1856.] Observations on the Flora of the Western States. 15 



True, there are some portions of those States where the rugged hills 

 seem to flow down into plains and intervals to a considerable extent, so 

 that there might be located, here and there, a quarter, a half, or even 

 a whole section of level and arable surface. But such sections are rare, 

 while hundreds may be found which do not include a single rood of 

 level or even arable territory. Variety of soil and surface, literally 

 endless, is therefore the characteristic of those highland regions. There 

 are bogs, fens, swamps, and marshes — ravines and defileS; — slopes north, 

 south, and everyway — low bottoms and lofty plateaus — hills and hil- 

 locks — mountains and moraines — and all these varied by every possible 

 contour and substance, as sand, gravel, pebbles, and boulders — clay, 

 loam, mold and marl — solid rock and oozy mud. In such a territory, 

 how varied the landscapes which greet the traveller at every turn ! How 

 rich in variety the native plants which greet the delighted botanist ! 

 But alas, for the toil-worn farmer ! 



Now, bidding adieu to this broken sterility, the New England emi 

 grant comes hither to look upon different scenes. Here interval meets 

 interval, or blends with the gradual plains, both expanding beyond the 

 limits of vision into boundless prairies, or woodlands strangely miscalled 

 " barrens." Along the whole circuit of the heavens the eye wanders in 

 vain for those towering forms which everywhere in eastern skies mark 

 the blue outlines of the horizon, but it ranges smoothly on an unbroken 

 circle. Mountains there are none, and the hills scarce deserve the name, 

 since they arise only to the general level of the country, having been 

 formed, not by elevation, but by the excavation of surrounding streams. 

 Upheaved and distorted rocks, overhanging cliffs, and granite boulders, 

 are as rare as honest statesmen are. Our strata of silurian limestone 

 and sandstone lie low and level, and must be quarried, after the manner 

 of ores, in order to be found. Our lowest bottom-lands seldom degene- 

 rate into amphibious swamps or peat-bogs, but like the higher " barrens " 

 consist of loam and vegetable mold perfectly consolidated into soil, and 

 both await the call of the ploughshare to pour forth inexhaustible sup- 

 plies for the subsistence of man. 



Such are the general features of this great Western valley, now fast 

 becoming the granary of the world. Her glory, therefore, consists not 

 in cloud-capped mountains and broken rocks, but in her vast ocean-like 

 prairies, and in a soil of almost universal fertility. 



In contemplating the flora of such a country after its settlement, it 

 is necessary to distinguish between the past and present. Those lovely 

 children of nature, our native plants, once (not long since) overspread 

 this whole territory. Everywhere their lovely flowers decked every 



