66 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



with a flora that differs in some respects from that of the rest 

 of the area, but which only sei-ves to emphasize the uniformity 

 of the flora in general. Trees appear never to have flourished 

 here. A few willows and cottonwoods may be found in 

 swampy spots, and oaks have gained a root hold on the sandy 

 ridges, but for the most part, it is a treeless and prairie-like 

 region. 



There are still many areas of considerable size in this re- 

 gion that have never been turned by the plow and still support a 

 virgin flora unspoiled by the operations of the farmer, save for 

 an occasional mowing. This condition, however, is not likely 

 to last much longer for the city is fast encroaching upon it. 

 The soil is being drained, market gardens begin to appear 

 where but recently the sedges and wild grasses held sway, and 

 an occasional dwelling rising out of the mud on stout posts 

 presages the solid blocks of buildings that are to be. 



Having had occasion to traverse several square miles of 

 the most typical part of this plain daily during the past spring, 

 it has seemed to me that a few observations upon the flora are 

 worth while before the spread of the city forever makes such 

 notes impossible. Notwithstanding its nearness to a big city 

 on one hand and to a well forested region on the other, it has 

 many characteristics of its own that are likely to strike the 

 visitor as uncommon. 



As may be inferred from the nature of the soil, the region, 

 is slow to warm up in spring and such species as are common 

 to this and adjacent regions, strongly emphasize the differ- 

 ence in temperature by blooming here from one to two weeks 

 later than elsewhere. That this difference cannot be attri- 

 buted to locality is shown by the fact that when the first 

 flowers open on the plain, the same species not two miles away, 

 but growing on the moraine, are in full bloom. There is a 

 noticeable absence of the flowers of early spring. One looks in 

 vain for such plants as hepatica, bloodroot, adder's tongue. 

 Solomon's seal, trillium, spring cress, rue anemone, and Canada 



