MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. Ill 



Lake and Fox Lake, are large patches of Viola fimbriatula, blooming in 

 April and May, when one or two inches high, but in fruit becoming a robust 

 plant with leaves six inches long. Here, too, is found Bartonia tenella, an 

 odd looking plant, very inconspicuous. Mixed throughout the plants of 

 these beaches, Xyris montana and flexuosa abound; so common is the 

 latter in Mud Lake bed that whole areas are yellow in the morning hours, and 

 alongside will be a white patch of Eriocaulon or Rhyncospora alba, with 

 here and there a great bunch of R. corniculata. A sandy spit on Crooked 

 Lake yields Dasystoma pedicularia in masses, and further south on the same 

 lake Polygala polygama grows the finest cleistogamous flowers ever seen. 

 On Round Lake Elatine abounds in the mud in about one-half inch of water. 



The last region to bear special mention is the steep, often precipitous 

 wooded bank bordering Cable and Crooked lakes on the south shores. Pera- 

 miuni pubescens occurs once in a small cluster, Pyrola secunda is frequent, 

 Cornus circinata is occasional, Campanula rotundifolia is exceedingly abund- 

 ant, looking far different from the cliff form of northwestern Illinois. Here 

 too Amalanchico Canadensis makes gay in spring and bears very large crops 

 of fine fruits in July. 



In addition to the isolated cases mentioned above a numl^er more may be 

 added, overlooked or of doubtful plant association. Lycopodiiim clavatam 

 is found in one small area of a dozen plants on Dewey Lake; Melampyrum 

 lineare adjoins it on the west. Hibiscus moscheutos grows in a swamp near 

 New Buffalo, gay with bloom August, 1906. Juniperus' communis is found 

 in a pasture east of Magician Lake. Ipomoea pandurata, one plant on the 

 border of Dowagiac swamp. Cheladonium majus, before named, occurs 

 once, one plant. These examples will suffice to shoAv that the full explora- 

 tion of any region will demand that every rod of ground be traversed, and 

 gives abundant hope of many new finds in days to come. 



A few words in conclusion may be worthy of attention. To date the 60 

 square miles have yielded 1143 species, and it is certain enough remain to 

 swell the total to 1200, a remarkably good showing for an inland station 

 without rock formation or sandy littoral. Some 90 species have been found 

 woody enough and large enough to make canes. The rare forms are well 

 protected by environment from destruction, and bid fair to remain for many 

 years. The excessive area of bog marsh and lake favor many forms. The 

 very many isolated examples lends itself as a difficult problem for solution, 

 and it is, perhaps the most fascinating feature of the i^lant distribution. 

 I am strongly inclined to believe that some forms have been artificially 

 spread by the Indians, as this people used, and do so still, many species for 

 medicine that we more highly enlightened ignore. For example, Migbomia 

 Michanxii is a celebrated plant for some form of kidney trouble, and always 

 grows suggestively in "clearings" in the woodlands. 



Another matter of m^uch interest is the growth of many plants in situations 

 not recorded in our authorities, which simply means we have much to learn 

 about the life histories of many forms, and will probably conclude that the 

 plant organism is a much more elastic creation than we once believed, and 

 capable in a wide range of fitting itself for inhabiting diverse and seemingly 

 opposite locations with an equal degree of success. 



A last w"ord is in the form of a plea for the intelligent preservation of inter- 

 esting plant localities through the agency of clubs, academies or the liberal- 

 ity of wealthy men, patrons of science. '' Rattlesnake Island " w^ell illustrates 

 what may be accomplished. It lies but forty rods away from ]\Iaple Island, 

 the summer resort of Dowagiac, and yet it is an untouched wilderness. In 



