BOTANICAL GAZETTE. ]()[> 



and unpalatable. They distinguish P. Rngelii by a character I have not 

 seen mentioned, viz: the petioles being purplish toward the base, a charac- 

 ter that holds good so far as I have observed and one easily distinguished 

 That eminently practical botanist, the old cow, accepts P. Rufjelii readily 

 but rejects P. major after an olfactory test. It v.ould seem that the reput- 

 ed medicinal properties must reside in P. major, although both have been 

 used indiscriminately, of course." 



The Flora of Northern Indiana.— Having been occupied mostly with 

 the flora of that part of Indiana bordering upon the Ohio river, I had often 

 looked longingly upon the map of the state at the northern tier counties, 

 bordering upon Michigan lake and state, and well filled with small lakes 

 and tamarack swamps. It seemed as if some of our best plants must be 

 found there, and in my preparation for publishing a catalogue of the flora 

 of the state, I could find no report or no working botanist from that region. 

 Last summer an opportunity presented for making a hasty survey for my- 

 self and the result was most encouraging. Although many very excellent 

 species were obtained, the richest result to my mind was the fine prospect of 

 good things that might reward a diligent search, rather than those those that 

 were actually obtained. Accompanied by my enthusiastic pupil and assistant, 

 Mr. Chas. R. Barnes, I spent some three or four weeks along the line of the 

 Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, which crosses the state exact- 

 ly in the region I wished to traverse. The Kankakee river forms a natural 

 boundary on the south side of the northwestern corner of this region, a 

 slow, sluggish stream as it crosses Indiana, but rapid enough in Illinois. 

 The consequence is that it has spread out on either side into a succession of 

 extensive marshes, w^iich render approach to the river well nigh impossible 

 in many places. To the east lie the headwaters of the St. Joseph and Tip- 

 pecanoe rivers, both of which are lost in an intricate system of small lakes, 

 reminders of the time when one enormous lake covered it all. This is the 

 lake region of the state, in no case extending farther south than the second 

 tier of counties, and containing thousands of depressions, filled either wdth 

 clear bodies of water or swamps. The time of our visit was rather unfor- 

 tunate for the best results, too early for the best fall flowers and too late for 

 the spring ones, and we had to note the former in bud and the latter in 

 fruit, but we saw enough to know that the region was well worthy a thor- 

 ough exploration at different seasons. The wildest, most unfrequented 



