MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 165 



Cornus Amonum, -whose bark is dull and brownish. A terminal twig of C. stolonifera is 

 glabrous, one of C. Amonum is finely pubescent. Drawing it across the lips will demon- 

 strate this. . . . ^ 



Smilax hispida, its stem thickly set with long, slender prickles, as its name indicates, 

 can hardly be confused with Smilax rotundifolia, the prickles of which are stout and 

 scattered. _ _ ■ i 



Yet another important mark of identification to use in winter field work is the fruit. 

 The seed and seed case offer a great many variations in form for generic determination. 

 Berries, drupes, pods, capsules, acorns, nuts, achenes, awois, cones and many other forms 

 can usually be obtained in winter. The only other means of differentiating the two Vi- 

 burnums, Lentago and prunifolium, in winter, is a comparison of their seeds. The stone 

 of prunifolivmi is oval and slightly convex on one side, that of Lentago is flat on both sides 

 and oval or circular. i!'-*l 



In winter field work, the collection of plants standing above the snow, the only ones 

 available, has none of the disadvantages of summer collection. There are no delicate 

 parts to preserve from crushing or wilting until the laboratory can be reached. There 

 are no dense tangles where the foliage conceals a possible way of entrance or passage and 

 where the very species you seek may hide quite securely. Instead, e\'ery plant stands 

 silhouetted clearly against its background of pure white. 



The extent of such a society as winter work can deal with, a society of plants above the 

 snow, can be seen from one viewpoint and very quickly. If, in summer, much tramping 

 about through masking foliage would be necessary to get the same idea of a society's area. 



Bog floras, swamp floras, the littoral and marginal societies of lakes and rivers are as 

 accessible in winter as the society growing about a stone pile in the open field. Places, 

 which in summer are inaccessible by boat or by foot, are easily visited in winter. And it 

 is practically only the lowest stratum of plants, mosses, lichens, algae and ^^rostrate an- 

 nuals, which is denied the winter field worker. 



A system of recording field oljservations is of immense value to a class in l:)otany. . I 

 hardly need state that the knowledge which the student discovers for himself is impressed 

 on his mind with a vividness that cannot be approached by the second-hand method of a 

 text book. Notes taken in the field on field observations about double the value of the 

 work. And systematized recording is, on the face of it, still more valuable. 



A system for recording ecological data which we use at Albion College is this. For 

 each species, when identified, there is a sheet of paper 8 1-2x11, in an index alpha- 

 betically arranged. On the side of the sheet are tabulated, one below another, the 

 various factors which might enter into any plants' environment; such as water, soil, light, 

 ■wind, etc., in their varying forms. For example, under water comes its relation to the 

 plant, its condition,_ its supply. Phases of water relation are dry, moist, wet, littoral, 

 amphibious, floating, submerged; of water condition — running, still, clear, turbid, ooze, 

 stagnant, putrid, impregnated with acids or salts. The sheet is ruled vertically and hori- 

 zontally. Each vertical space is numbered across the top. Now by a system of abbre- 

 viations, the environment of about twenty different individuals of this particular species 

 can be quite accurately noted and, thus tabulated, the normal environment of the species 

 and variations from this normal can be easily determined by the student who collects 

 and tabulates the data. 



A separate record is kept of the environments themselves, a folio being necessary for 

 this. About the same data are collected for a selected locality where all conditions seem 

 to be equal throughout as for the species record with the addition that the blank pro- 

 vides a A'ertical cohunn for recording cho7igcs that may be taking place in any factor and 

 whether this change is seasonal or permanent. Thus the record is rendered dynamic. 

 Record is made of succumbing species in the society of this locality, of dominant species, 

 with reason if apparent, and of any promising successor to the present dominant species. 



A list of the plants forming the society which inhabits the selected environment is also 

 made. Of course such a system as this is just as applicable to summer as to winter field 

 work. 



There are obstacles to botanical work afield in winter. But in any undertaking that is 

 worth while there are difficulties. If one's zeal is high enough, obstacles will be over- 

 ridden and almost unnoticed in their insignificance when facing a real purpose. 



And what can compare with the pleasure of a winter cross-country tramp when the 

 pulse is stung into fiercer pounding by the stimuli of a winter atmosphere and a winter sun? 



In conclusion, I have endeavored to point out some of tlie possibilities 

 in systematic and ecological botanical field work in winter. Different 

 -obstacles might be met, different results attained than I have mentioned. 

 This paper is ])resented simply as a pregnant suggestion. 



Albion, Mich. 



