The Flora of the Adirondacks. 69 



Throughout this wildly picturesque region, varied in 

 soil, in altitude, and even in climate, the flora is as diver- 

 sified as the country. In no section of our state can the 

 botanist find a field so rich in choice and beautiful species, 

 yet few regions in the country have been less thoroughly 

 explored by botanists than this. 



If, now, we traverse this region for its plants, commenc- 

 ing at the borders of the Champlain, and making our way 

 toward the heart of the wilderness, we shall find our 

 territory divided into several floral sections or zones, 

 depending on geological formation, the degree of culture 

 to which the country is subjected, and the altitude. These 

 conditions are not, however, entirely independent of each 

 other. 



In our present paper our observations will be confined 

 chiefly to the county of Essex for several reasons. This 

 county embraces a great portion of what is called the 

 wilderness ; it is well known as the most broken and 

 mountainous county in our state. Here are found the 

 highest mountain peaks and the deepest gorges ; and here 

 also is found, perhaps, the finest natural scenery in North 

 America. The wonderful diversity of its forest scenery 

 renders this county particularly attractive to the botanist. 

 Its limits include about twelve hundred square miles, 

 extending along Lake Champlain forty-three miles, and 

 westward into the wilderness forty-one miles. All the 

 mountain ranges north of the Mohawk cross this county 

 in a series of almost parallel ridges extending nearly north 

 and south. Here arise the Hudson, the Ausable and 

 the Saranac rivers, and within the limit of this county 

 are more than one hundred lakes, some of them among 

 the most beautiful sheets of water in the world, imparting 

 great variety to the scenery, while they so modify and 

 reduce the temperature as to produce decided effects upon 

 the vegetation. 



