14 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



sula may roughly be divided into two great divisions — the hardwood and 

 the softwood lands ; one representing the Appalachian flora, and the other^ 

 the Canadian, 



"The hardwood country lies south of latitude 43°, and consists of very 

 fertile sand, clay, or loam, mostly cleared of the original forest, and 

 largely cultivated. 



"The sandy or stony drift of many river valleys in this section supports 

 a heavy growth of oak. frequently interspersed with walnut and hickory, 

 while the margins of the streams, and the neighboring swamps, abound in 

 soft maples, swamp and chestnut oak, white and black ash, elm, hack- 

 berry, sycamore, butternut, and similar trees. Willows, dogwoods, vibur- 

 nums, and buttonbush, are common shrubs in the swamps; and hazel, 

 hawthorn, wild cherry and plum, June berry, witch-hazel, etc., are abund- 

 ant on the dryer ground. 



"On the uplands, and away from streams, clay, loam, and a peculiar 

 black muck soil supersede the sands and gravels of the valleys. The pre- 

 vailing timber here is beech and maple and oak forest in about equal pro- 

 portions. Beech and maple generally grow together, forming magnificent 

 forests of great extent. The best wheat farms are usually found on 

 uplands near streams, where the oak timber gradually shades into beech 

 and maple. Plains of fertile sand covered with a low. or scattering 

 growth of oak (oak openings) are frequent, and always very desirable for 

 farming purposes. 



"Marshes densely covered with tamarack are common in this part of 

 the State, and nourish in their thick shade such plants as Drosera 

 rot imdi folia, Sarracenia purpurea, Rhus venenata, Rihes rnhrum, Ohio- 

 genes hispidula, Salix Candida, Smilacina trifolia, Pogonia ophioglos- 

 soides and Calopogon pulchellus. Arbor- vitse, red cedar and black s[)ruce 

 are comparatively rare. 



"A similar tract of soil and timber occurs in the upper end of the pen- 

 insula, north of a line drawn from Thunder bay west to the head of Grand 

 Traverse bay. This is commonly known as the "Traverse region," and 

 has a flora much like that we have just described, with the exception that 

 some of the southern species disappear, and northern ones begin to take- 

 their place, or if found growing further south, here first become frequent. 

 Deep forests of hemlock and yellow birch {B. lutca) mixed with a fine, 

 tall growth of striped maple {A. Pennsylvamcum) are frequent, having 

 underneath a tangled growth of Taxus haccata, var. Canadensis, and under 

 all a carpet of Lycopodium annotinum. Alternating with these are sandy 

 plains covered with a dense growth of Vacciniums, yielding a great abun- 

 dance of fruit. Sugar maples and basswood are also abundant in this 

 region, and reach an immense size. In fact, it would be difficult to find 

 finer groves of maple in any part of the State. 



"The pine country proper lies between the two tracts we have described, 

 and embraces about 15,000 square miles. It is composed largely of sand 

 hills and plains, either scantily furnished with vegetation, or densely cov- 

 ered with pine forest. Argillaceous tracts wooded with beech and maple 

 also occur, like oases in a desert; and swamps abound, with the usual low- 

 land timber. Forests of hemlock spruce are frequent, and there are occa- 

 sional ridges of oak. Birch {B. lutca) also begins to be a common forest 

 tree, and attains a large size. The usual timber of the barrens is Jack 

 Pine (P. Banksiana) . Climatic and other influences have combined to 

 produce groves composed entirely of this species of large size and of great 



