 

 that comparatively few of our lakes have been even visited by botanists, 

 and still fewer have been thoroughly searched. It shows that several of 

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